Share Insurance Coverage

Established by Congress in 1970 to insure member share accounts at federally insured credit unions, the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund is similar to deposit insurance coverage provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Credit union members don’t need to apply to share insurance coverage as it’s provided automatically when they join a federally insured credit union. The Share Insurance Fund insures individual accounts at federally insured credit union up to $250,000, and a member’s interest in all joint accounts combined is insured up to $250,000. The Share Insurance Fund also separately protects IRA and KEOGH retirement accounts up to $250,000. The fund is administered by the NCUA and is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

No one has lost a single penny of insured deposits at a federally insured credit union.

Members can calculate the amount of coverage your insured funds have at a federally insured credit union using the NCUA’s Share Insurance Estimator (opens new window), which is available on the NCUA’s consumer website, MyCreditUnion.gov (opens new window). The estimator can be used for personal, business or government accounts. Personal accounts include individual ownership, joint ownership, payable-on-death (accounts with named beneficiaries), living trusts and IRAs.

The Share Insurance Fund Estimator also includes an extensive glossary of terms (opens new window) and frequently asked questions (opens new window).

All federally insured credit unions must prominently display the official NCUA insurance sign at each teller station, where insured account deposits are normally received in their principal place of business and in all branches. Federally insured credit unions are also required to display the official sign on their website and where they accept share deposits or open accounts. No credit union may end its federal insurance without first notifying its members.

There are several state-chartered credit unions that are insured by private insurers. These private insurers provide non-federal share insurance coverage of deposits that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

As such, it’s important that members confirm their credit union is federally insured by visiting the NCUA’s Credit Union Locator tool.

Share insurance covers many types of share deposits received at a federally insured credit union, including deposits in a share draft account, share savings account, or time deposit such as a share certificate. Share insurance covers members' accounts at each federally insured credit union, dollar-for-dollar, including principal and any accrued dividend through the date of the insured credit union’s closing, up to the insurance limit. This coverage also applies to nonmember deposits when permitted by law.

Note: A qualifying eligible beneficiary must be a natural person, or a charitable organization or non-profit entity under the Internal Revenue Code

These share insurance coverage limits refer to the total of all shares that account owners have at each federally insured credit union. This listing shows only the most common ownership types that apply to individual and family shares and assumes that all NCUA and share insurance coverage requirements are met.

Additional information can be found at the NCUA’s Share Insurance Estimator (opens new window) and in these FAQs (opens new window). Members with questions about share insurance coverage, can call 1.800.755.1030, and selection option 1, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, or send an email to [email protected].

The NCUA does not insure money invested in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, life insurance policies, annuities or municipal securities, even if these investment or insurance products are sold at a federally insured credit union. Credit unions often provide these services to their members through third parties, and the investment and insurance products are not insured by the Share Insurance Fund.

In locations where these investment and insurance products are offered or sold to members, credit unions are required to disclose that the products are:

In addition, the NCUA does not insure safe deposit boxes or their contents and it does not insure digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies.

Credit union members can download, view, and print the following brochures, which are available in English and Spanish, for more information about their share insurance coverage. These brochures are also available on the NCUA’s consumer website, MyCreditUnion.gov (opens new window).

These videos also provide information on the insurance coverage provided by the Share Insurance Fund.