Bank failures have customers wondering

As US regulators brace for more bank failures, consumers are wondering for the first time since the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s about the safety of their money.

Harry Newton, a former publisher who lives in New York City, moved $604,000 in cash to seven different banks last month after the seizure of IndyMac Bancorp Inc to ensure that his funds were covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

In all, eight banks have been closed in 2008 by State and national regulators amid record losses tied to the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, data compiled by the FDIC show.