Bank of America gets $15B in new deposits after SVB collapse

Americans have frantically moved their cash toward “too big to fail” lenders like Bank of America, which has seen in inflow of more than $15 billion worth of deposits amid fears of a meltdown in the US banking sector.

The $15 billion figure was cited by people familiar with the matter who told Bloomberg News.

Other large-scale lenders like JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo have also seen substantial increases in deposits, though the exact figures have yet to be publicized.

Citizens Bank said on Monday that it “has seen higher than normal interest from prospective new customers over the past few days.” The statement was first reported by Bloomberg News.

The mass migration to financial giants like Bank of America, the nation’s second largest, comes in the wake of last week’s swift collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the second biggest bank failure in US history.

Over the weekend, regulators shut down another regional lender, Signature Bank, in hopes of preventing contagion.

Observers on Wednesday were holding their breath as shares of Credit Suisse dropped to near-record lows after its largest stakeholder said he would not bolster his investment in the Swiss banking giant.

Shares of Credit Suisse, which have shed around a third of their value in just three months, were off 21% at $1.99 in premarket trades on Wednesday.

Credit Suisse’s woes were dragging down Wall Street.

Dow futures were down nearly 600 points before the opening bell on Wednesday while the S&P 500 futures dropped by around 1.8%.

Follow The Post’s coverage of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse

Nasdaq futures were down more than 1.4% before trading kicked off on Wall Street on Wednesday.

The banking sector as a whole appears poised to absorb losses on Wednesday.

Bank of America shares were down 2.9% while Morgan Stanley’s stock dipped 3.2%. Wells Fargo was down by some 4.2% in pre-market trading.

Regional bank stocks such as PacWest Bancorp (7.7%), Comerica (3.4%), KeyCorp (1.4%), Regions Financial (4.2%), and Zions Bancorp (5.5%) were also down in trading before the bell on Wednesday.