The finance manager for a trucking company with more than $200 million in cash on deposit relates that the company made investments in 2008 that suddenly became illiquid. A large share of the company’s cash reserves were tied up in that investment. Feeling burned and without recourse, the company committed to managing its cash in much safer, albeit lower yielding, CDs. Management became “very conservative and sensitive” following the experience.
To benefit from the protection of FDIC insurance on its CD investments, the company opened accounts with multiple banks using multiple tax ID numbers in various insurable capacities. Managing a labyrinth of accounts to ensure that protection was untenable for the amount of cash anticipated.
At that point, the company's local bank noticed their activity and said “we’d like those deposits.” The bank told the finance manager about CDARS®, and the trucking company did its due diligence. Around the same time, the trucking company was introduced to ICS®. A strong banking relationship led the company to place as much as possible in CDARS with its core, local bank. It has since used ICS to manage several operations accounts.
