FDIC Insurance

FDIC insurance is the safety net that lets you sleep at night knowing your bank deposits are protected. It was created in 1933 during the Great Depression after thousands of bank failures wiped out people's savings, and it guarantees your money is safe up to $250,000 at any member bank.

That $250,000 limit is more flexible than it sounds—it applies per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. So as a single person, you get $250,000 of coverage at one bank. But if you also have joint accounts, each co-owner's share is insured separately. Throw in trust accounts, retirement accounts, and business accounts, and one person could potentially have well over $1 million insured at a single bank.

FDIC insurance covers checking accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, CDs, and cashier's checks from the bank. What it doesn't cover: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, crypto, or anything in your safe deposit box—even if you bought them through the bank.

The track record speaks for itself—the FDIC has never failed to protect insured deposits. Even during the 2023 bank failures (Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank), insured depositors had full access to their money within days. In those cases, the FDIC actually covered uninsured deposits above $250,000 too, though that was an exceptional measure.

If you've got more than $250,000 in cash, you have options: spread deposits across multiple banks, use different ownership categories at the same bank, or use IntraFi network deposits that automatically distribute your money across multiple banks behind the scenes.