The safe-deposit box era is ending

[Car-Guy]

For those that have or that are considering a large gun safe for storing "stuff" of value, be-aware that it doesn't take a professional safe cracker to get inside of one. Plenty of utube videos on "how to get inside" these things with common hand tools. However, they are good for slowing down a would be thief and offer good protection for the "inquisitive" and fires, if you get one that is fire resistant.

 

[Sojourner]

Many home safes are pretty unwieldy to remove - with or without bolting. Most thieves want to get in and get out. Stealing a safe that weighs 100 pounds or more would be a real chore. Not impossible - but valuables for most thieves are abundant and are just lying around in most homes. If it's enough to score drugs with, they're happy in most cases. YMMV

Exactly right. I think most petty thieves assume that a home safe is likely to contain important/invaluable documents, like birth certificates, wills, estate plans/docs, legal docs, etc. And maybe some cash or jewelry. Typical burglars aren't going to hassle with trying to crack into (or carry away) a heavy safe when the payoff could be meager or even nothing. They're going to focus their few minutes of thievery on scouring the place for easy pickings: things they can quickly and easily pawn for cash. These kind of vermin are far from the patient, meticulous, criminal masterminds we've seen depicted in the movies!

 

[mountainsoft]

We have had a small safe deposit box at our bank for over 40 years. It currently costs about $60 each year. We really only use it to keep a second backup drive of our digital life, our passports, and some old photo negatives (I really should digitize or get rid of those).

We also have a small fire safe with various documents in it, but I prefer the safe deposit box to store my off site backup. While I do have a very limited online backup now (500GB for about $15/year), it's much slower to access and I have terabytes of data to backup. Keeping a hard drive in our safe deposit box is cheaper and faster.

I can't see our bank ever getting rid of the safe deposit boxes, but if they closed for some reason and I couldn't find a new one, I would probably keep my second backup drive at my daughters house (again, an offsite location).

 

[pacergal]

Our local big name bank still has a huge safe deposit room. We used to have one, but gave it up after we bought a smaller at home safe.

 

[rk911]

Our PNC branch shut down their vault boxes several years ago and then shut down the branch. The next closest offers "lobby boxes". We'll likely be closing that box and switching to a home safe sometime next year.

 

[Mark1]

No brick and mortar bank for me, so no lock box. I do have some papers in a fire proof safe at home. Yes, a burglar could walk off with it, but why would he since the key is always in it.

I keep electronic backups on a hard drive in my shop, in addition to the house.

 

[Montecfo]

I have always had a fireproof box. We do not have valuable jewelry, coins or anything like that. It contains documents. I think the idea of offsite digital storage is a good one but I dont need a bank for that.

I think those organized heists of safe deposit boxes are probably another reason for their demise. I think the biggest reason though is people realizing they are not truly needed in most cases.

 

[Ellecram]

My local bank still has safe boxes. I use them for some items that I have no place to store.
They offered no cost to veterans so I don't pay anything.

 

[Midpack]

When our bank eliminated safe deposit boxes many years ago, we just bought a home safe. It's buried in the back of a closet, not easy to notice, and while thieves could steal the whole thing - it's heavy and bulky so I doubt they would bother. It's mostly just important documents anyway, not worth stealing. YMMV

 

[Texas Proud]

Safe-deposit boxes, popular among affluent, older customers — and the writers of heist movies — are being closed or scaled back heavily, The Wall Street Journal reports. Banks say the boxes, used to store valuables and heirlooms, are outdated with alternatives available like home safes. JPMorgan Chase and Capital One have already ended the service, while Wells Fargo is offering fewer boxes as branches shut their doors. The number of safe-deposit boxes has declined by an estimated 20% from six years ago. As banks exit the market, independent companies are also looking to expand secure storage options.

There is a Chase branch near me that still have boxes they rent... my mom had one and I kept it until last year...

All newer branches do not have any boxes...

 

[Sunset]

A home safe to keep papers in is great, won't withstand many home fires that destroy a house as the heat will last too long (IMHO).

I was read a story in newspapers decades ago before fake news, where a couple kept their life savings in a safe (stupid of course). Thieves heard of it, and did a home invasion, then beat the couple until they opened the safe and stole all the $$$$$.

If I had a home save for valuables, I'd hide it well and bolt to something. Then I'd have a 2nd safe much more obvious with few $100 in it and other stuff (even old pills), so thieves could steal the decoy or beat me to open the decoy.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Our PNC branch shut down their vault boxes several years ago and then shut down the branch. The next closest offers "lobby boxes". We'll likely be closing that box and switching to a home safe sometime next year.

I had a box inside the safe at my local PNC for about 10 years. It was only like $10 per year with my level of accounts at the beginning and for several years. About 5 years ago, they started raising the price every year. It reached $75 at the beginning of 2024. I asked my regular banker about it and she said PNC was gradually getting out of the business like other banks. Newer branches were not being built with them. And they were trying to price the existing customers out of wanting them. She said they no longer wanted the liability. I pulled my contents out and now use a fire box in my home. There’s no valuables in it, just papers. So if it gets stolen, so be it.

 

[rembrandt]

My uncle was a bank manager and he told me a story that he had a disgruntled customer who put a dead fish in his safe deposit box. It took the bank days to figure out where the stench was coming from.

 

[Telly]

My uncle was a bank manager and he told me a story that he had a disgruntled customer who put a dead fish in his safe deposit box. It took the bank days to figure out where the stench was coming from.

That was in Abbie Hoffmans book "Steal This Book". A way to get back at The Man.

 

[Telly]

We still have a bank safe deposit box. I learned years ago to have everything paper in high quality zip-lock bags.
Didn't originally, but learned. Was assigned a box in the bottom row. Went in one day and found water in it. Many US Savings Bonds soaked. Turned out that there was an A/C evaporator that was over the roof of the vault. The condensate drain line plugged up, and it overflowed onto the top of the vault. It found a hole where the power came into the vault for lighting. Dripped on top of the big box unit that our box was in. Down the back inside, and into our box at the bottom.

Bank offered to have anything I wanted professionally handled, but I just took it home and dried out using a fan. Lucky I got it in time before mold started! The ink on the bonds is like paper money ink, durable.

But I told them what I WOULD like, was a box, in the top row, in a different box unit. They did that, and it was a larger box, for same price. It's been dry since

 

[Boose]

We travel nomadically (no house, no apartment) and use a safe deposit box with a major bank in our "home city" for valuables. It offers us more security than a relative's house and our relatives don't have to feel responsible for anything. The bank's safe deposit vault is pretty big - I wonder, after reading this thread, how many boxes are empty!

 

[djsander]

Our B&M branch built a new branch and is consolidating to there along with another branch. We have a safety deposit box and they sent us a letter to come in and sign papers to move our box to the new location. When we went in they had a large steel container that the tellers figured the vault box would load into. Still haven’t moved. We keep papers, some jewelry and old coins in it. We have considered closing it but, don’t really have a place in our house for a safe. I guess we could have someone cut one into the closet floor, but don’t want the hassle of that.

 

[Ellecram]

Our B&M branch built a new branch and is consolidating to there along with another branch. We have a safety deposit box and they sent us a letter to come in and sign papers to move our box to the new location. When we went in they had a large steel container that the tellers figured the vault box would load into. Still haven’t moved. We keep papers, some jewelry and old coins in it. We have considered closing it but, don’t really have a place in our house for a safe. I guess we could have someone cut one into the closet floor, but don’t want the hassle of that.

I cannot even consider getting a safe in my home. Far too heavy for me to lift. No one available to help with it either. So I'll keep my safe box as long it's available.

 

[djsander]

I cannot even consider getting a safe in my home. Far too heavy for me to lift. No one available to help with it either. So I'll keep my safe box as long it's available.

Same here.

 

[Car-Guy]

When our bank eliminated safe deposit boxes many years ago, we just bought a home safe. It's buried in the back of a closet, not easy to notice, and while thieves could steal the whole thing - it's heavy and bulky so I doubt they would bother. It's mostly just important documents anyway, not worth stealing. YMMV

But they don't know it's not worth stealing until after they take it somewhere and get it open.

 

[aja8888]

But they don't know it's not worth stealing until after they take it somewhere and get it open.

I suppose you can tape an inventory list to the safe!

 

[Car-Guy]

I suppose you can tape an inventory list to the safe!

Funny you say that, my dad thought of actually doing that and I told him, "like if someone is going to believe it", assuming they can read English.

He actually was more concerned about a fire so he would just shut the door but not lock it. He put a note on the door saying "it's unlocked". Well, he never had a fire or a break-in but it made it easy for me when I had to get to and go thru his papers.

 

[OnTheBeach]

I will never get rid of my safety deposit box. I keep the car titles, birth certificate etc. I am worried that someone would steal the home safe and take things that would be difficult to replace.

 

[marko]

I never understood home safes. What can't the thieves steal the safe and try to crack it when they get it home?

Because mine weighs about 1000 pounds and is the size of a refrigerator.

 

[HI Bill]

We keep our safe deposit box for storage of Solid State Drives that hold our photos. Fire safes aren't guaranteed to keep the contents from melting or being flooded or stolen. The box is the only real reason I keep a local checking and savings account at a brick and mortar branch. Last time I was there, they still had binders of signature cards, but were about to switch over to a digital ID system. Keeping ours for the foreseeable future. Cloud storage of 20+TB of data is a bit slow...