More Americans Say Bank Deposit Insurance Too High at $250,000
More Americans (34 percent) say U.S. bank deposit insurance is too high at $250,000, compared to 22 percent who say it should be higher, says a new Rasmussen survey.
However, 9 out of 10 Americans (87 percent) support the policy of safety nets for their bank accounts through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Deposit insurance was pegged at $100,000 for 28 years before lawmakers raised it to $250,000 at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. Two years later, that amount was made permanent.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 1,000 adults focused on how Americans view U.S. banks, the overseers of their hard-earned money.
Americans currently carry government insurance on up to $250,000 of their money for each deposit ownership category per insured bank.
Few Americans are aware that on Dec. 31, 2012, much broader bank-deposit protection came to an end. As scheduled, the unlimited insurance coverage for “noninterest-bearing” transaction accounts provided under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act expired after two years.
Deposits held in noninterest-bearing transaction account are now aggregated with any interest-bearing deposits a customer may hold in the same ownership category, and the combined total insured up to$250,000.
The Rasmussen survey also found that 50 percent of Americans favor a plan to break up the 12 megabanks, which now control about 69 percent of the banking industry.
Twenty-three percent oppose breaking up the largest banks, while another 27 percent are undecided.
A mechanism for the orderly break-up of mega-banks is authorized under the Dodd-Frank reform. The law grants the FDIC the authority to seize and dismantle big financial firms to avoid another taxpayer bailout of Wall Street banks. That authority extends to nonbank firms, such as insurance companies.