April 04, 2009

Georgia banks, already struggling amid the recession, are girding themselves for another blow to their bottom lines: higher deposit insurance fees.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has proposed levying a one-time fee on banks nationwide to boost its reserves, which have been depleted by bank failures in the past year. The fee — 0.2 percent of a bank’s total deposits — is more than double the annual fee banks are already paying into the fund.It’s far from chump change. A Georgia community bank with $200 million in deposits would face a $400,000 tab.

Georgia banking leaders estimate the total cost to the state’s banks at about $405 million, more than the $320 million those banks earned all of last year. Nearly half of the 329 banks based in Georgia reported losses last year.Georgia bankers say they understand the need to replenish the FDIC fund, but many are not happy with the proposed plan for doing so. Chuck Lewis, president and CEO of One Georgia Bank in Atlanta, said it’s not fair to force small banks like his to pay up when big Wall Street banks are to blame for the financial crisis.