Safety and Soundness of Your Bank
Know the Facts

Recent bank failurs have some consumers concerned about their bank's health and the safety of their deposits.  To help you to understand the strength of the banking industry, ABA points to the following facts:

Virtually all banks in this country are safe and sound.

Banks are required to have significant capital and reserves – that is, rainy-day funds for tough economic times. This is a bank's first line of defense to cover any losses.

FDIC insurance provides an additional backstop. The FDIC protects depositors against the loss of their insured deposits if an FDIC-insured bank or savings association fails.

Deposits are insured by the FDIC for up to $250,000 per depositor per insured bank and for retirement accounts. (FDIC-insured accounts include savings and checking accounts, CDs, and money-market deposit accounts.)

No customer has ever lost a penny in insured deposits when a bank has failed.

The vast majority of banks have been in existence for decades and are likely to be in existence for many more.

The chance that your own bank will be taken over by the FDIC is extremely remote. And if that did happen, you would continue to have virtually uninterrupted access to your insured deposits.

Our diversified industry of more than 8,500 banks continues to serve customers every day at 97,000 locations nationwide.   For more information on your insured deposits, check out the FDIC's Web site. Questions? Contact Marquita Powell