FDIC insurance protects deposits at member banks if the bank fails. The standard limit is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. You don't apply for it or pay for it. It covers your deposits automatically, and since the FDIC was created in 1933, no depositor has lost a penny of insured funds.
The limit is simple. How it adds up across accounts is where people get confused.
What's covered and what isn't
Covered: checking accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, CDs, and cashier's checks issued by the bank.
Not covered: stocks, bonds, mutual funds (including money market funds), annuities, life insurance, crypto assets, and the contents of a safe deposit box. This holds even if you bought those products through your bank.
Credit unions have the same $250,000 coverage through the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).
How the limit stacks
The key phrase is "per ownership category". Each category is insured separately at the same bank.
| Ownership category | Coverage at one bank |
|---|---|
| Single accounts (in your name only) | $250,000 total across all your single accounts |
| Joint accounts | $250,000 per co-owner across all joint accounts |
| Certain retirement accounts (such as IRAs held as deposits) | $250,000 per owner |
| Trust accounts | $250,000 per owner, per beneficiary, up to five beneficiaries ($1.25 million per owner) |
Example. A married couple at one bank has:
- Her savings account: $200,000 (single)
- His savings account: $150,000 (single)
- Their joint account: $400,000 (joint, so $200,000 attributed to each)
Every dollar is insured. Each single account is under $250,000, and each spouse's $200,000 share of the joint account is under the $250,000 joint limit. Total insured at one bank: $750,000.
Two important details:
- Adding up happens per bank, not per branch or per account. Three savings accounts in your name at the same bank share one $250,000 single-ownership limit.
- Some banks operate several brands under one charter. Deposits under all of those brand names count toward the same limit. Check the bank's legal name on the account disclosures.
The fintech app gap
Many savings apps are not banks. They partner with one or more banks that actually hold your money. Apps often advertise "FDIC insurance through our partner banks", and that coverage is real, but only under conditions:
- The partner bank must be the one that fails. FDIC insurance does not protect you if the app or a middleware company fails.
- The records must clearly show which money belongs to which customer, so coverage can "pass through" to you.
In April 2024, Synapse, a company that sat between several fintech apps and their partner banks, went bankrupt. Its records did not match the banks' records, and many customers of those apps could not access their money for months. No bank failed, so FDIC insurance did not apply.
The FDIC has since proposed tighter recordkeeping rules for these arrangements, but the practical advice holds: for an emergency fund or any large balance, it is simpler to open the account directly with an FDIC-insured bank.
How to check a bank
- Look for the official FDIC sign or "Member FDIC" on the bank's website and account disclosures.
- Search the bank's legal name on FDIC BankFind.
- Use the FDIC's Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE) to check how your specific accounts would be covered.
If you have more than $250,000
- Use more than one ownership category at the same bank, for example single plus joint accounts.
- Spread deposits across separately chartered banks.
- Some banks offer network services that split large deposits across many banks so the full amount is insured. Ask your bank whether it participates in one.