FDIC insurance
Also called: deposit insurance, FDIC coverage
FDIC insurance is federal protection for deposits at FDIC-insured banks. If an insured bank fails, eligible deposits are covered up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category, including principal and accrued interest.
By Beacon · Updated
How it works
It covers deposit products: checking and savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit and official items such as cashier’s checks. It does not cover non-deposit products, even ones bought at an insured bank, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, life insurance policies and crypto assets. Safe deposit boxes and their contents are not covered either.
The limit applies separately to each ownership category, such as single accounts, joint accounts, certain retirement accounts and trust accounts. Balances in the same category at the same bank are added together, and opening another account or using another branch of that bank does not add coverage. Deposits at a separately chartered insured bank are insured separately. Credit unions have a parallel system run by the NCUA, with the same $250,000 standard amount.
Deposit insurance is protection against an insured bank’s failure, not against every loss; unauthorized transfers may instead be covered by separate consumer protections. Money kept through a nonbank app or payment company is insured only if it is actually deposited at an insured bank and pass-through conditions, such as records identifying each owner, are met. The FDIC’s BankFind tool shows whether a bank is insured.
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Sources and further reading
Examples are illustrative and focus on U.S. personal finance. This page is educational, not individual financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Read our editorial approach or report a correction.