Cash Only: What To Know If You’re Planning To Ditch Your Bank

With concerns about banks constantly in the news—most recently, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) confirmed that First Republic Bank
FRC
had been seized by regulators—some in the U.S. are eying alternatives to keeping their savings in banks. For some, the answer is obvious: rely on cash in hand.

I get it. After my great-grandmother’s death, we found small amounts of cash in her freezer (talk about your cold cash). She lived through the Great Depression and didn’t trust banks even in her later years.