- SVB customers tried to get their checks and some answers at branches in Silicon Valley and San Francisco on Friday.
- Met with closed doors, customers told CNBC they felt devastated by the bank closure.
Tech founders and executives were unaffected by inclement weather on Friday as they crowded the doors Silicon Valley Bank places in the Bay Area, in hopes of finding answers to their money and their important questions.
Regulators shut down SVB and seized deposits in the second largest US banking failure in history and the largest since the 2008 financial crisis.
Thousands of start-ups have long relied on SVB for everyday banking services, and the firm’s sudden collapse raised imminent concerns about how customers would pay their bills and their employees.
Some of the company leaders went to the bank branches to seek help. While waiting in long lines outside, they struck up friendships with people in the same boat and shared stories of their misfortunes.
‘Hope for better news Monday’
SVB had 17 branches in California and Massachusetts, and the FDIC said in its Press release that “Silicon Valley Bank’s main office and all branches will reopen on Monday, March 13, 2023.”
The regulator said all uninsured deposits will be available from Monday. But the FDIC only insures deposits up to $250,000 per customer and, as a bank primarily serving businesses, about 95% of SVB’s deposits are uninsured.
In Santa Clara on Friday morning, SVB customers arrived frustrated and angry, many blank and wearing tired faces.
A group of four men gathered near the door. Some had tears in their eyes.
One of the people, who asked not to be named, told CNBC that he has been banking with SVB since 2018 and never expected this to happen. He said that most of his money is stuck in the bank. Eventually, the man let out a soft sob in apology.
a woman, dropped by a Uber, slung his bag over his shoulder and marched through the crowd to the front door of the bank, determined to speak to someone. When she approached the closed doors, people in the crowd were muttering how no one would talk to her. Unsuccessful, the woman ordered another Uber which picked her up a few minutes later.
Customers can be heard repeating the phrase, “Hope for better news Monday.”
A sign posted on the windows of each location reiterated the line from the press release about all locations opening on Monday.
A startup employee, who did not want to be identified, brought up the 2008 financial crisis and the FDIC’s takeover of Washington Mutual. failed savings and loans were sold JPMorgan ChaseAnd the person said that he is expecting a similar result for SVB.
At one point a pizza delivery person arrived with at least five boxes of pizza. It was the first time the doors opened in hours.
‘I’m trying to get a check!’
In Menlo Park, Tesla entered SVB’s Sand Hill Road parking lot on Friday. Customers got out of their cars and rushed to the entrance.
Those who visited the San Francisco branch earlier in the day found Post-It notes directing corporate customers to the bank’s Sand Hill location. It’s a 40-mile drive, and one that didn’t bring satisfactory answers.
“I’m trying to get a check!” said a man, knocking on the closed glass door while making eye contact with someone working in the office. A representative came out from time to time to answer customer questions in a whisper, declining to address the press.
One startup founder told CNBC that he came in to make sure international wire transfers of tens of thousands of dollars cleared.
“I don’t know if they’re going to cancel the wire transfer and they didn’t say anything about it and we couldn’t talk when we called,” said the person, who asked not to be identified . “So, we’ve just been scrambling and I thought I’d just come over here since I’m not too far away.”
He added that when the check clears, “I’ll probably look at other institutions to put the money.” He said he wasn’t too worried because he had insurance on the transaction.
Two startup founders wait for a representative to answer their knock.
“After this, we are putting our money in several banks,” said one to the other. “Us too – if we’re still around,” said another.
The men declined to give their names, telling CNBC only that they were founders of separate small startups.
Another startup executive told a representative that he had made a transaction at 8:30 a.m. The bank employee said that he had missed the 8:15 cutoff time for processing the transaction. Looking defeated, the man bowed his head and said, “You can understand how stressed I am – this is our only bank.”
“I understand,” the representative said, “there’s a sense of urgency from all of us and every day we learn more, it’s comforting.”
Upon seeing the representative, another client contacted her and said, “We tried calling the number but could not get through,” referring to the customer service line posted in the company’s press release. The bank employee apologized and immediately closed the door.
Some people were just coming for photos and selfies. At the Menlo Park branch, a man wearing a Patagonia jacket posed in front of the SVB logo. When asked if he was a customer, he laughed and said, “I used to be.”
, CNBC’s Rebecca Smith
Watch: Economic Results of SVB
Credit: www.cnbc.com /