Rest easy, Spain: Your money's safe in a mattress safe
Europeans have tossed and turned at night since the continent's sovereign debt crisis began three years ago. Right now it鈥檚 the Cypriots, surprised earlier this month by an announcement that some personal bank accounts could be taxed in order to raise the needed contribution for a bailout.
But Greeks, Irish, and Spaniards know the drill all too well themselves. Spanish bank deposits, for instance, dropped by 4.7 percent between June and July 2012, as faith in the country鈥檚 banking system plummeted.
In banks, it鈥檚 safe to say, many Europeans do not trust.
So what better way to slip soundly into sleep each night than knowing the precise status of one鈥檚 life savings? That鈥檚 the idea behind the simple and inventive Caja MiColch贸n, or My Mattress Safe, a bed manufactured in northwestern Spain that is聽outfitted with a safety deposit box.聽
Francisco 鈥淧aco鈥� Santos worked in the mattress business for 14 years before losing his job in 2009. Unemployed, he tapped a dormant entrepreneurial spirit, designing this mattress that stands out from the rest.
My Mattress Safe was released by Mr. Santos' company Descanso Santos Sue帽os (DESS) three weeks ago, in step with the Cyprus banking saga. It sells for about $1,120.聽
Set to upbeat, jazzy music, one promotional video on the company鈥檚 website shows the ins and outs of production. The mattress is made with 鈥渢he best materials鈥� and implanted at the foot of the bed is a digital-entry safety box (there's no mention of whether or not it鈥檚 fireproof).
In the video, Mr. Santos parodies a bank commercial, calling My Mattress Safe a 鈥渇inancial institution鈥� with a new, imaginative take on saving. Not to fear, he says 鈥� this approach to savings doesn鈥檛 come with the threat of bankruptcy, mergers, or market fluctuations.
That could be a powerful selling point, with the safety of bank deposits high on the mind in Europe once again this month. According to 海角大神, the European Union 鈥渞aised serious doubts about its promise to guarantee citizens鈥� savings 鈥� a vital pillar of any financial sector that underpins savers鈥� trust 鈥� when it went along with a plan to levy small Cypriot depositors.鈥�
DESS hasn鈥檛 released sales figures, but the company said they鈥檝e exceeded expectations. And despite the initial double take, there may be a larger audience for a Mattress Safe than one might expect.
In Argentina, for example, many keep their US dollars (a popular currency because of high rates of inflation) out of Argentine banks after 鈥渉arsh lessons鈥� learned from past economic crises. The Monitor met one Argentine last summer who keeps his dollars in a safety deposit box.
鈥淚 know that the dollars in my box are actually there,鈥� says Francisco, an IT worker in Buenos Aires.聽鈥淚f you have a bank account in dollars your money doesn鈥檛 exist 鈥� it鈥檚 just virtual money."
The My Mattress Safe tagline feeds into this mentality: 鈥淵our money, very close to you.鈥�
For customers looking for assurance that their money isn't going anywhere with the Caja MiColch贸n, there鈥檚 a where customers can work out their savings over time. Enter the deposit amount, the number of months of planned investment, and voila:聽The same number of euros deposited in a My Mattress Safe is at the investor鈥檚 disposal a month, year, or decade later. (鈥淲hat you deposit is what you have. So easy, so simple,鈥� reads the website.)
"History repeats itself,鈥� Santos told .
鈥淥lder generations thought the safest place to keep their money was under the mattress. Now we鈥檙e proposing the same thing as we've seen people's uneasiness about the current situation. I'm not going to deny that the idea is a little crazy, but we believe that people with this mattress not only will sleep well, but also will be more relaxed because their savings are safe."
