In this uncertain economic environment FDIC protection has become a priority for many of our customers. Because your peace of mind is important to us, Equity Bank has chosen to participate in the FDIC's temporary guarantee of noninterest bearing checking accounts program. This program insures the entire balance of noninterest bearing accounts--yes, 100% FDIC coverage on these accounts through December 2013. This added coverage will be particularly valuable to small businesses to assure that their payroll accounts are fully insured.

The guarantee also applies to our negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts with interest rates of 0.50% or less. NOW accounts with interest rates over 0.50% on any of the tiered-rate levels are not eligible for this program, but are insured up to $250,000 until December 31, 2013.

We think this program is a low-cost way to provide extra deposit insurance protection for our customers as well as the assurance that your money is safe.

Coverage under the Transaction Account Guarantee Program is in addition to and separate from the coverage available under the FDIC's general deposit insurance rules. Go to www.fdic.gov for more details or contact us at 1.888.733.5041.