When the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized IndyMac Bank in California last Friday, some nervous customers in Denton wondered if their banking institutions would follow.

Tony R. Clark, chief executive officer of North Star Bank of Texas, said that in the past three days he has received about 50 phone calls from customers worried about their funds.

“We get people scared to death about the media reports — mainly older people to some extent,” Clark said.

Clark explained that IndyMac Bank was a savings and loan entity and dealt with many subprime loans, which was why the FDIC took it over last Friday.

According to news reports, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said last week that the collapse of IndyMac was caused by long-standing practices by the bank, not recent events.

Clark, who said his bank recently had its most profitable six months, recommended people check the FDIC’s Failed Bank List if they are concerned about their accounts.

Despite reassurances, it may still take time to calm fears, some say.

“It is going to be a roller coaster ride,” Clark said. “People do not realize that their money [at IndyMac] is now safer than it ever was now that the government owns them.”

Yet, not every bank is receiving calls.

“I have not really had a lot of reaction from our customers,” said Randy Robinson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Access 1st Capital Bank.

“We’ve not had any calls or had anybody panicking at all,” Robinson said. “One fortunate thing, we’ve only been open eight or nine months and all of the problems with these banks built up over a period of time. All of this is mortgage lending in the subprime market and you don’t see that in a community bank.”

To put people’s fears to rest, the Independent Bankers Association of Texas and the Texas Department of Banking have scheduled a press conference today to provide information regarding the health of the state’s banking industry.

“They [Texas banks] are doing very well, especially the community banks,” said Chris­topher Williston, president and chief executive officer of the Independent Bankers Associ­ation of Texas, a 550-member organization that represents about 85 percent of the community banks in the state.

Williston said his members have received phone calls from customers who said they felt uneasy about the national med­ia reports and just wanted to find out about the health of their bank, including their in­surance.

“Generally, people think that when we say ‘banks,’ that means ‘all banks,’” he said. “We are trying to separate the community bank [from the other lending banks]. Not one out of our 550 members does subprime lending.”

The FDIC insures all depos­its of $100,000 or less. Re­tirement accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s are insured up to $250,000 per person.

LaJuan Williams-Dickerson, a spokeswoman for the FDIC in Washington, D.C., said their office had been bombarded with calls from their banks and customers.

Once customers understood how insurance worked, they would be more at ease, she said.

“Insured deposits are absolutely safe,” she said. “The FDIC, in its 75-year history, had not lost any funds. … Our banks are strong.”

Williams-Dickerson said that customers could find out the value of their deposits by using the Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator, called EDIE on their Web site. The estimator calculates the insurance coverage of bank accounts at each FDIC-insured institution.

“All the customer has to do is provide their account number,” Williams-Dickerson said.

Customers concerned with the status of their accounts should contact their local banking institution.

Clark said that since Denton is more isolated from other areas that are affected by the economic troubles, it will continue to remain steady.

“We happen to be in an incredible area of the country,” he said.

Staff writer Lori Forgay contributed to this report.

KARINA RAMÍREZ can be reached at 940-566-6878. Her e-mail address is kramirez@dentonrc.com .