Yes. FDIC insurance on multiple accounts can protect well above $250,000 at a single bank, because the $250,000 limit applies per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. Accounts you hold in the same ownership category at the same bank are added together and insured up to $250,000 combined; accounts in different ownership categories each get their own $250,000 limit.1FDIC.gov. Deposit Insurance FAQs A married couple using single, joint, retirement, and trust accounts at one institution can insure well into seven figures without ever opening an account elsewhere.
How the $250,000 Limit Is Counted
Within a single ownership category at a single bank, the FDIC adds every deposit together. A checking account with $80,000, a savings account with $120,000, and a CD worth $70,000, all in your name alone at the same bank, add up to $270,000. Only $250,000 is insured. The remaining $20,000 is exposed if the bank fails.2Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Understanding Deposit Insurance
The $250,000 figure covers principal plus any interest accrued through the date the bank closes. For CDs and high-yield savings, accumulated interest can push a balance over the limit without you noticing.3FDIC.gov. Your Insured Deposits
Branches don’t help. Deposits at different branches of the same bank are not separately insured; every branch operating under the same charter counts as one bank.3FDIC.gov. Your Insured Deposits And FDIC coverage protects deposit accounts only. Investments bought through an insured bank, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, life insurance, and crypto, are not covered. Neither are the contents of safe deposit boxes.4FDIC.gov. Financial Products That Are Not Insured by the FDIC
The Ownership Categories That Multiply Your Coverage
The FDIC recognizes more than a dozen ownership categories, each with its own $250,000 limit at each bank. Deposits in different categories are insured independently, even when they belong to the same person at the same institution.2Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Understanding Deposit Insurance For most households, four categories do the real work.
Single Accounts
A single account is any deposit owned by one person in their individual name. All of your individually owned checking, savings, CD, and money market balances at the same bank combine into one $250,000 bucket.
Sole proprietorship accounts, including “Doing Business As” accounts, are treated as single accounts belonging to the owner. If you run a sole proprietorship with $150,000 in business checking and also hold $120,000 in a personal savings account at the same bank, the FDIC adds them to $270,000 and insures $250,000.5FDIC. Financial Institution Employees Guide to Deposit Insurance – Single Accounts
Joint Accounts
Joint accounts are insured separately from each co-owner’s single accounts. The FDIC credits each co-owner with $250,000 of the joint balance, so a joint account held by two people carries up to $500,000 in coverage. The FDIC assumes equal shares unless the bank’s records state otherwise.6FDIC. Joint Accounts
A married couple with a joint savings account of $350,000 and a joint CD of $150,000 at the same bank is fully insured for the combined $500,000. That coverage is entirely separate from whatever single-account coverage each spouse holds at the same bank.6FDIC. Joint Accounts
Certain Retirement Accounts
The FDIC groups several self-directed retirement account types into one ownership category: Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, self-directed Keogh plans, self-directed 401(k) plans, and Section 457 deferred compensation plans. Deposits across all of these at the same bank are added together and insured up to $250,000 total.7FDIC. Certain Retirement Accounts
Naming beneficiaries on an IRA does not increase the insurance. A Roth IRA of $100,000 and a Traditional IRA of $180,000 at the same bank still combine to $280,000, so $30,000 is uninsured regardless of beneficiary designations.7FDIC. Certain Retirement Accounts
Trust Accounts
Trust accounts offer the most generous coverage for families. Under rules that took effect on April 1, 2024, the FDIC insures trust deposits at $250,000 per unique eligible beneficiary, up to a maximum of $1,250,000 per owner at any single bank. The formula is number of owners times number of beneficiaries times $250,000, capped at $1,250,000 per owner.8Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Trust Accounts
This category covers both formal living trusts and informal designations like Payable-on-Death (POD) or In-Trust-For (ITF) accounts. A single owner naming three unique beneficiaries gets $750,000 in coverage. A married couple jointly owning a trust that names five beneficiaries can secure up to $2,500,000 at one bank.8Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Trust Accounts
Eligible beneficiaries must be living people, charitable organizations recognized by the IRS, or IRS-recognized nonprofit entities. For-profit businesses and pet trusts don’t count. The owner cannot also be a beneficiary of the same trust for insurance calculation purposes. For informal POD or ITF accounts, each beneficiary must be specifically named in the bank’s records.9FDIC.gov. Trust Accounts
Stacking Coverage at One Bank: A Worked Example
A married couple banking at a single institution can structure accounts across categories to insure a substantial amount:
- Husband’s single accounts: $250,000
- Wife’s single accounts: $250,000
- Joint accounts: $500,000 ($250,000 per co-owner)
- Husband’s IRA: $250,000
- Wife’s IRA: $250,000
- Husband’s revocable trust with 5 beneficiaries: $1,250,000
- Wife’s revocable trust with 5 beneficiaries: $1,250,000
That is $4,000,000 of coverage at one bank. Most households won’t fill every category, but even using just single, joint, and retirement accounts gives a couple $1,500,000 of coverage at a single institution.
Business and Entity Accounts Get Their Own Lane
Deposits held by a legally distinct entity, such as a corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association, are insured separately from the personal accounts of the entity’s owners. Each qualifying entity gets its own $250,000 limit, as long as the entity is engaged in independent activity.10FDIC. Corporation, Partnership and Unincorporated Association Accounts
A business owner with $200,000 in a personal single account and $250,000 in a corporate operating account at the same bank is fully insured for $450,000, because the corporation is a separate legal entity. Sole proprietorships do not qualify for this separate treatment; only entities legally distinct from their owners get their own category.10FDIC. Corporation, Partnership and Unincorporated Association Accounts
Spreading Deposits Across Multiple Banks
The $250,000 per-category limit resets at each separately chartered FDIC-insured bank. A depositor with $250,000 in a single account at Bank A and $250,000 in a single account at Bank B has $500,000 fully insured, because the two banks are independent institutions with separate charters.2Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Understanding Deposit Insurance
Opening accounts at a dozen banks is tedious. Deposit placement services like IntraFi’s ICS and CDARS automate it. You deposit money at one bank, and the service splits it into chunks under $250,000 and places them across a network of participating FDIC-insured banks, giving you multi-million-dollar coverage through a single relationship.11IntraFi. ICS and CDARS ICS handles demand deposit and money market accounts; CDARS handles CDs. Ask your bank whether it participates in a deposit placement network.
A Word on Fintech Apps and Neobanks
Fintech companies and neobanks are not FDIC-insured institutions themselves. Some partner with FDIC-insured banks to hold customer deposits, but the FDIC has been explicit: funds you send to a non-bank company are not insured unless and until that company actually deposits them at an FDIC-insured bank. If the fintech fails before your money reaches the partner bank, FDIC coverage does not apply.12FDIC.gov. Banking With Apps
Before trusting a fintech app with large balances, verify which FDIC-insured bank actually holds the deposits and confirm that bank’s insured status. If the app spreads deposits across multiple partner banks, understand exactly how those allocations work so you can track total exposure at each one.
How to Check Your Own Coverage
The FDIC offers a free online tool called EDIE, the Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator, that calculates your coverage on a per-bank basis. Enter your accounts, ownership types, and balances, and EDIE tells you what is insured and what isn’t. It handles personal, business, and government accounts.13FDIC. Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE)
To confirm that a bank is actually FDIC-insured, use the FDIC’s BankFind tool at banks.data.fdic.gov. That check is especially worthwhile for newer online institutions and fintech companies that claim FDIC coverage through a partner bank.
Credit Unions Are a Separate System
If your deposits are at a credit union rather than a bank, FDIC insurance does not apply. Credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Administration through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. The structure mirrors the FDIC’s: $250,000 per member, per insured credit union, with separate coverage for IRA and Keogh retirement accounts up to $250,000.14National Credit Union Administration. Share Insurance Fund Overview