Figures show that euro zone banks have parked a record amount of cash in the European Central Bank's overnight deposit facility.
The total amount of €320.37 billion beat the previous record of €316.41 billion set a day earlier.
The amount shows that commercial banks would rather place excess funds with the ECB and earn interest of 0.25% rather than loan them to other banks at higher rates.
Banks normally exchange surplus cash with each other on interbank money markets to help fund regular operations, but have again become wary of each other's ability to repay loans.
A similar situation prevailed after the US investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008, but the amount deposited with the ECB has now surpassed levels seen then.
Banks have become risk averse owing to a pervading sense of uncertainty about the health of Europe's economy and prospects for its single currency.
