Survey: 28% of CFOs plan to diversify deposits across banks

After recent bank failures, many financial leaders started to reassess the institutions they choose to source funding and provide financial services. Although some financial leaders call recent bank collapses “just a blip,” the benefits of operating across various financial institutions are now increasingly more evident.  

A new Gartner survey of about 250 CFOs found that in response to large-scale insolvency issues and threats banks face, more than a quarter (28%) of CFOs plan on diversifying company deposits across various banks. Presumably, this is to avoid having all their financial operations dependent on a single financial institution’s ability to remain solvent and operational. The possibility of deposit outflows continues to be a threat to even the largest institutions.  

Above diversifying accounts, many financial leaders hope to use the current state of banking and financial services as an executive teaching point and an opportunity to assess both internal and external risks. Thirty-nine percent of CFOs said they plan on educating the board of directors about exposure to bank failures and the potential risks to the organization.  

Recent events may have catalyzed finance executives into assessing things they were previously overlooking or not assessing at all since the global financial crisis. Over a third of CFOs said they’re assessing both the risk and viability of existing funding sources (38%) and the customer exposure and payment risk (34%). Three in 10 CFOs (30%) also plan on assessing their third-party supplier list.