The amount of money deposited in bank accounts recently reached a new high of $10.3 trillion, according to research firm Market Rates Insight.
As of June 30, that figure was an increase of $139 billion in the first six months of this year, MRI said citing FDIC data.
The highest increase in account balance occurred in regular savings accounts, which increased by $192 billion to a new record amount of $1.7 trillion. Money market accounts showed a modest increase of $16 billion to a new record of $4.0 trillion, according to MRI. The increase in deposit balances occurred even though the interest rate currently paid on savings accounts is only 0.13% and on money market accounts only 0.12%.
All other major account types experienced a decline in balances during the first six months of this year. The largest drop occurred in checking accounts, which decreased by $34 billion to a balance of $1.4 trillion.
Certificate of deposit balances decreased by $16 billion to a total balance of $1.8 trillion. The interest rate currently paid on checking accounts is less than one-tenth of one percent (0.09%), and the average interest rate on all CD terms, from three months to five years, is 0.46%, the data showed.
“As long as lending is soft, deposited money is becoming more and more expensive to banks since they have to pay interest on the increased amount of deposits, as well as deposit insurance to the FDIC,” said Dan Geller, MRI executive vice president.
Meanwhile, savings per member at credit unions climbed 4.6% during the past year to $9,317. Members’ savings surged in June, up $7 billion (0.8%) for the month, according to the August issue of CUNA Mutual Group’s Credit Union Trends Report.
