How Much Does the FDIC Insure? Limits, Categories, and Coverage

The FDIC insures up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. Coverage is automatic when you open a deposit account at an FDIC-insured bank, and it applies to your principal plus any interest accrued through the date the bank closes.1FDIC.gov. Deposit Insurance FAQs Because the limit resets for each ownership category, one person can protect well beyond $250,000 at a single bank by structuring accounts across categories.

How the $250,000 Limit Is Counted

Federal law sets the standard maximum deposit insurance amount at $250,000.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 1821 – Insurance Funds – Section: Deposit Insurance Three words carry the weight: per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. Miss any of them and the math goes wrong.

Same category, same bank means one bucket. If you hold a checking account with $200,000 and a savings account with $100,000 at the same bank, both in your name alone, the FDIC adds them together as single ownership. $50,000 sits uninsured.

Different branches of the same bank do not give you more coverage. The FDIC treats every branch of an institution as one bank.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 1821 – Insurance Funds – Section: Deposit Insurance The cap includes accrued interest through the closure date, not just your deposits.3FDIC.gov. Your Insured Deposits

Ownership Categories That Multiply Coverage

Ownership categories are how one person legitimately protects more than $250,000 at a single bank. Each category gets its own $250,000 limit, calculated separately from the others.

Single Accounts

A single account is any deposit owned by one person with no beneficiaries named. All of your individual checking, savings, CDs, and money market deposit accounts at the same bank are combined and insured up to $250,000 total.4eCFR. 12 CFR 330.6 – Single Ownership Accounts

Joint Accounts

Each co-owner’s share of a qualifying joint account is separately insured up to $250,000, so a joint account between two people is covered up to $500,000.5eCFR. 12 CFR 330.9 – Joint Ownership Accounts Joint coverage is calculated separately from single-account coverage. One spouse could hold $250,000 as a single account and another $250,000 as their share of a joint account, and every dollar would be insured.

The $250,000 per co-owner limit applies across all joint accounts at that bank, not per account. Two joint accounts totaling $600,000 with the same partner leaves each of you $50,000 over the cap.5eCFR. 12 CFR 330.9 – Joint Ownership Accounts

Trust Accounts

Since April 1, 2024, one set of rules governs both revocable and most irrevocable trust deposits.6FDIC.gov. Trust Accounts Trust deposits are insured at $250,000 per beneficiary, capped at five beneficiaries. The maximum a single trust owner can insure at one bank through trust accounts is therefore $1,250,000.7eCFR. 12 CFR 330.10 – Trust Accounts Adding a sixth or seventh beneficiary does not raise the ceiling. Trust coverage is separate from any single or joint accounts the trust owner holds at the same bank.

Certain Retirement Accounts

Deposits held in self-directed retirement accounts, including traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and eligible Section 457 deferred compensation plans, are insured up to $250,000 separately from your other deposits at the same bank.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 1821 – Insurance Funds – Section: Deposit Insurance All qualifying retirement deposits at one bank share that single $250,000 limit.

Business Accounts

A corporation, partnership, or LLC gets its own $250,000 of coverage, separate from the personal accounts of the owners. The entity has to be engaged in a genuine independent business activity. Shell entities created only to expand insurance do not qualify.8FDIC.gov. Corporation, Partnership and Unincorporated Association Accounts Separately incorporated subsidiaries receive their own $250,000 limit independent of the parent.

Employee Benefit Plan Accounts

Deposits in a 401(k), pension, or similar plan are insured on a pass-through basis. Each participant’s share is insured up to $250,000, rather than the whole plan sharing a single limit.9FDIC.gov. Employee Benefit Plan Accounts For a defined contribution plan, each employee’s insured amount is measured by their account balance on the day the bank fails.

Which Accounts Qualify, and What Doesn’t

FDIC coverage attaches to deposit accounts, meaning products where the bank owes you a fixed dollar amount. Covered products include:

  • Checking accounts
  • Savings accounts
  • Money market deposit accounts
  • Certificates of deposit
  • Cashier’s checks and money orders issued by the insured bank

Plenty of products sold through banks are not deposits and are not covered, even when you buy them at the teller window:10FDIC.gov. Financial Products That Are Not Insured by the FDIC

The rule of thumb: if the bank owes you a set dollar amount, it’s probably insured. If the value rises and falls with markets, it isn’t.

Fintech Apps and Pass-Through Coverage

Many popular banking apps are not banks. They partner with FDIC-insured institutions that hold your money in the background. Your deposits can still be insured under “pass-through” rules, but only if three conditions are met:12FDIC.gov. Pass-Through Deposit Insurance Coverage

  • You, not the app company, are the actual owner of the funds.
  • The bank’s records show the account is held on your behalf, for example “XYZ Company FBO Customers.”
  • Records maintained by the bank, the app, or another party identify you by name and show your ownership interest.

If any of those conditions fails, the money is treated as belonging to the fintech company, and all its customers share a single $250,000 cap. The 2024 collapse of the intermediary Synapse showed how badly this can go when recordkeeping between an app and its partner banks breaks down.13FDIC.gov. Proposed Recordkeeping for Custodial Accounts Before you rely on an app’s “FDIC insured” marketing, find out which bank actually holds the deposits and confirm the pass-through requirements are being met.

What Happens If the Bank Fails

The FDIC aims to pay insured deposits within two business days of a bank’s closure.14FDIC.gov. Payment to Depositors Usually you receive your insured funds through a new account at another insured bank that takes over the deposits. If no bank steps in, the FDIC mails you a check. Either way, you get written instructions covering both your money and the contents of any safe deposit box.

Money above the limit in a single ownership category is not automatically lost. After insured depositors are paid, uninsured depositors are next in line, ahead of general creditors and stockholders.15FDIC.gov. Priority of Payments and Timing The FDIC may issue an advance dividend to uninsured depositors, often within 30 days, and further dividends follow as the failed bank’s assets are sold off. That process can run for years, and total recovery depends on what those assets fetch. Some uninsured depositors are made nearly whole; others are not.

Credit Unions Are Covered Separately

If your money sits at a federally insured credit union rather than a bank, the National Credit Union Administration provides parallel protection through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. The limit is the same $250,000 per member, per credit union, per ownership category, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.16National Credit Union Administration. Share Insurance Coverage Single, joint, trust, and retirement categories work the same way. Some state-chartered credit unions carry private insurance instead, which is not federal coverage. Look for the NCUA sign to confirm you’re protected by the federal program.

Checking Your Own Coverage

The FDIC’s Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE) at edie.fdic.gov is free. You enter your bank, account types, ownership categories, and balances, and it tells you how much is insured and how much, if anything, exceeds the limits.17FDIC.gov. Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE) Run it whenever a life event pushes your balances higher than usual: a home sale, an inheritance, a business payout, a marriage that merges two households of accounts. A few minutes with the tool is the cleanest way to answer the question for your own money.