Your deposits are protected up to $250,000 per account category at FDIC-insured banks

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) guarantees that if your bank fails, you will not lose money in your savings account up to $250,000. This protection applies to each account category separately — meaning you can have $250,000 in a personal savings account and another $250,000 in a joint account at the same bank, and both are fully covered.

The protection is automatic. You do not need to sign up, pay a fee, or do anything special. If your bank is FDIC-insured — which nearly all banks are — your savings account is covered from the moment you open it. The FDIC has been in place since 1933 and has never failed to pay out a covered deposit.

Credit unions offer similar protection through the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), which covers up to $250,000 per account category at member credit unions. The rules and coverage limits are the same as the FDIC.

Key Takeaways

  • The FDIC covers up to $250,000 per account category at each bank, so a personal savings account and a joint account are protected separately.
  • Coverage is automatic at any FDIC-insured bank — you do not need to register or pay anything.
  • Money market accounts, checking accounts, and savings accounts are all covered separately, so you can protect more than $250,000 by spreading deposits across account types.
  • Amounts over $250,000 in a single account category at one bank are not protected if the bank fails.
  • Credit unions use the NCUA for the same $250,000 per-category protection.

How the $250,000 limit works across different account types

The FDIC does not count all your money together. Instead, it sorts your deposits into separate categories, and each category gets its own $250,000 protection. A personal savings account, a personal checking account, and a money market account at the same bank are three different categories — so you could have $250,000 in each one and be fully covered.

Joint accounts are their own category. If you and your spouse have a joint savings account with $250,000, that entire amount is covered. If you each also have personal savings accounts at the same bank, those are covered separately. The rule is that each owner's share of a joint account is insured up to $250,000, so a joint account with two owners can actually be covered up to $500,000 total ($250,000 per owner).

Retirement accounts — IRAs, SEP-IRAs, and similar accounts — are a separate category with their own $250,000 limit. Accounts held in trust are also separate. The FDIC website has a tool called the FDIC Coverage Calculator where you can enter your accounts and see exactly how much is covered.

What happens if your bank fails

Bank failures are rare. The FDIC insures over 5,000 banks, and failures happen in small numbers most years. When a bank does fail, the FDIC steps in quickly. In most cases, your money is available in a new account within one to three business days — either at another bank that takes over the failed bank's deposits, or directly from the FDIC.

You will receive a letter from the FDIC or the acquiring bank telling you what happened and where your money is. You do not have to do anything. The FDIC pays out automatically, up to the $250,000 limit per category. Amounts over that limit are lost.

The FDIC maintains a list of failed banks on its website. You can search by name and year to see the history of any bank you are considering.

Amounts over $250,000 are not protected

If you have $300,000 in a personal savings account at one bank, only $250,000 is covered by the FDIC. The remaining $50,000 is at risk if the bank fails. This is the most common way people lose money in a bank failure — by concentrating too much in one account category at one institution.

The solution is to spread deposits across multiple banks or multiple account categories. You could keep $250,000 in a savings account at Bank A and $50,000 in a savings account at Bank B, and both amounts would be fully covered. Or you could keep $250,000 in a savings account and $50,000 in a money market account at the same bank, and both would be covered because they are different categories.

Some people use a service called IntraFi (formerly Promontory Interbank Network) to automatically spread large deposits across multiple banks while keeping one login. The service handles the transfers behind the scenes, and each portion stays under $250,000 at any single bank. This is useful if you have several hundred thousand dollars and want to keep everything covered without managing multiple bank accounts yourself.

How to verify your bank is FDIC-insured

Most banks are FDIC-insured, but not all. Online banks, credit unions, and some smaller institutions may use different insurance. You can check the FDIC's Bank Find tool on its website — enter your bank's name and it will tell you whether it is insured, which FDIC region covers it, and the exact coverage limits for your accounts.

Your bank statement or online banking portal usually displays the FDIC logo or a statement saying deposits are FDIC-insured. If you do not see it, call your bank's customer service line and ask directly. They can tell you the insurance status in seconds.

Credit unions display the NCUA logo instead. The coverage is the same — $250,000 per category — but the insurer is different. Both are federal agencies backed by the U.S. government.

What FDIC insurance does not cover

FDIC insurance protects your deposits if the bank fails. It does not protect you from fraud, theft, or mistakes. If someone steals your debit card and drains your account, that is a separate issue handled by your bank's fraud department and federal consumer protection laws — not the FDIC.

Investment products held at a bank — stocks, bonds, mutual funds — are not covered by FDIC insurance. If you buy stocks through your bank's brokerage arm, those are protected by SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation) instead, which covers up to $500,000 per account but only against broker failure, not market losses.

Safe deposit boxes are not covered. If you keep valuables in a safe deposit box and the bank fails, the FDIC does not insure the contents. Safe deposit boxes are your responsibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I have $500,000 in savings, how do I protect all of it?

Open accounts at two different FDIC-insured banks and keep $250,000 at each one. Or use different account categories — $250,000 in a savings account and $250,000 in a money market account at the same bank. Both approaches give you full coverage. A service like IntraFi can automate this if you do not want to manage multiple logins.

Does FDIC insurance cover my debit card if it gets stolen?

No. FDIC insurance covers deposits if the bank fails. Theft and fraud are handled under federal consumer protection laws, which typically limit your liability to $50 if you report the theft within two business days. Contact your bank's fraud department immediately if your card is stolen.

Are online banks FDIC-insured?

Most online banks are FDIC-insured, but not all. Check the bank's website or use the FDIC Bank Find tool to confirm. Online banks often have lower fees than traditional banks, but insurance status is what matters for safety — not whether the bank has physical branches.

What if I have accounts at multiple branches of the same bank?

It does not matter how many branches you use. All accounts at the same bank are combined for FDIC purposes. If you have $150,000 at the downtown branch and $150,000 at the airport branch, the FDIC counts that as $300,000 at one bank in one account category, so only $250,000 is covered.

Does FDIC insurance cover savings bonds or CDs?

Certificates of deposit (CDs) are covered by FDIC insurance up to $250,000 per bank, in the same way as savings accounts. U.S. savings bonds are not bank deposits — they are government securities — so they are backed by the U.S. government directly, not the FDIC. Savings bonds are considered very safe but operate under different rules.