FDIC Insurance Coverage

FDIC Transaction Account Guarantee Program

First County Bank is participating in the FDIC’s Transaction Account Guarantee Program. Under the program, through December 31, 2010, all noninterest-bearing transaction accounts are fully guaranteed by the FDIC for the entire amount in the account. Coverage under the Transaction Account Guarantee Program is in addition to and separate from the coverage available under the FDIC’s general deposit insurance rules.

• Our bank has chosen to participate in the FDIC’s temporary guarantee of noninterest-bearing accounts. The guarantee also applies to our negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts with interest rates of 0.50 percent or less. This program insures these accounts fully –yes, 100 percent coverage through December 31, 2010.

• In this uncertain environment, we know that FDIC protection is important, and we wanted to provide you with this extra protection.

• We think this added coverage will be particularly valuable to small businesses to assure that their payroll accounts are fully insured.

• We believe that this is a low-cost way to provide extra deposit insurance protection for customers and provide extra assurance that their money is safe.

FDIC Insurance Basics

Deposits with First County Bank are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC protects depositors against the loss of their 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.

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.

Basic Insurance Amount Is $250,000

The basic insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor per insured bank.

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.

All single accounts owned by the same person at the same insured bank are added together and the total is insured up to $250,000.

Total balance: $255,000
Total insured amount: $250,000

Deposits maintained in different categories of legal ownership at the same bank can be separately insured. Therefore, it is possible to have deposits of more than $250,000 at one insured bank and still be fully insured.

Joint Accounts

These are deposit accounts owned by two or more people. If both owners have equal rights to withdraw money from a joint account, each person’s shares of all joint accounts at the same insured bank are added together and the total is insured up to $250,000.

If a couple has a joint checking account and a joint savings account at the same insured bank, each co-owner's shares of the two accounts are added together and insured up to $250,000, providing up to $500,000 in coverage for the couple's joint accounts.

Example: John and Mary have a $520,000 CD at an insured bank. Under FDIC rules, each person's share of each joint account is considered equal unless otherwise stated in the bank’s records. John and Mary each own $260,000 in the joint account category, putting a total of $20,000 ($10,000 for each) over the insurance limit.

Revocable Trust Accounts

The FDIC has adopted an interim regulation simplifying the rules for insuring revocable trust accounts - commonly known as payable-on-death accounts and living trust accounts. The new rules are easier to understand and apply, and provide at least as much coverage as the former rules for revocable trust accounts. The revised rules apply to all existing and future revocable trust accounts at FDIC-insured institutions.

For details, please downloading the following PDF, Deposit Insurance Coverage Changes to FDIC Deposit Insurance for Revocable Trust Accounts, prepared by the FDIC.

Alternative Products

CDARS: a service that First County Bank offers that can help extend the amount of FDIC insurance coverage for customers with deposits in excess of $250,000. Please click here for additional information about CDARS.

Please visit http://www.myFDICinsurance.gov and use EDIE the Estimator to learn more about FDIC insurance coverage.

Please feel free to call our Call Center at (203) 462-4400 Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m for additinal information.