Credit Unions Have Deposit Insurance, Too

I have money in CDs at my credit union and would like to add some more -- the rates there are slightly higher than they are at the banks I’ve considered. Are credit unions covered by the FDIC in case anything happens?

Deposits in most credit unions are covered by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), rather than by the FDIC. The coverage is similar, and the limits are the same as for the FDIC: The fund covers up to $250,000 for all of your individual accounts combined at each credit union, up to $250,000 for each person’s share of their joint accounts at each credit union, and up to $250,000 for all of their retirement accounts, such as IRAs, per credit union.

These limits are separate for each credit union, similar to FDIC coverage. If you have individual accounts at two credit unions, for example, then you have $250,000 in NCUSIF coverage for each account. If your balance in one account is higher than the limits, then you can add protection by moving some money to another credit union or bank, where you will have a separate set of coverage limits.

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Both the NCUSIF and FDIC cover deposit accounts, such as savings accounts, checking accounts, money-market accounts and CDs. They do not insure money invested in stocks, bonds or mutual funds.

The NCUSIF is administered by the National Credit Union Administration, which is an independent federal government agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions and most state-chartered credit unions. To see if your credit union is covered by the NCUSIF, use to the Credit Union Locator and the Research a Credit Union tool.

For more information about protection for credit union deposits, see MyCreditUnion.gov and the NCUA Share Insurance Fund information page. You can calculate how much coverage you have at the Electronic Share Insurance Calculator. To check on FDIC limits for bank deposits, see the FDIC’s deposit insurance consumer pages.