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The lines outside this IndyMac branch in Pasadena California came as a shock to many Americans who thought all their money was safe. SOUNDBITE: Ben Betters, of Altadena, California, United States, saying (english): "Well, I'm old enough to remember my grandparents talking about the fall, and the Great Depression of 1929, so I was concerned about the bank totally closing, not being able to get the money." SOUNDBITE: Diane Pires, of Tempe, Arizona, saying (English): "My day started off at 3 AM, I left Arizona to drive over to Pasadena. It's a five hour drive over here, so I've been having feelings when I heard this." President Bush sought to calm a nervous nation: SOUNDBITE: " The depositor must understand that the federal government, through the FDIC, stands behind the deposit up to $100,000." The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC also offered reassurance: Spokesperson David Barr: SOUNDBITE: David Barr, Spokesperson, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, saying (English): "The FDIC has about ninety banks on our problem bank lists, historically, 87 percent of those banks do not fail." But that list is kept private to avoid a run on the banks, leaving many to wonder whether their own savings are safe. Certified Financial Planner Scott Kahan: SOUNDBITE: Scott Kahan, Principal, Financial Asset Management Corp. saying (English): "Citibank and JP Morgan, they are not going out of business tomorrow. The smaller more regional banks is probably where people need to be a little bit more concerned and that's where you need to do some investigation to see what kind of loan portfolio do they have, have there been defaults on their loans". According to the FDIC, IndyMac is the fifth US bank to fail in 2008 and the largest since a savings and loan crisis in the 1980s. IndyMac did a heavy business in high-risk mortgages. For people caught up IndyMac's failure, the news is not all grim. Accounts up to$100,000 are insured, as are some retirement accounts up to $250,000. Savers who split their money at different banks, get $100,000 of coverage at each bank. But mutual funds and investments like annuities-- where investors may have even more of their money stashed -- are not insured. Bobbi Rebell, Reuters, New York.