FDIC Snapshot
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency created by the Congress to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system by: insuring deposits, examining and supervising financial institutions for safety and soundness and consumer protection, making large and complex financial institutions resolvable, and by managing receiverships.
The FDIC is like money in the bank, only better. The Federal Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures deposits and retirement accounts in member accounts for up to $250,000, protecting depositors in the event of bank failure. It also supervises financial institutions and manages failed banks. The FDIC is funded by member bank premiums for deposit insurance coverage and from earnings on investments in US Treasury securities. It insures more than $3 trillion of deposits, covering virtually every bank in the country. (It does not cover mutual funds, securities, or related investments.) An independent federal agency, the FDIC was created in 1933 in response to bank runs during the Great Depression.