In recent days there has been talk of federal deposit insurance for consumer deposits in financial institutions throughout the media. President Bush, Secretary of the Treasury Paulson, and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Bernanke have been quoted, appropriately, as saying that consumers should consider their deposits safe in FDIC-insured accounts.

My purpose for writing is to respectfully draw your attention, and that of your readers, to the fact that members' funds in federally insured credit unions are just as safe as those that are insured by the FDIC. Members' funds at the nation's 7,972 federally insured credit unions are guaranteed under the NCUSIF to the same levels and safety as FDIC-insured accounts. NCUSIF, like the FDIC, is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.

Hundreds of thousands of Daytonians are served by federally insured credit unions throughout the region. It is important that these members understand that their deposits are federally insured, and safe, and that America's credit union industry is alive, well, and thriving despite these troubled times.