Biggest U.S. bank failure to date is non-event for our reporter

Last night my bank failed, the latest casualty of the national financial crisis. Washington Mutual, the nation's sixth-largest banking institution, which claimed $307 billion in assets on its books as of last June, was sold to JP Morgan Chase for $1.9 billion in a transaction facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

As a Baby Boomer raised on my parents' tales about the Great Depression, I admit I was worried about what I might find when I woke up to the news this morning. But so far, for me, the biggest U.S. bank failure to date has been a non-event, according to five quick tests:

• Branches. My WaMu branch in Albany, Calif., opened promptly at 9 a.m. without incident or long lines of depositors clamoring for their money. My regular teller said the only thing difference is, "We're JP Morgan Chase now."
• ATM. The WaMu ATM machine dispensed cash to me, as usual.
• Debit card. My WaMu debit card purchase at Starbucks went off without a hitch.
• Online banking. I had the same access to my account information via the Internet, and all appeared normal in that virtual ledger—my deposits were all still there and a check had been paid last night.
• Credit card. My WaMu credit card credit line had not been reduced, frozen, or closed.

I had known of WaMu's financial troubles for months and last week wondered if I should find another bank. Because of the FDIC protections, I didn't fear losing my checking and savings deposits. Rather, I considered switching to avoid the possible hassle of having to go without the convenience of my debit card in a sudden and unexpected bank shutdown. I also wanted to get ahead of the time-consuming process of switching over several direct deposits and electronic payments to a new bank in the midst of a crisis.

As it turned out, I never did change banks. The takeover agreement arranged by the FDIC and OTS required a seamless transfer of all bank services to JP Morgan Chase, so none of my bank services was disrupted. So far, so good. As a consumer money reporter, I look forward to seeing if my checking and savings fees and account terms will change. —Jeff Blyskal