Oct. 8--Oklahoma banks are strong, they're well capitalized and they're making loans, industry officials say.

"Nothing is safer than money in the bank" has become an oft-repeated motto, especially in recent days, of Roger Beverage, president of the Oklahoma Bankers Association, who stopped by the Tulsa World newsroom Tuesday to emphasize the strength of the state's banks and their deposit safety.

Joining him were Jim Huntzinger of BOK Financial Corp; Marty Hansen with First State Bank in Fairfax; and Jan Miller, president of Bank of Commerce in Catoosa.

People keep hearing about a crisis in the banking industry, and naturally they want to know how that affects them, their savings and money, Beverage said.

"The answer is that it doesn't. It's a psychological hurdle that a lot of people have to overcome," Beverage said.

"If you look at the history of the FDIC and what it has meant since it was created and how it's structured and how it works and banks work, then it all starts to come into focus. Nobody has ever lost a dime in an FDIC-insured account."

Beverage and his colleagues

have been addressing the public's concerns about the banking industry.

He shared two examples that occurred during the last 10 days where rural Oklahoma customers entered their respective banks and demanded all of their cash. One individual wanted $100,000, the other $211,000, Beverage said. Whereas one customer took the cash and stashed it in a bank safe deposit box, the other walked out with a sack of money.

"If you stuff your money under a mattress, which is what people jokingly say is happening, and your house burns down or, worse yet, you're robbed, it's gone. If the bank burns down you still have your $250,000, and that's a dramatic difference," Beverage said.

Oklahoma banks are "quite strong," Beverage said, noting that all banks in the state meet the minimum capital requirement to be considered well-capitalized.

The massive financial rescue plan signed into law last week raises the $100,000 cap on Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insurance on individual bank accounts to $250,000.

It's important to know how stable the FDIC insurance program is and how safe and secure the vast majority of Oklahoma banks are, echoed Jim Huntzinger, executive vice president and chief investment officer at BOK.

"Over the last three weeks, there were moments when the markets and client confidence in their financial institutions got pretty shaky, understandably so. We're in a very unusual period," Huntzinger said.

"But I think really that has passed us now. I think the worst is behind us as it relates to this crisis of confidence. We're right on the verge of having people exhale and move forward in a more normal way."

Laurie Winslow 581-8466 laurie.winslow@tulsaworld.com

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