BANKING

Banks, Thrifts Disagree Over Deposit Insurance Proposal: Banking industry officials at a Washington hearing insisted that regulators proceed with a proposal to reduce bank payments by $4.4 billion to the federal fund that insures their deposits. But savings and loan associations told the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. hearing that they could be driven into extinction if they must pay substantially more for deposit protection than their bank competitors. The disaccord dramatized for the first time in a public forum the deep divisions between the two sectors over the issue of reduced deposit insurance premiums. The premiums support the federal deposit insurance system that insures customers’ deposits up to $100,000. The proposed reduction in banks’ FDIC premiums is possible because the insurance fund has met a goal of 1.25% of deposits. .