Are Cash Management Accounts (CMAs) as safe as traditional bank accounts?

Yes, provided you understand how the underlying assets are held. Traditional checking accounts hold your deposits directly at a single bank backed by $250,000 of standard FDIC insurance. Brokerage CMAs (like Fidelity or Wealthfront) typically use one of two architectures: (1) An FDIC Sweep Program, which distributes your cash across 8 to 20+ partner FDIC-insured program banks, expanding your total FDIC insurance coverage up to $2,000,000 to $5,000,000; or (2) A Government Money Market Fund (such as Fidelity SPAXX), which is backed by ultra-short U.S. Treasury bills and repurchase agreements. While money market funds carry SIPC protection (up to $500,000 against brokerage failure, but not market loss) rather than FDIC insurance, U.S. government money market funds have historically maintained their $1.00 net asset value with near-zero principal default risk.