<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a United States government corporation providing deposit insurance to depositors in US banks . The FDIC was created by the 1933 Banking Act during the Great Depression (June 16, 1933) to restore trust in the American banking system; more than one - third of banks failed in the years before the FDIC's creation, and bank runs were common . The insurance limit was initially US $2,500 per ownership category . Since the passage of the Dodd--Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2011, the FDIC insures deposits in member banks up to US $250,000 per ownership category . </P> <P> The FDIC and its reserves are not funded by public funds; member banks' insurance dues are the FDIC's primary source of funding . The FDIC also has a US $100 billion line of credit with the United States Department of the Treasury . Only banks are insured by the FDIC; credit unions are insured up to the same insurance limit by the National Credit Union Administration, which is also a government agency . </P>

Who was the federal deposit insurance corporation intended to help