Accounts of up to $250,000 at credit unions and banks would be permanently insured beyond the current expiration date of 2013, as a result of an amendment approved late yesterday by the House-Senate conference committee on regulatory overhaul.
The committee extended for two years the FDIC's unlimited coverage of noninterest bearing transaction accounts.
At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, lawmakers temporarily raised the cap from $100,000 to $250,000 as a way to instill public confidence.
The changes in insurance were approved on the first day of legislative action by the committee that is reconciling the House and Senate versions of the bills passed by the two chambers. Most of the issues of issues of special interest to credit unions, such as language on interchange fees and structure and scope of the new consumer financial regulator are scheduled to be discussed next week.
