The Interbank Deposit Protection Fund

What happens to your money if your bank fails? Want to know whether you'll be reimbursed and how much?

Explore the deposit protection scheme you can rely on in the event your bank experiences financial difficulties.

What is the Interbank Deposit Protection Fund?

The Interbank Deposit Protection Fund (FITD) is a private consortium whose main role is to guarantee deposits held by customers of banks placed under compulsory administrative liquidation (a procedure that involves selling off the bank's assets).

From its creation in 1987 to 2022, the FITD protected citizens' savings totalling €29 billion.

Banca d'Italia exercises specific supervisory powers over deposit guarantee schemes.

The Fund operates through contributions paid annually (at a minimum) by participating banks, as set out in the Fund's Statute. The amount each bank pays depends on the volume and risk profile of the protected deposits it holds – the larger and riskier the bank, the more it contributes.

The FITD may also request extraordinary contributions from member banks if needed to reimburse protected deposits and if regular resources are insufficient.

By law, the Fund must also have access to alternative short-term financing to meet its obligations if necessary.

What the FITD guarantees

The Fund uses members' contributions to protect bank deposits, specifically money held by individuals and non-financial companies in the following forms:

• current accounts;
• savings or deposit accounts;
• bank drafts (assegni circolari);
• certificates of deposit;
• prepaid cards, if linked to an IBAN;

The maximum coverage is €100,000 per depositor per bank.

If your account is jointly held, the balance is allocated to each joint account holder in equal shares. The share of the joint accounts is added to the other deposits of the individual depositor for the purpose of applying the €100,000 guarantee.

Amounts above €100,000 are not reimbursed by the Fund. However, you may still recover part of the excess during the liquidation of the bank's assets, depending on what is available.

How reimbursements are made

Reimbursement applies only in the event of a compulsory administrative liquidation of a bank. It is made within seven working days from the date the liquidation takes legal effect. You do not need to file a claim or pay any fees – the process is handled automatically by the FITD.

The refund is issued via a member bank. You may choose to receive it by:

• bank transfer to an account with another bank;
• bank draft (assegno circolare);
• cash (within legal cash limits).

Other types of intervention by the fund

To protect depositors, the FITD may intervene in other ways, including:

• preventive measures – e.g., before a bank becomes insolvent. The Fund may provide loans, guarantees or acquire shares to keep the bank operating, provided there is a credible recovery plan.
• alternative measures – e.g., supporting the transfer of business units. This allows the continued access to funds by transferring deposits and liabilities to another bank.
• contributions to resolution financing – an alternative to liquidation, involving the restructuring of the failing bank. (As of now, the FITD has never used this option.)

Protection of dormant accounts

For deposit protection purposes, an account is considered dormant if no transactions have been made in the 24 months prior to the liquidation order.

In these cases, reimbursement is made within six months from the liquidation date. No refund is due for accounts with balances under €100.

What happens in the event of a bail-in

A bail-in is a rescue mechanism that aims to avoid a bank's collapse. Losses are first borne by:

• shareholders (the bank's owners);
• bondholders (the bank's creditors);
• and finally, depositors with balances over €100,000.