The New Zealand government's first-ever retail deposit guarantee scheme came to an uneventful end last night. The guarantee will be replaced with an extended retail deposit guarantee scheme, but with fewer participants and lower levels of protection.Belying the expectations of many, the scheme didn't see any last-minute receiverships from finance companies, especially the smaller ones which looked very vulnerable just a few months ago.To that extent, the scheme was a success, and if the fall of South Canterbury Finance had been averted the government's bailout bill would have been far less than projected.Only seven finance companies have joined the extended scheme, with four being the subjects of mergers.  No bank has joined the extended scheme. Companies had until last night to apply under the extended scheme. It's not known if any applications are now awaiting approval.The extended scheme ends on December 31, 2011.