It's never happened that FDIC didn't pay immediately, and in full. FDIC is, as they say, backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government (note: their web site is http://fdic.gov ...). What seems to happen (from reading the various press releases) is that they appoint a 'receiver bank' who takes over the operations, and in all the cases I could find, branches open the next day for your business. Checks get honored (up to the limits), etc.
The number one question on their FAQ addresses this:
http://www.fdic.gov/about/affaq.html
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Q. What is the FDIC?
A. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) preserves and promotes public confidence in the U.S. financial system by insuring deposits in banks and thrift institutions for at least $100,000; by identifying, monitoring and addressing risks to the deposit insurance funds; and by limiting the effect on the economy and the financial system when a bank or thrift institution fails.
An independent agency of the federal government, the FDIC was created in 1933 in response to the thousands of bank failures that occurred in the 1920s and early 1930s. Since the start of FDIC insurance on January 1, 1934, no depositor has lost a single cent of insured funds as a result of a failure.
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> so I took the early withdrawal penalty from Countrywide and
> moved my CD elsewhere.
One thing I've noticed is that when a bank fails, two things happen:
- Your transferred accounts are considered 'seprately insured' for 6 months after the takeover ... so if you already have an account at the new place, you can have up to $200k before you're on the hook
- Any account that has an early-withdrawal fee can be closed without penalty
So: you probably should have waited :-)
/jordan