More Services: For Your SecurityA A
FDIC Insurance
|
|
What Is the FDIC?
The FDIC – short for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – is an independent agency of the United States government. The FDIC protects you against the loss of your deposits if an FDIC-insured bank or savings association fails. FDIC insurance is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.
To check whether your bank or savings association is insured by FDIC, call toll-free 1-877-275-3342, use "Bank Find" at www.fdic.gov/deposit/index.html, or look for the official FDIC sign where deposits are received.
Why Is FDIC Insurance Important to You?
All FDIC-insured banks must meet high standards for financial strength and stability. The FDIC, with other federal and state regulatory agencies, regularly reviews the operations of insured banks to ensure these standards are met. Even with these safeguards, some insured banks fail. If your insured bank fails, FDIC insurance will cover your deposits, dollar for dollar, including principal and any accrued interest, up to the insurance limit.
Historically, insured deposits are available to customers of a failed bank within just a few days. Since the start of the FDIC in 1933, no depositor has ever lost a penny of insured deposits.
What Does the FDIC Insure?
The FDIC insures all deposits at insured banks, including checking, NOW and savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposit (CDs), up to the insurance limit.
The FDIC does not insure the money you invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance policies, annuities, or municipal securities, even if you purchased these products from an insured bank.
$250,000 Standard Deposit Insurance Amount Now Permanent
Effective July 21, 2010 with the signing of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the basic limit on federal deposit insurance coverage has been permanently increased to at least $250,000 per depositor and is retroactive to October 3, 2008.
The FDIC insurance coverage limit applies per depositor, per insured depository institution for each account ownership category. The FDIC provides separate insurance coverage for deposit accounts held in different categories of ownership. You may qualify for more than $250,000 in coverage at one insured bank if you own deposit accounts in different ownership categories.
If you and your family have $250,000 or less in all of your deposit accounts at the same insured bank, you do not need to worry about your insurance coverage -- your deposits are fully insured.
Temporary Unlimited Coverage on Non-Interest Bearing Accounts
Effective October 14, 2008 (& extended to 12/31/10) the FDIC announced its temporary Transaction Account Guarantee Program (TAGP), which provided depositors with unlimited coverage for noninterest-bearing transaction accounts at participating FDIC-insured institutions. Mercantile Bank participated in the FDIC’s Transaction Account Guarantee Program.
Beginning on 12/31/10, the TAGP expired and was replaced with new temporary unlimited FDIC insurance coverage rules created under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. These new rules apply only to noninterest-bearing transaction accounts through December 31, 2012. NOW accounts, regardless of rate, will no longer be covered by this unlimited guarantee but will continue to be covered along with other insured deposits up to at least $250,000 per depositor. See below for additional details.
NOTICE OF CHANGES IN TEMPORARY FDIC INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR TRANSACTION ACCOUNTS – Effective 12/31/10-12/31/12
All funds in a "noninterest-bearing transaction account" are insured in full by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from December 31, 2010, through December 31, 2012. This temporary unlimited coverage is in addition to, and separate from, the coverage of at least $250,000 available to depositors under the FDIC's general deposit insurance rules.
The term "noninterest-bearing transaction account" includes a traditional checking account or demand deposit account on which the insured depository institution pays no interest. It also includes Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts ("IOLTAs"). It does not include other accounts, such as traditional checking or demand deposit accounts that may earn interest, NOW accounts, and money-market deposit accounts.
For more information about temporary FDIC insurance coverage of transaction accounts, visit www.fdic.gov.
For More Information from the FDIC
Call toll-free at: 1-877-ASK-FDIC (1-877-275-3342)
from 8 am until 8 pm (Eastern Time)
Monday through Friday
Hearing Impaired Line: 1-800-925-4618
Read more about FDIC insurance or calculate your insurance coverage using the FDIC's online Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator at: www.fdic.gov/edie/index.html
Send your questions by e-mail using the FDIC's online Customer Assistance Form at: https://www2.fdic.gov/STARSMAIL/index.asp
Mail your questions to:
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Attn: Deposit Insurance Outreach
550 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20429-9990
