# So, since WaMu failed...do I have to pay this credit card bill?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-since-wamu-failed-do-i-have-to-pay-this-credit-card-bill/465384>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 26, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-since-wamu-failed-do-i-have-to-pay-this-credit-card-bill/465384 "2008-09-26T20:34:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-since-wamu-failed-do-i-have-to-pay-this-credit-card-bill/465384/21 "2008-09-27T16:26:57Z")

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> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> 😃 Okay, I’m pretty sure the answer to that is yes. But how does this work, exactly? Does some other creditor take over administration of my account? What, exactly, does it mean when the headlines say the bank “failed”?

Since you’ve already had your question answered and answered well, I cannot help but notice this may be one of the (few? the only?) time(s) the OP’s user name has actually answered the question 😉

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**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-since-wamu-failed-do-i-have-to-pay-this-credit-card-bill/465384/22 "2008-09-27T18:21:53Z")

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> [@Merhouse](#):
>
> Since you’ve already had your question answered and answered well, I cannot help but notice this may be one of the (few? the only?) time(s) the OP’s user name has actually answered the question 😉

My username’s good for that. I try not to post in the airplane-on-a-treadmill threads for just that reason. 😉

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**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\
**Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-since-wamu-failed-do-i-have-to-pay-this-credit-card-bill/465384/23 "2008-09-27T22:52:15Z")

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> [@Bootis](#):
>
> What would the answer to the op be if a bank failed and nobody bought it? COULD a bank fail and nobody buy it?

This happened with IndyMac a few months ago. The FDIC couldn’t find a buyer, so they created a new bank, IndyMac Federal, that they are running for now until they can sell off the portions. Like Goldman Sachs has recently been rumored to be looking to buy the branches.

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**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-since-wamu-failed-do-i-have-to-pay-this-credit-card-bill/465384/24 "2008-09-28T01:53:25Z")

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> [@phouka](#):
>
> It is? It’s not related to the ongoing mortgage fiasco?
> 
> I don’t get it . . .

It’s related to the mortgage fiasco because WaMu was the originator of many of the bad loans. People figure that the bank either still owns a lot of them or that there’ll be legal trouble because of them. So they lose confidence in the bank and pull out their deposits.

The most important asset a bank has is the confidence of their customers. If they lose that, they’re hosed. This is the reason why the FDIC and NCUA were formed back in the Depression. With Uncle Sam insuring their deposits, people regained their trust in banks that they’d lost during the stock crash of 1929.

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**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-since-wamu-failed-do-i-have-to-pay-this-credit-card-bill/465384/25 "2008-09-28T03:29:56Z")

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> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> My username’s good for that. I try not to post in the airplane-on-a-treadmill threads for just that reason. 😉

ROFL – touché 🙂

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