In the last couple of years, savers have been given a wake-up call warning them that even though their money is in the bank, it doesn’t necessarily meant it’s safe. Now i’m not talking about the risk of your money being stolen in a bank robbery…something far less obvious – banks failing.

The scare surfaced after Lehman Brothers – a global financial services firm, declared itself bankrupt in 2008 marking the largest bankruptcy in U.S. History.

Concerns were again raised after Icesave – an online savings brand owned and operated by Landsbanki, collapsed affecting hundreds of thousands of customers and businesses. In the UK, Icesave’s marketing slogan was “clear difference”, offering its customers three types of savings accounts: an instant access savings account, a cash ISA, and a range of fixed rate bonds, paying interest rates of more than 6%. This was enough to attract over 300,000 accounts in the UK alone. (more…)