In 2008, Washington Mutual, which was the sixth-largest bank in the United States, failed because they became the poster child for subprime lending, originating and securitizing hundreds of billions of dollars in high-risk, low-quality mortgages. They described themselves as the “Walmart of Banking” because they focused on the lower- and middle-class customers that other banks had shunned. Washington Mutual also expanded its branches too quickly. As a result, they were in poor locations in too many markets.
