For over a century, Chase and other major banks have offered customers secure storage for valuables and important documents. However, after conducting an in-depth review of safe deposit box operations, Chase found that costs had spiraled out of control while customer usage had severely declined over the past decade.

Banks are phasing out safety deposit boxes primarily due to a massive shift in consumer behavior toward digital storage and the high operational costs associated with physical vaults. In 2026, most vital documents—such as wills, deeds, and insurance policies—are stored in the cloud or on secure digital legacy platforms, which offer 24/7 accessibility that a bank vault cannot match. From a business perspective, vaults are incredibly "inflexible" investments; they occupy prime real estate within a branch, require specialized dual-control staffing for security, and demand constant maintenance and private viewing room upkeep. As banks move toward smaller, "advisory-focused" branch formats, they are repurposing vault space for higher-value areas like digital engagement hubs or private consultation pods. Additionally, the rise of affordable, high-security home safes has given many consumers the confidence to keep physical valuables like jewelry or heirlooms at home, leading to a steady decline in demand that makes the traditional safety deposit box an obsolete and costly service for modern financial institutions.