Share Insurance

All shares are federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) up to $250,000.

How do I know my credit union is federally insured?

Federally insured credit unions are required to indicate their insured status in their advertising and to display the official NCUA insurance sign in their offices and branches. For a complete directory of federally insured credit unions, visit the NCUA’s agency website at ncua.gov.

Coverage Limits

The standard share insurance limit is $250,000 per share owner, per insured credit union, for each account ownership category. The $250,000 standard share insurance account became permanent through the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

The NCUA Share Insurance Estimator

The NCUA Electronic Share Insurance Estimator is available to help members better understand the protection offered by the NCUA. This interactive site allows you to input data to compute the amount of coverage available under different account scenarios. This resource is available at MyCreditUnion.gov/estimator.

What is the NCUA?

The NCUA is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates, charters and supervises federal credit unions. NCUA also operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). Backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, the NCUSIF insures the accounts of millions of account holders in all federal credit unions and the vast majority of state-chartered credit unions.

Why is share insurance coverage important?

Share insurance coverage offered through the NCUSIF protects members against losses if a federally insured credit union should fail. You can confidently join and conduct business with federally insured credit unions because no member has ever lost a penny from accounts insured by the NCUSIF. Historically, insured funds are available to members within just a few days after the closing of an insured credit union. Failures of federally insured credit unions are rare because only those with sound operational standards qualify to receive NCUSIF coverage. The NCUA also regularly reviews the operations of all federal credit unions and works closely with state regulatory authorities to evaluate federally insured, state-chartered credit unions.

What basic coverage is provided by the NCUSIF?

The NCUSIF provides all members of federally insured credit unions with $250,000 in coverage for their single ownership accounts. These accounts include regular shares, share drafts, money market accounts, and share certificates. Individuals with account balances totaling $250,000 or less at the same insured credit union are fully insured. If a person has more than $250,000 at any single credit union, several options are available for additional share insurance coverage because, as discussed in greater detail, the NCUSIF provides separate insurance for other accounts.  Members have full NCUSIF coverage at each federally insured credit union where they are qualified members. While the NCUSIF coverage protects members at all federally insured credit unions from losses on a broad spectrum of savings and share draft products, it does not cover losses on money invested in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, life insurance policies, and annuities offered by affiliated entities.

For example, if a person has a trust with $750,000 and three beneficiaries that are their children, the entire $750,000 would have separate coverage ($250,000 per beneficiary).

What additional coverage is provided?

All members of federally insured credit unions have options for coverage that is separate from and in addition to the coverage available to their single ownership accounts.

Retirement Accounts

Members with traditional and Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and KEOGH retirement accounts at federally insured credit unions have additional coverage available at each federally insured credit union where they qualify and become members. The NCUSIF insures traditional and Roth IRAs for up to $250,000 in the aggregate at each credit union.  Retirement account insurance protection is separate and apart from insurance coverage on other credit union accounts. For example, if you have a regular share account and an IRA at the same credit union, the NCUSIF insures the regular share account for up to $250,000 and the IRA for up to an additional $250,000.

Joint Accounts

Joint accounts are owned by two or more people who have equal rights to withdraw money from the account and no beneficiaries are named. These accounts can include regular shares, share drafts, money market accounts, and share certificates. The NCUSIF provides each joint account holder with $250,000 coverage for their aggregate interests at each federally insured credit union.  For example, a two-person joint account with no beneficiaries has $500,000 in coverage. This coverage is separate from and in addition to the coverage available for other accounts such as individual accounts with no beneficiaries and retirement accounts.

The following brochure has more information:  How Your Accounts Are Federally Insured.