FDIC Second-Quarter Deposit Data Show Proposed Assessment Rate Hike Not Needed

Washington, D.C. (Sept. 8, 2022) — Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey issued the following statement on the FDIC’s latest Quarterly Banking Profile.

“The FDIC’s second-quarter data support ICBA’s calls for the agency to withdraw its proposal to dramatically increase the rates banks pay to fund the nation’s deposit insurance system.

“With the FDIC’s latest Quarterly Banking Profile showing that the Deposit Insurance Fund reserve ratio rose 3 basis points and deposits declined 1.9 percent from the previous quarter, the reserve ratio is now on the right track to reach its statutorily required rate of 1.35 percent by 2028. This trajectory obviates the need for the agency’s proposal to raise deposit insurance assessments by as much as 50 percent or more for many community banks.

“As ICBA said in its recent comment letter on the proposal, dramatically raising assessment rates would disproportionately affect community banks, unnecessarily restrict community bank lending in local communities, and fail to appropriately account for the large and complex institutions that pose the greatest risk to the Deposit Insurance Fund.

“ICBA and the nation’s community banks will continue pressing the FDIC to reconsider its assessment rate proposal, particularly as the agency’s own data point to a normalization of deposit levels in the wake of pandemic-era emergency assistance programs — indicating the proposal is as unnecessary as it is disproportionately harmful to community banks and the local communities they serve.”

About ICBA

The Independent Community Bankers of America® creates and promotes an environment where community banks flourish. ICBA is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education, and high-quality products and services.

With nearly 50,000 locations nationwide, community banks constitute roughly 99 percent of all banks, employ nearly 700,000 Americans and are the only physical banking presence in one in three U.S. counties. Holding more tan $5.8 trillion in assets, over $4.9 trillion in deposits, and more than $3.5 trillion in loans to consumers, small businesses and the agricultural community, community banks channel local deposits into the Main Streets and neighborhoods they serve, spurring job creation, fostering innovation and fueling their customers’ dreams in communities throughout America. For more information, visit ICBA’s website at www.icba.org.

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