Deposit insurance is a measure taken by banks in many countries to protect their clients' savings, either fully or in part, against any possible situation that would prevent the bank from returning said savings. Deposit insurance institutions are for the most part government run or established, and may or may not be a part of a country's central bank.
Many national deposit insurance agencies are members of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI), an international organization established to promote deposit insurance, help countries without deposit insurance to establish their own agencies, and promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences between deposit insurers of different countries.
The United States was the first country to establish an official deposit insurance scheme, during a great Depression banking crisis in 1934. By 2003, 88 countries had such schemes.