How can I be sure my money is safe in my bank account? | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2024)

FAQs

How can I be sure my money is safe in my bank account? | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? ›

You can talk to your bank to confirm your coverage. To look up your account's FDIC protection, visit the Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator or call the FDIC Call Center at (877) 275-3342 (877-ASK-FDIC).

The FDIC provides deposit insurance to protect your money in the event of a bank failure. Your deposits are automatically insured to at least $250,000 at each FDIC-insured bank.

FDIC insurance coverage is automatic when you open a deposit account at an FDIC-insured bank. You can confirm that your bank is insured by searching for it in the BankFind tool available on our website at www.fdic.gov or you can call the FDIC at 1-877-ASK-FDIC (1-877-275-3342).

To find out if your bank is FDIC-insured, you can contact the bank and ask, look for an FDIC sign at the bank's premises, call the FDIC at 877-275-3342, or look up the bank in the FDIC BankFind directory.

No depositor has ever lost a penny of insured deposits since the FDIC was created in 1933.

The government can seize money from your checking account only in specific circ*mstances and with due process. The most common reason for the government to seize funds from your account is to collect unpaid taxes, such as federal taxes, state taxes, or child support payments.

The standard insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each ownership category. This means that by having accounts in different ownership categories, like single accounts and joint accounts, you can get more than $250,000 in coverage.

Wealthy people do not leave large amounts of money in saving/checking accounts earning no interest or income. Instead they invest their money in stocks, bonds, real estate, mutual funds, etc.

Products such as mutual funds, annuities, stocks, bonds and U.S. Treasury securities are not deposits and, therefore, are not protected by the FDIC.

Key takeaways

Most banks in the US are insured by the FDIC, which provides coverage up to $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC bank, per ownership category. In the event of a bank failure, insured deposits are guaranteed to be returned within two business days by the FDIC.

Is it bad to keep more than $250,000 in one bank? ›

It's also important to keep FDIC limits in mind. Anything over $250,000 in savings may not be protected in the rare event that your bank fails.

If the bank fails, you'll get your money back. Nearly all banks are FDIC insured. You can look for the FDIC logo at bank teller windows or on the entrance to your bank branch.

Savings accounts are a safe place to keep your money because all deposits made by consumers are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for bank accounts or the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) for credit union accounts.

The IRS probably already knows about many of your financial accounts, and the IRS can get information on how much is there. But, in reality, the IRS rarely digs deeper into your bank and financial accounts unless you're being audited or the IRS is collecting back taxes from you.

Still, the FDIC itself doesn't have unlimited money. If enough banks flounder at once, it could deplete the fund that backstops deposits. However, experts say even in that event, bank patrons shouldn't worry about losing their FDIC-insured money.

If your bank fails, up to $250,000 of deposited money (per person, per account ownership type) is protected by the FDIC. When banks fail, the most common outcome is that another bank takes over the assets and your accounts are simply transferred over. If not, the FDIC will pay you out.

Cons. Now, for the minuses: Money that exceeds the limit won't be covered. Should you have more than $250,000 in all the insured deposit accounts with a bank, keeping it all in one place doesn't make sense.