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NCUA vs. FDIC: Protecting Your Money

Money you deposit into a bank account might be protected by the FDIC, while money you deposit in a credit union account might be protected by the NCUA. Learn about coverage limits and how these two federal agencies compare.

Lora Shinn
Contributor
Published Sep 5, 2025 in: Budgeting

Read time: 8 minutes

As the NCUA website says: "No one has lost a single penny of insured deposits at a federally insured credit union." Similarly, the FDIC website says: "Since the FDIC was founded in 1933, no depositor has lost a penny of FDIC-insured funds."

The National Credit Union Administration is the agency that insures credit union deposits, while the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is the agency that insures bank deposits.
NCUA and FDIC coverage amounts, accounts and rules work similarly to protect consumers' money.
Credit unions may use slightly different language for some account types.
The NCUA was founded later, operates with a smaller board of directors and oversees fewer institutions and assets than the FDIC.
Coverage maximums are the same under both agencies: $250,000 per ownership category, per institution.

You've probably heard the terms "insured by NCUA" and "FDIC insured" in banking advertisements. But what does each organization do and how do they benefit account holders?

The National Credit Union Administration is an independent federal agency that insures credit union deposit accounts against credit union failure, via the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is an independent federal agency that insures bank customer accounts in nearly the same fashion.

NCUA vs. FDIC Comparison

	FDIC	NCUA
What Is Covered	Bank deposits	Credit Union deposits
Limit per Owner, Institution	$250,000	$250,000
Common Account Ownership Types	Single, joint and others	Single, joint and others
Account Types Insured	Deposit accounts including checking, savings, CD, money market, trust, and deposit-based IRA	Deposit accounts including checking, savings, CD, money market, trust, and deposit-based IRA
Types Not Insured	Investments including stocks, cryptocurrency, life insurance	Investments including stocks, cryptocurrency, life insurance
Insured Financial Institutions	For-profit banks	Not-for-profit credit unions
Year Established	1933	1970
Where To Find an Insured Institution	BankFind Suite	Credit Union Locator
Estimate Your Coverage	Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator	Share Insurance Estimator

Do FDIC and NCUA Insure the Same Account Types?

The NCUA and FDIC insure specific types of accounts called "deposit accounts." These are accounts that essentially hold cash, not investments or other types of currency. Qualifying accounts might include:

Checking
Savings
Money market accounts
Certificates of deposit
Revocable and irrevocable trusts
Deposit-based individual retirement accounts

At a credit union, checking accounts may also be called "share checking," while savings accounts may be called "share savings." CDs may be referred to as "share certificates" at some credit unions. (BECU is a federally insured, state-chartered credit union. Our deposit accounts are called checking, savings and CDs.)

Note that IRAs and other specific retirement accounts are only covered if they are deposit-based accounts such as savings accounts and CDs. Investment-based IRAs that are made up of stocks and bonds are not insured, even if the IRA is at a bank or credit union. BECU offers NCUA-insured CDs within Roth and traditional IRAs. Ask your financial institution whether your IRA's contents are NCUA or FDIC-insured.

Which Accounts Are Not Insured?

You may be able to buy special investments at some banks and credit unions. But these aren't covered by FDIC or NCUA.

Here's a list of what's not covered:

Annuities
Life insurance policies
Mutual funds
Stocks and bonds
U.S. Treasury bills, bonds or notes
Cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and other types)

Account Limits

The NCUA insures deposit accounts up to $250,000 per depositor, per institution (more on this later). As a credit union member, you don't need to apply for this insurance coverage. When you join the credit union, it's automatically provided for your deposit accounts.

If you have $257,000 in your individual savings account and the credit union fails, $250,000 would be covered by NCUA insurance, but $7,000 would not be covered.

While the NCUA insures credit union deposits, the FDIC's role is to insure bank deposits in the same way — covering up to $250,000 per deposit account, per ownership, per institution.

However, there are situations where you might qualify for more than $250,000 in coverage at one insured credit union.

Account Ownership

If you have share accounts in different ownership categories at a credit union, you could qualify for more than $250,000 in NCUA insurance. The same is true for the FDIC.

What is an account ownership category? This is the legal ownership of the account. Typically, the major ownership buckets include:

Single-owner accounts
Joint accounts
IRAs and other specific retirement accounts
Informal revocable trust accounts

If an account has a beneficiary, it may also be eligible for additional NCUA or FDIC coverage. For example, a trust with five or more beneficiaries could qualify for $1,250,000 in coverage. In the case of a credit union, however, all beneficiaries must be credit union members to get equivalent NCUA coverage.

Accounts Per Institution

The "per institution" qualification offers another way to get more NCUA or FDIC insurance. Your member accounts at one credit union are insured separately from other credit unions.

Example: If you're a single person and have $400,000 to put into a savings account, you can do so in this way:

Put $250,000 into Credit Union A savings account.
Put the remaining $150,000 into Credit Union B savings account.

Just remember that the interest you earn can increase your deposit amount. You could end up with more than $250,000 deposited at Credit Union A. Any amount over $250,000 would not be insured.

Also, remember that a branch or financial center is still part of a single credit union. Depositing funds at different branches won't get you more NCUA coverage.

What Happens to My Money if a Bank or Credit Union Fails?

The NCUA protects credit unions and their members through supervision, regulation and insurance of 4,411 federally insured credit unions, as of the most recent 2025 report (PDF).

Federally insured credit unions display the official NCUA insurance sign where you deposit your money, including both federal credit unions and most federally insured, state-chartered credit unions. Private insurers insure some state-chartered credit unions, but the NCUA also insures 1,645 state-chartered credit unions.

Similarly, as of 2025, the FDIC directly supervises 4,462 FDIC-insured commercial banks and savings institutions for safety and compliance with consumer protection laws.

If a credit union fails, the NCUA helps find another acquiring credit union to absorb the failed credit union. Then, you likely would become a member of the credit union that assumed your former credit union. Members can access insured funds within just a few days after an insured credit union closes, historically speaking.

Similarly, if a bank or savings association fails, the FDIC responds quickly to protect depositors' money. Generally, the FDIC sells the failed institution's deposits and loans to another institution. The depositors of the failed bank become customers of the new institution.

History of NCUA and FDIC

The FDIC was established in 1933, following thousands of bank failures in the 1920s and early 1930s. The FDIC headquarters is in Washington, D.C., with regional and field offices. A five-person board of directors manages the FDIC, with no more than three members from the same political party.

NCUA was created by Congress in 1970 to insure deposit accounts at federally insured credit unions. The NCUA is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.

The NCUA is overseen by a smaller board, consisting of just three members; no more than two can be from the same political party. The NCUA also has regional offices and an office in Austin, Texas, to liquidate failed credit unions and recover depositor assets.

Credit unions are member owned, not-for-profit cooperatives, while banks work to earn profits for shareholders. The NCUA's mission and model reflect some of these key differences and mentions "ensuring equitable financial inclusion" within its vision statement.

Find a Participating Financial Institution

Make sure you're banking with an NCUA-insured institution using NCUA's Credit Union Locator and the status of an FDIC-insured institution with BankFind Suite. With both tools, you can search by institution name or location.

You can use the FDIC's Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator to find out how FDIC insurance rules and limits apply to your deposit accounts. You'll discover if any account funds exceed the bank's coverage limits. The NCUA offers a similar option through the Share Insurance Estimator.

Maximizing Your Account Insurance

You can maximize your deposit insurance coverage:

Always choose an FDIC or NCUA-insured financial institution.
Open multiple accounts at different FDIC-insured or NCUA-insured institutions to receive up to $250,000 deposit coverage at each bank or credit union.
Open a joint account with a trusted loved one, which can provide $250,000 per depositor ($500,000 in total) at one institution. Note that money in this account would belong to both of you, and either person can withdraw money from or deposit money into the account.
Review your coverage using FDIC and NCUA tools.

If you already have single-owner accounts at your federally insured credit union and you want to qualify for increased NCUA insurance, you could consider opening a joint deposit account. You couldn't, however, open three single-owner checking accounts and deposit $250,000 in each account to get more coverage.

Example: Say you have $200,000 in a joint savings account with your spouse and $100,000 in a CD on your own. Both accounts are at the same federally insured credit union. Since these accounts are separate ownership categories, your total assets of $300,000 would all be insured by NCUA.

FAQ: NCUA vs. FDIC

Here are answers to a few common questions about FDIC and NCUA insurance:

Q: How Much Does NCUA Insurance Cover?

NCUA insures up to $250,000 of your deposits per account, per ownership type, and institution, in the event an institution fails. The Share Insurance Fund covers each member's account balance up to the insurance limit. This would include the principal deposit and any dividends through the date of the credit union's failure.

Q: Is NCUA Better Than FDIC?

NCUA has a different role than the FDIC. NCUA insures your deposit accounts at a federally insured credit union. FDIC insures your deposit accounts at a federally insured bank.

Q: What Does the NCUA Not Insure?

The NCUA doesn't insure digital assets, such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, life insurance policies and potentially other investments or products. This is true even if the federally insured credit union sells these investments or insurance products. The NCUA also doesn't insure safe deposit boxes or their contents at a credit union.

Q: Do NCUA and FDIC Insure IRAs?

It depends. If your IRA is an account that contains CDs or other deposit accounts at a federally insured credit union or bank, it would be insured up to $250,000 separately from your regular deposit accounts. If your IRA contains investments such as stock or bonds, these are not covered. Ask your financial institution for details.