Yes, the FDIC can insure well over $250,000 across multiple accounts at the same bank, but not the way most people picture it. The $250,000 limit applies per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. Multiple accounts in the same ownership category get added together and share one $250,000 cap. Multiple accounts spread across different ownership categories each get their own $250,000 of coverage.1FDIC.gov. Deposit Insurance FAQs
So whether your accounts are fully covered depends less on how many you have and more on how they are titled.
The Limit Applies Per Category, Not Per Account
The standard maximum is $250,000. All deposits you hold in the same ownership category at the same bank are combined, and that combined total is insured up to $250,000.2Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Understanding Deposit Insurance
Say you have 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. The FDIC adds them up to $270,000. Only $250,000 is insured. The remaining $20,000 is exposed if the bank fails.
The $250,000 covers both principal and any interest that has accrued through the date the bank closes. That matters for CDs and high-yield savings, where accumulated interest can push you over the limit without your noticing.3FDIC.gov. Your Insured Deposits
A common misconception: deposits at different branches of the same bank are not separately insured. For FDIC purposes, all branches operating under the same charter count as one bank.3FDIC.gov. Your Insured Deposits
What Isn’t Covered at All
FDIC insurance protects deposit accounts. Investments purchased through an insured bank, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, life insurance policies, and crypto assets, are not covered. Neither are the contents of safe deposit boxes.4FDIC.gov. Financial Products That Are Not Insured by the FDIC
Ownership Categories Give You More Buckets
The FDIC recognizes more than a dozen ownership categories, and each carries its own $250,000 limit. Deposits in different categories are insured independently, even when they belong to the same person at the same bank. For most individuals and families, four categories do the real work.2Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Understanding Deposit Insurance
Single Accounts
A single account is any deposit owned by one person in their individual name. All of your individually owned checking, savings, CDs, and money market accounts at the same bank are combined and insured up to $250,000 total.
Sole proprietorship accounts, including “Doing Business As” (DBA) accounts, are treated as single accounts belonging to the owner. If you run a sole proprietorship with $150,000 in business checking and hold $120,000 in personal savings at the same bank, the FDIC combines them to $270,000 and only 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 gives each co-owner credit for $250,000 of the joint account balance, so a joint account held by two people carries up to $500,000 in coverage. The FDIC assumes co-owners have equal shares unless the bank’s records specify otherwise.6FDIC. Joint Accounts
If a married couple has a joint savings account with $350,000 and a joint CD with $150,000 at the same bank, the combined $500,000 is fully insured because each spouse’s $250,000 share is protected. That $500,000 is entirely separate from whatever single-account coverage each spouse has at the same bank.6FDIC. Joint Accounts
Certain Retirement Accounts
The FDIC groups several self-directed retirement account types into a single 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. All deposits across these account types 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 this coverage. A Roth IRA with $100,000 and a Traditional IRA with $180,000 at the same bank combine to $280,000. You would be insured for $250,000 and uninsured for $30,000.7FDIC. Certain Retirement Accounts
Trust Accounts
Trust accounts offer the most generous coverage. 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: 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 who jointly own a trust naming five beneficiaries can secure up to $2,500,000 at one bank.8Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Trust Accounts
Eligible beneficiaries must be living people, IRS-recognized charitable organizations, or IRS-recognized nonprofit entities. For-profit businesses and pet trusts do not count. The owner of the trust cannot 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
What Stacking Categories Looks Like
A married couple banking at a single institution can structure their accounts 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 totals $4,000,000 in FDIC coverage at one bank. Most households won’t reach every category, but even using just single, joint, and retirement accounts gives a couple $1,500,000 in coverage at a single institution.
The other lever is simply using more than one bank. The $250,000 per-category limit resets at each separately chartered FDIC-insured bank, so 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.2Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Understanding Deposit Insurance Deposit placement services like IntraFi’s ICS and CDARS automate that spread: you deposit at one bank, and the service splits your money into chunks under $250,000 and places them across a network of participating FDIC-insured banks.10IntraFi. ICS and CDARS ICS handles demand deposit and money market accounts; CDARS handles CDs.
A Few Boundaries Worth Knowing
Credit unions are not covered by the FDIC. They are insured by the National Credit Union Administration through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. The structure mirrors the FDIC: $250,000 per member, per insured credit union, with separate coverage for IRA and Keogh retirement accounts up to $250,000.11National Credit Union Administration. Share Insurance Fund Overview
Fintech apps and neobanks are not themselves FDIC-insured institutions. Some partner with insured banks, 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 company fails before your money reaches the partner bank, FDIC coverage does not apply.12FDIC.gov. Banking With Apps Before trusting an app with a large balance, confirm which FDIC-insured bank actually holds the deposits.
Health Savings Accounts are not their own category. An HSA falls into either the trust accounts category or the single accounts category depending on whether beneficiaries are named. If beneficiaries are named to receive the funds at death, the FDIC classifies it as a trust account. If not, it gets lumped in with your single accounts.13FDIC.gov. Health Savings Accounts
How to Check Your Own Coverage
The FDIC offers a free online calculator called EDIE, the Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator. Enter your accounts, ownership types, and balances, and EDIE tells you exactly what’s insured and what isn’t. It handles personal, business, and government accounts.14FDIC. Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE)
To confirm that your bank is FDIC-insured, use the FDIC’s BankFind tool at banks.data.fdic.gov. Worth doing if you bank with a newer online institution or an app that claims FDIC coverage through a partner bank.