What is FDIC insurance and how has it changed?
Recent actions by the government to strengthen the economy have resulted in positive changes to FDIC Insurance. When Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act into law on October 3, 2008, the basic amount of FDIC insurance was temporarily increased from $100,000 per depositor per insured bank to $250,000 for Checking, Savings, CDs, Negotiable Order of Withdrawal (NOW) accounts and self-directed retirement accounts. On October 13, an additional increase was made in FDIC insurance for non-interest bearing transaction deposit accounts (i.e. checking accounts that do not earn interest). For those types of accounts, the coverage amount is now unlimited. The increases are temporary and will be in effect through December 31, 2009 when they will again by evaluated. Participation by banks in this portion of the program is optional, however, Fifth Third Bank has chosen to fully participate. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an
