FDIC deposit insurance is $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per category

The standard amount of FDIC deposit insurance is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. That is the figure in the FDIC's Deposit Insurance At A Glance brochure, which says it was last updated on April 1, 2024. A June 2026 consumer note, last updated Aug. 21, 2026, says each depositor is insured for at least $250,000 at each FDIC-insured bank, including principal and accrued interest through the date the bank closes. The agency's deposit-insurance guide says the basic amount, which it calls the standard maximum deposit insurance amount under 12 C.F.R. § 330.1(o), is $250,000 at present. The "at least" wording and the per-category wording fit together: the $250,000 figure applies inside one ownership category, and separate categories can add coverage when the FDIC's requirements for each category are met.

At an FDIC-insured bank, the brochure says the insurance covers checking accounts, negotiable order of withdrawal accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, time deposits such as certificates of deposit, and cashier's checks, money orders, and other official items issued by a bank. It says the FDIC does not insure stock investments, bond investments, mutual funds, crypto assets, life insurance policies, annuities, municipal securities, or safe deposit boxes and their contents. U.S. Treasury bills, bonds, and notes are on that not-insured list. The brochure's note says those Treasury securities are not insured by the FDIC, and that they are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. The June 2026 note makes a related distinction: money market mutual funds are among the products it says deposit insurance does not cover, while money market deposit accounts are on the brochure's insured list. A deposit account and a fund that happens to use the words "money market" are not the same product in these documents.

The brochure says the FDIC adds together all deposit accounts a person holds in the same ownership category at the same bank, whatever the type, and insures that combined balance up to the standard amount. Accounts at different FDIC-insured banks are measured separately, at $250,000 per depositor for each ownership category at each bank. Coverage above $250,000 at a single bank is possible, the brochure says, when deposits sit in different ownership categories and the requirements are met. Coverage is automatic when a deposit account is opened at an FDIC-insured bank. The brochure says a bank can be confirmed with the FDIC's BankFind tool on fdic.gov, and it points readers to the Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator, EDIE, on the FDIC website, as a calculator for a specific set of accounts. The guide says that, beginning March 1, 2026, the official digital sign is to appear on bank websites, bank applications, and, where applicable, certain bank ATMs.

The brochure's category table lists single accounts, owned by one person with no beneficiaries, at $250,000 per owner. Joint accounts, owned by two or more persons with no beneficiaries, are listed at $250,000 per co-owner. Certain retirement accounts, including IRAs, are listed at $250,000 per owner regardless of the number of beneficiaries. Corporation, partnership, and unincorporated association accounts are listed at $250,000 per entity. Employee benefit plan accounts are listed at $250,000 for the non-contingent interest of each plan participant. Government accounts are listed at $250,000 per official custodian, with the table noting that more coverage is available subject to specific conditions.

Trust accounts are the category the brochure flags as changed. As of April 1, 2024, it says, the maximum for a trust owner with five or more beneficiaries is $1,250,000 per owner for all trust accounts at the same bank, including payable-on-death, in-trust-for, revocable, and irrevocable trusts. The table's formula is the number of owners times the number of distinct beneficiaries times $250,000, not to exceed $1,250,000 per owner for all trust accounts. The brochure says depositors can name as many beneficiaries as they wish, and that the cap does not rise above $1,250,000. It says the change applies to existing and new trust accounts, including certificates of deposit, regardless of purchase or maturity date. That is the FDIC's published formula, not a suggestion to add beneficiaries or to retitle an account.

If an insured bank fails, the brochure says the insurance covers each depositor's balance, dollar for dollar, up to the limit, including principal and accrued interest through the date of the failure. The June 2026 note says that since 1934 no depositor has lost insured deposits because an insured bank failed, and that if another bank acquires the failed bank's deposits, customers generally become customers of the acquiring bank. This article describes those published rules. It does not tell any person how to title an account, and it is not a calculation of any one depositor's coverage.