Deposit Insurance is a form of protection for small depositors in the event of a bank failure. It works similar to regular insurance in that when a bad/loss event occurs, the insured person (in this case the depositor) has a claim.
The major difference between deposit insurance and regular insurance is that the financial institution, rather than the depositor, pays the premiums.
All financial institutions which engage in the business of receiving deposits and which are licensed under the Financial Institutions Act 1995 have deposit insurance. Currently, eligible deposits in the following financial institutions are insured:
- Bank of Baroda (Guyana) Inc.
- Bank of Nova Scotia (Guyana branch)
- Citizens Bank Guyana Inc.
- Demerara Bank Limited
- Guyana Bank for Trade & Industry Limited
- Hand-in-Hand Trust Corporation Inc.
- New Building Society Limited
- Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited