FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. That ceiling applies to deposit products like checking, savings, money market deposit accounts, and CDs. It is not a limit per account, and it is not a limit per branch. If you hold $150,000 in checking and $120,000 in savings in your own name at the same bank, the FDIC adds them together and $20,000 falls outside coverage.{1FDIC. Understanding Deposit Insurance}
The $250,000 figure has been in place since October 3, 2008, when Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. The Dodd-Frank Act made the increase permanent on July 21, 2010.{2Federal Register. Deposit Insurance Regulations; Permanent Increase in Standard Coverage Amount}
What Counts as a Covered Deposit
Coverage attaches automatically to traditional deposit products at an FDIC-insured bank. You do not apply for it. The covered products are checking accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, and certain prepaid cards. A prepaid card qualifies only if it is registered with the issuer and the underlying funds are actually held at an FDIC-insured bank.{3FDIC. Deposit Insurance FAQs} Insurance covers principal plus any interest accrued through the date the bank fails.
Plenty of products sold through banks are not covered, and this is where people get caught. The FDIC does not insure:
- Stocks and bonds
- Mutual funds
- Annuities
- Life insurance policies
- Crypto assets
- Municipal securities
- Safe deposit box contents
- U.S. Treasury bills, bonds, and notes (these are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, but not by the FDIC){}4FDIC. Financial Products Not Insured
Investment products sold by bank representatives come with a required disclosure that they are not FDIC-insured, not guaranteed by the bank, and subject to investment risk.{4FDIC. Financial Products Not Insured}
How Ownership Categories Multiply Your Coverage
The $250,000 limit is applied separately to each ownership category you hold at a given bank. That is why one person can be insured for well above $250,000 at a single institution.{5FDIC. General Principles of Insurance Coverage}
Single Accounts
A single account is a deposit owned by one person with no named beneficiaries. All single accounts at the same bank are combined under one $250,000 limit. Sole proprietorship and DBA accounts also fall in this category and are added to the owner’s personal single-account balances, because the business has no separate legal identity.{6FDIC. Single Accounts}
Joint Accounts
Joint accounts are insured up to $250,000 per co-owner, so a two-person joint account carries up to $500,000. The FDIC assumes equal ownership unless the bank’s records say otherwise, and each co-owner’s shares across all joint accounts at the same bank are added together. All co-owners must be living people with equal withdrawal rights.{7FDIC. Insured Deposits}
Trust Accounts
Trust rules changed on April 1, 2024. Revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, payable-on-death (POD) accounts, and in-trust-for (ITF) accounts are now a single “trust accounts” category. Coverage is $250,000 per owner, per unique eligible beneficiary, capped at $1,250,000 per owner at one bank once five or more beneficiaries are named. The formula is owners × beneficiaries × $250,000, up to that cap.{8FDIC. Trust Accounts} One person with a revocable trust naming three beneficiaries is insured for up to $750,000. Eligible beneficiaries must be living people, charities, or qualifying nonprofits, and an owner cannot double as a beneficiary of their own trust.
Retirement Accounts
Certain retirement accounts form their own category. Traditional and Roth IRAs, self-directed 401(k) plans, self-directed Keogh plans, and Section 457 plan accounts are added together for a single $250,000 limit, separate from your single or joint accounts.{9FDIC. Financial Products Insured} Only the cash deposit portion is insured. Mutual funds, ETFs, or stocks held inside an IRA at an insured bank are not FDIC-covered.{10Investopedia. Is My IRA FDIC-Insured}
Business Accounts
Corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and unincorporated associations each get up to $250,000 per bank, separate from the personal deposits of their owners. The entity has to be engaged in a legitimate independent business activity, not set up solely to stretch deposit insurance, and adding partners or signatories does not increase the coverage amount.{11FDIC. Corporation, Partnership, and Unincorporated Association Accounts}
Other Categories
Government deposits, employee benefit plans, mortgage servicing accounts for principal and interest payments, and annuity contract accounts each have their own rules. Employee benefit plans are insured on a pass-through basis, with each participant’s non-contingent interest covered up to $250,000.{12FDIC. Employee Benefit Plan Accounts} Mortgage servicing accounts are insured up to $250,000 per borrower, and that coverage does not aggregate with the borrower’s other deposits.{13FDIC. Mortgage Servicing Accounts}
Per Bank, Not Per Branch
Spreading money across three branches of the same bank does nothing for your coverage. The $250,000 limit applies per FDIC-insured bank, and every branch of that bank shares one limit per ownership category.{7FDIC. Insured Deposits} Deposits at a separately chartered institution are insured independently. You can confirm two banks are genuinely separate by checking their FDIC certificate numbers in the FDIC’s BankFind tool.{14U.S. News. How Do You Insure Funds More Than the FDIC Limit} Some bank brands share a single charter, which is why checking the certificate matters.
Getting Past $250,000
If you need to insure more than the standard limit, you have several options:
- Combine ownership categories at one bank. A married couple can hold individual accounts ($250,000 each), a joint account (up to $500,000), and trust or retirement accounts, which together can comfortably exceed $1 million at a single institution.{}15Bankrate. Ways to Insure Excess Deposits
- Open accounts at separately chartered banks. Each bank carries its own $250,000 per category.{}1FDIC. Understanding Deposit Insurance
- Use a deposit network service. Programs like IntraFi’s Insured Cash Sweep (ICS) and CDARS split large deposits into sub-$250,000 pieces and place them across a network of FDIC-insured banks, with one statement and one banking relationship for the depositor.{}16IntraFi. Keep Deposits Safe With ICS
- Use a brokerage sweep program. Many large brokerages sweep uninvested cash into FDIC-insured accounts at multiple partner banks, extending coverage past $250,000.{}15Bankrate. Ways to Insure Excess Deposits
Money Held Through a Fintech App
Fintech companies and neobanks are not themselves FDIC-insured. Funds you hold through such a service can qualify for pass-through FDIC insurance, but only if the money actually sits at an FDIC-insured bank and records properly identify each end user and their balance. When those conditions are not met, the deposits may be treated as belonging to the fintech, and individual users may be largely uninsured.{17FDIC. Banking Through Third-Party Apps}
FDIC insurance also does not protect against the failure of the fintech itself. If a non-bank company goes bankrupt, your money can be tied up in court proceedings even if the underlying bank is perfectly healthy. A joint statement from the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC in July 2024 said banks are responsible for making sure their fintech partners do not mislead consumers about insurance coverage, and that omitting the distinction between a bank failure and a non-bank failure can constitute a misrepresentation under FDIC rules.{18Federal Reserve. Joint Statement on Banks’ Arrangements With Third Parties}
What Actually Happens If Your Bank Fails
When an FDIC-insured bank fails, the FDIC is appointed receiver and moves fast. Most closures happen on a Friday, and insured depositors typically have access to their money by the following Monday. The agency’s stated goal is access within two business days.{19FDIC. FDIC Quarterly: Claims Article}
Usually a healthy bank purchases the failed bank’s assets and assumes its deposits in a purchase-and-assumption transaction. Your account simply becomes an account at the acquiring bank, with no interruption to direct deposits or outstanding checks. If no buyer is found, the FDIC pays insured depositors directly by mailing checks or moving funds to another institution. You generally do not need to file a claim for insured amounts; the FDIC uses the bank’s own records.
Money above the insured limit is a different story. The FDIC issues a receiver’s certificate as proof of claim, and uninsured depositors are paid as the failed bank’s assets are liquidated. Recovery is not guaranteed and can take considerably longer. Unclaimed insurance payments remain available for 18 months before being turned over to the state.
In rare cases the FDIC can protect all deposits at a failed bank. That happened on March 12, 2023, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg invoked the systemic risk exception under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to make all depositors at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank whole.{20FDIC. Joint Statement by Treasury, Federal Reserve, and FDIC} The authority at 12 U.S.C. § 1823(c)(4)(G) requires the Treasury Secretary to determine that action is necessary to avoid serious adverse effects on the economy or financial stability.{21GAO. FDIC’s Use of the Systemic Risk Exception} Shareholders and certain unsecured debtholders were not protected, and no later bank failure has triggered the same exception. Depositors above $250,000 should not plan around it.
Credit Unions Are a Different System
If your money is at a credit union, the FDIC is not involved. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) runs the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which provides equivalent coverage of up to $250,000 per member-owner, per credit union, per ownership category, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.{22NCUA. Share Insurance Coverage} Some state-chartered credit unions carry private insurance rather than federal coverage, so verify your institution’s status using the NCUA’s Credit Union Locator.
Check Your Own Number
The FDIC’s Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE), at edie.fdic.gov, calculates exactly how much of your money at a specific bank is insured and whether anything is uninsured. It handles personal, business, and government accounts and recognizes every ownership category. It does not store your information and is not linked to any bank’s database.{23FDIC. FDIC Consumer News} If your accounts span more than one bank, run EDIE once for each. For questions, the FDIC’s consumer line is 1-877-275-3342.