Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Headquarters: 550 17th St. NW
Washington, DC 20429
Phone: 877-275-3342
Employees: 7,254
Chairman: Martin Gruenberg
Website: http://www.fdic.gov
Career Page
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency created by Congress that maintains the stability and public confidence in the nation’s banks by insuring deposits, examining and supervising financial institutions, and managing receiverships.
The FDIC preserves and promotes public confidence in the U.S. financial system by insuring deposits in banks and thrift institutions for at least $250,000; by identifying, monitoring and addressing risks to the deposit insurance funds; and by limiting the effect on the economy and the financial system when a bank or thrift institution fails.
The FDIC receives no Congressional appropriations – it is funded by premiums that banks and thrift institutions pay for deposit insurance coverage and from earnings on investments in U.S. Treasury securities. With an insurance fund totaling more than $49 billion, the FDIC insures more than $3 trillion of deposits in U.S. banks and thrifts – deposits in virtually every bank and thrift in the country. Savings, checking and other deposit accounts, when combined, are generally insured to $250,000 per depositor in each bank or thrift the FDIC insures. (On October 3, 2008, FDIC deposit insurance was increased from $100,000 to $250,000 per depositor.)
The FDIC insures deposits only. It does not insure securities, mutual funds or similar types of investments that banks and thrift institutions may offer. The FDIC directly examines and supervises over 5,000 banks and savings banks, more than half of the institutions in the banking system. Banks can be chartered by the states or by the federal government. Banks chartered by states also have the choice of whether to join the Federal Reserve System. The FDIC is the primary federal regulator of banks that are chartered by the states that do not join the Federal Reserve System. In addition, the FDIC is the back-up supervisor for the remaining insured banks and thrift institutions.
The FDIC is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but conducts much of its business in six regional offices and in field offices around the country.
The FDIC had an operating budget of $2.3 billion in 2013.
There were 140 bank failures in the U.S. in 2009.
The FDIC is managed by a five-person Board of Directors, all of whom are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, with no more than three being from the same political party.
History
An independent agency of the federal government, the FDIC was created in 1933 in response to the thousands of bank failures that occurred in the 1920s and early 1930s. Since the start of FDIC insurance on January 1, 1934, no depositor has lost a single cent of insured funds as a result of a failure.
The amount of deposits insured by the FDIC was raised from $100,000 to $250,000 in October 2008 due to several bank failures and the stock market collapse.
Benefits
- Federal Employees Health (FEHB) Insurance Program, consisting of options such as Managed Fee-for-Service, Point-of-Service, HMO, and High-Deductible Health Plans coupled with a Health Spending Account.
- Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program, which provides basic and optional coverage for you and optional coverage for your dependents
- FDIC Choice - a Flexible Cafeteria Benefits Plan, offering Dental, Vision, Life, Long-Term Disability, Health Care Flexible Spending Account, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts
- Federal Retirement System plans
- Federal Thrift Savings Plan and FDIC Savings Plan (401(k))
- Lifecycle Account, Alternative Work Schedule, Telework programs
- Paid holidays, Annual Leave (Vacation) and Sick Leave
Updated April 4, 2014
