Deposit Insurance - Why IT Exists

Why It Exists

Banks are allowed (and usually encouraged) to lend or invest most of the money deposited with them instead of safe-keeping the full amounts (see fractional-reserve banking). If many of a bank's borrowers fail to repay their loans when due, the bank's creditors, including its depositors, risk loss. Because banks rely on customer deposits that can be withdrawn on little or no notice, banks are prone to a Bank run, where depositors seek to withdraw funds quickly ahead of a possible bank insolvency. Because banking institution failures have the potential to trigger a broad spectrum of harmful events, including economic recessions, policy makers maintain deposit insurance schemes to protect depositors and to give them comfort that their funds are not at risk.

Deposit insurance was formed to protect small unit banks in the United States when branching regulations existed. Banks were restricted by location thus did not reap the benefits coming from economies of scale, namely pooling and netting. To protect local banks in poorer states, the Federal government created deposit insurance.

Many national deposit insurers are members of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI), an international organization established to contribute to the stability of financial systems by promoting international cooperation and to encourage wide international contact among deposit insurers and other interested parties, in particular, IADI.