Wisconsin Bankers Association: Wisconsin banks support deposit insurance increase

For more information, contact Eric Skrum, 608/441-1216, eskrum@wisbank.com

Depository banks urge passage of Economic Stabilization package

(MADISON) – Kurt Bauer, president/CEO of Wisconsin Bankers Association, issued the following statement regarding the impending vote in the US Senate on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.

“Wisconsin FDIC-insured depository banks – which are very different from non-FDIC-insured Wall Street investment banks – support the announced proposal to temporarily raise the current ceiling for deposit insurance from $100,000 to $250,000.

There are two points the public should understand about the proposed deposit insurance increase:

1) The FDIC insurance fund is capitalized through premiums paid by banks, not by taxpayers.

2) Even without Congressional action, deposit insurance coverage can exceed $100,000 depending on how accounts are structured and titled. For example, a family of four could structure accounts in a single FDIC-insured institution to receive over $1 million in deposit coverage.

Wisconsin banks urge the Senate and House to approve the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act with the increased FDIC coverage. Doing so will restore stability and confidence to the financial markets and reassure the public that the safest place for their money is in a federally insured depository institution.”