Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 21, 1990                   TAG: 9006210161
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BANK NOTICE NO THREAT

Headlined "Important Information," the flier from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will detail all the rules for insurance on bank accounts.

But, it doesn't mean your bank is about to take a financial dive.

The FDIC has mandated that every bank and thrift in the country must mail a copy of the statement to every depositor.

Dominion Bank will mail the flier with all account statements during the billing cycle that begins Monday. So will Signet and Sovran banks. Freda Carper, spokeswoman for Crestar, said its mailings will start July 2.

The two pages of rules contain little that is new. They will impact on few depositors but Al Nichols, assistant vice president at Dominion Bank, said, "It could provoke customer anxiety."

Part of the problem, Nichols said, is that the banks have no editorial authority. The FDIC requires mailing of its text without any comment or qualifications.

The FDIC has ruled the job must be finished no later than July 29, when the rules are effective.

Joseph Ward, spokesman for Signet Bank, said the FDIC is undertaking the informational campaign because the agency is now responsible for insuring accounts at thrifts as well as at banks. Thrifts formerly were insured by the now-abolished Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corp. (FSLIC). Accounts remain federally insured up to the limit of $100,000, he said.

Nichols said the most important change is favorable for some.

People who have both an IRA and a Keogh plan in a bank will have $100,000 coverage on each account. Under the old rules, the limit applied to the combined accounts.