Fdic Lowers Insurance Premiums

The nation’s healthy banks could save up to $4.4 billion annually in premiums for deposit insurance under a rate structure approved Tuesday.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board agreed to slash premiums banks pay into the insurance fund as early as September.

The FDIC manages the fund that insures deposits in member banks. The fund encountered perilous times in the early 1990s, but is now healthy. About 92 percent of banks will pay the lower rate.