Custody and Storage

Custody and storage terms describe bank safekeeping, vault, safe-deposit, and physical cash-control functions. This branch covers safe deposit box guide, vault, and vault cash.

Use these pages when the bank is controlling access, storing valuables, safeguarding documents, holding vault cash, or maintaining records rather than extending credit or taking investment risk.

What This Branch Covers

Decision Lens

Start with custody versus ownership. A bank may provide storage or access control without owning, insuring, valuing, or guaranteeing the contents.

Evaluation Checklist

• Identify the asset or cash, account or box holder, authorized users, access rules, inventory record, custody agreement, insurance terms, and control log.
• Separate safekeeping, custody, vault cash, deposit balance, collateral control, and ownership records.
• Check safe-deposit agreements, vault logs, custody statements, cash counts, branch records, insurance disclosures, and incident reports.
• Review whether the custody role changes access rights, loss exposure, audit evidence, liquidity, or collateral control.
• Treat legal, insurance, tax, estate, and liability conclusions as professional-advice areas.

Common Mistakes

• Treating storage as proof that the bank owns or values the contents.
• Assuming a safe-deposit box has the same protection as a deposit account.
• Ignoring access authorizations, key controls, and inventory evidence.
• Reviewing vault cash as customer funds rather than bank-held operating cash.

In this section

Choose a subsection first. Deeper term pages live inside each subsection, which keeps large topic hubs readable.