The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp yesterday said it would charge US banks an emergency fee and increase its insurance premiums to shore up reserves depleted by a string of bank failures.

The FDIC's board approved the emergency fee, which will cost banks 20 cents for every $100 of insured deposits, in response to estimates that further bank failures could come close to wiping out the agency's deposit insurance fund this year. The agency estimates bank failures could cost the insurance fund about $65bn by 2013.