How safe is your money? Here's how the US banking system works. The primary role for banks is to take in funds. Those deposits are the money you put in savings or checking accounts as well as deposits from businesses. And even the government banks then pull those funds for loans to borrowers just like you. that access to credit for households and businesses promotes economic growth but just like any other business banks can fail and to be clear, banks fail. Not often, but occasionally every year, perhaps, sometimes we see *** few bank failures. The key though, correct me if I'm wrong for regulators is to make sure it's not *** contagion that it doesn't spread. Exactly. And, and at this point, they have made sure that there is no major contagion. So how can you protect your money? The good news is the government already does that for you. The federal deposit insurance corporation or FDIC insures customer deposits up to $250,000 per customer. No strings attached if I have under $250,000 in *** bank right now. Should I be worried? No, that's very simple. It's insured, that guarantee has always been there and it's cloud completely reliable, but *** bigger problem occurs when customers are worried about losing their money despite that government guarantee and make more and more withdrawals and the bank has in cash on hand to cover them. And that's when banks can buckle, meaning small businesses cannot get the cash they need to make payroll or pay to keep the lights on, making sure banks are safe and sound is why these policies are in place generally designed to limit those risks. And those are the facts in Washington. I'm chief national investigative correspondent, Mark Albert