FDIC Information

What is the FDIC?
The FDIC – short for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – is an independent agency of the United States government. The FDIC protects you against the loss of your deposits if an FDIC-insured bank or savings association fails. FDIC insurance is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. The term “insured bank” is used to mean any bank or savings association with FDIC insurance.

To check whether your bank or savings association is insured by the FDIC, call toll-free 1-877-275-3342, use Bank Find at www.fdic.gov/deposit/index.html or look for the FDIC Official Teller sign where deposits are received.

Why is FDIC insurance important for you?
All FDIC-insured banks must meet high standards for financial strength and stability. The FDIC, with other federal and state regulatory agencies, regularly reviews the operations of insured banks to ensure these standards are met. Even with these safeguards, some insured banks fail. If your insured bank fails, FDIC insurance will cover your deposits dollar for dollar, including principal and any accrued interest, up to the insurance limit.

Historically, insured deposits are available to customers of a failed bank within just a few days. Since the start of the FDIC in 1933, no depositor has ever lost a penny of insured deposits.

What does the FDIC insure?
The FDIC insures all deposits at insured banks, including checking, NOW and savings accounts, money market deposit accounts and Certificates of Deposit (CDs), up to the insurance limit.

The FDIC does not insure the money you invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance policies, annuities or municipal securities, even if you purchased these products from an insured bank.

Basic insurance amount is $250,000.
The basic insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor per insured bank. Certain retirement accounts, such as Individual Retirement Accounts, are insured up to $250,000 per depositor per insured bank.

You can calculate your insurance coverage using the FDIC’s online Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator at https://edie.fdic.gov/

Coverage over $250,000
The FDIC provides separate insurance coverage for deposit accounts held in different categories of ownership.

Common ownership categories
The most common ownership categories are

Single Ownership
These are deposit accounts owned by one person and titled in that person’s name only. All of your single accounts at the same insured bank are added together, and the total is insured up to $250,000. For example, if you have a checking account and a CD at the same insured bank, and both accounts are in your name only, the two accounts are added together, and the total is insured up to $250,000.

Note: Retirement accounts and qualifying trust accounts are not included in this ownership category.

Joint Ownership
These are deposit accounts owned by two or more people. If both owners have equal rights to withdraw money from a joint account, each person’s shares of all joint accounts at the same insured bank are added together, and the total is insured up to $250,000.

If a couple has a joint checking account and a joint savings account at the same insured bank, each co-owner’s shares of the two accounts are added together and insured up to $250,000, providing up to $500,000 in coverage for the couple’s joint accounts.

Example: John and Mary have a $520,000 CD at an insured bank. Under FDIC rules, each person’s share of each joint account is considered equal unless otherwise stated in the bank’s records. John and Mary each own $260,000 in the joint account category, putting a total of $20,000 ($10,000 each) over the insurance limit.

Note: Jointly owned qualifying trust accounts are not included in this ownership category.

Certain retirement accounts
These are deposit accounts owned by one person and titled in the name of that person’s retirement plan. Only the following types of retirement plans are insured in this ownership category:

All deposits that an individual has in any of the types of retirement plans listed above at the same insured bank are added together, and the total is insured up to $250,000. For example, if an individual has deposits in an IRA and a self-directed Keogh account at the same bank, the deposits in both accounts would be added together and insured up to $250,000.

Naming beneficiaries on a retirement account does not increase deposit insurance coverage.

Note: For information about FDIC insurance coverage for a type of retirement plan not listed above, ask a Customer Service Representative at any of our locations.

These are deposits held in either payable-on-death (POD) accounts or living trust accounts.

Payable-on-death (POD) accounts – also known as testamentary or Totten trust accounts – are the most common form of revocable trust deposits. These informal revocable trusts are created when the account owner signs an agreement – usually part of the bank’s signature card – stating that the deposits will be payable to one or more named beneficiaries upon the owner’s death.

Living trusts – or family trusts – are formal revocable trusts created for estate-planning purposes. The owner of a living trust controls the deposits in the trust during his or her lifetime.

Note: Determining coverage for living trust accounts can be complicated and requires more detailed information about the FDIC’s insurance rules than can be provided on this website. If you have a living trust account, contact the FDIC at 1-877-275-3342 for more information.

Deposit insurance coverage for revocable trust accounts is based on each owner’s trust relationship with each beneficiary. While the trust owner is the insured party, coverage is provided for the interests of each beneficiary in the account. The FDIC insures the interests of each beneficiary up to $250,000 for each owner if all of the following requirements are met:

If any of these requirements are not met, the entire amount in the account, or any portion of the account that does not qualify, would be added to the owner’s other single accounts, if any, at the same bank and insured up to $250,000. If the revocable trust account has more than one owner, the FDIC would insure each owner’s share as his or her single account.

Note: The following example applies to POD accounts only. Coverage may be different for some living trusts.

Bill has a $250,000 POD account with his wife Sue as beneficiary. Sue has a $250,000 POD account with Bill as beneficiary. In addition, Bill and Sue jointly have a $1,500,000 POD account with their three children as equal beneficiaries.

These three accounts totaling $2,000,000 are fully insured because each owner is entitled to $250,000 of coverage for the interests of each qualifying beneficiary in the accounts. Bill has $1,000,000 of insurance coverage ($250,000 for the interests of each qualifying beneficiary – his wife in the first account and his three children in the third account). Sue also has $1,000,000 of insurance coverage ($250,000 for the interests of each qualifying beneficiary – her husband in the second account and her three children in the third account).

When calculating coverage for revocable trust accounts, be careful to avoid these common mistakes:

Important!
Accounts held POD to a revocable living trust will be insured as if the account were held in the name of the living trust.