FACTBOX - European bank deposit schemes

(Reuters) - EU finance ministers, groping for a confidence-boosting response to the global financial crisis, were debating a sizeable hike in minimum levels of bank deposit insurance across the 27 European Union countries.

Here are details of bank deposit guarantee schemes in some European countries:

AUSTRIA:

-- Austria said on Sunday it would follow Germany in guaranteeing the deposits of retail savers. However, a decision regarding the new level of the deposit guarantee would be made only after Monday's meeting of EU finance ministers.

-- Deposits are currently guaranteed up to 20,000 euros (15,840 pounds). There are several programmes for commercial, cooperative and savings banks, some of which voluntarily offer a higher guarantee.

BULGARIA:

-- The Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund insures depositors for amounts up to 40,000 levs (15,887 pounds) in each bank.

-- All banks that operate in Bulgaria pay annual contributions to the fund. Branches of foreign banks operating in Bulgaria, whose headquarters are in countries where there are no guarantee schemes, also contribute to the fund.

CZECH REPUBLIC: