Q: Are all types of GSB deposit accounts fully insured because of the FDIC and DIF insurance?
A: Yes. All types and classes of deposit accounts are covered, including savings accounts, checking and NOW accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs), money market deposit accounts, and retirement deposit accounts.

Q: Are there any forms, applications, or special account titles required to receive full deposit insurance?
A: No. There are no forms, applications, or special account title requirements. Full deposit insurance protection works simply. You automatically receive this added insurance benefit when you make any deposit at Greenfield Savings Bank, a DIF member bank.

Q: How financially strong is the DIF?
A: No depositor has ever lost a penny in a bank insured by both the FDIC and the DIF. The DIF has over $300 million in assets, plus an additional $100 million of reinsurance. During the recession of the early 1990s, the worst financial period in the history of the Massachusetts savings bank industry, the DIF paid out more than $50 million to protect over 6,500 depositors in 19 failed member banks. Yet the DIF emerged from this period financially stronger than before the recession began.

Q: The FDIC increased coverage of “self-directed retirement account” deposits from $100,000 to $250,000 per depositor. Does the higher FDIC insurance limit affect DIF insurance of these accounts?
A: Self-directed retirement account deposits include traditional and Roth Individual Retirement Accounts(IRAs), Simplified Employee Pension Accounts (SEP IRAs), Section 457 deferred compensation plan accounts, self-directed Keogh plan accounts, and self-directed defined contribution plan accounts. All deposits, including self-directed retirement accounts and all other types of deposit accounts, continue to be fully insured in DIF member banks. Whether the applicable FDIC limit is $100,000 or $250,000, DIF insurance picks up wherever FDIC coverage leaves off.

Q: Does the DIF insure investments in bank mutual funds or annuities?
A: No. Both the FDIC and the DIF insure only bank deposits, and do not insure bank mutual funds or annuity products.

Q: Is the DIF a federal or state agency?
A: No. The DIF is a private, industry-sponsored insurance company and is not backed by the federal government or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Q: How are the assets of the DIF invested?
A: Massachusetts law and the DIF’s investment policies restrict the DIF to investments suitable for an organization that insures the public’s deposits, primarily U.S. Treasury and federal agency obligations. DIF investments are regularly reviewed by its Board of Directors to assure conformity with both the law and DIF investment policies.

Q: Does the DIF monitor the financial condition of its member banks?
A: The DIF receives financial reports from its member banks on a quarterly basis. In addition, formal examinations are conducted regularly by the FDIC and the Massachusetts Division of Banks. The DIF meets regularly with officials of both agencies to review and evaluate the condition of its member banks.

Q: Is the DIF subject to any form of regulatory scrutiny?
A: Yes. The DIF is examined annually by the Massachusetts Division of Banks and audited by an independent auditor.