FDIC.gov

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) preserves and promotes
public confidence in the U.S. financial system by insuring deposits in banks and
thrift institutions for at least $250,000; by identifying, monitoring and addressing
risks to the deposit insurance funds; and by limiting the effect on the economy
and the financial system when a bank or thrift institution fails.

An independent agency of the federal government, the FDIC was created in
1933 in response to the thousands of bank failures that occurred in the 1920s
and early 1930s.

The FDIC is funded by premiums that banks and thrift institutions pay for deposit
insurance coverage and from earnings on investments in U.S. Treasury securities.
These premiums have been raised substantially since the insured limit was raised
from $100,000 to $250,000 until 1 Jan 2014. An additional assessment was made
this year based on ASSETS - not deposits - of the bank. This is a cost passed on to
stockholders or bank customers.

With an insurance fund totaling more than $17.3 billion, the FDIC insures more than
$4 trillion of deposits in U.S. banks and thrifts - deposits in virtually every bank and
thrift in the country.