Take the Quiz
FDIC deposit insurance protects your money in deposit accounts at FDIC-insured banks and savings associations in the event of a failure. Since the FDIC was founded in 1933, no depositor has lost a penny of FDIC-insured funds.
Think you know how FDIC insurance works? Take our quiz and find out.
Quiz:
1. True or False: If your FDIC-insured bank or savings association fails, deposit insurance applies to both the money you’ve deposited and the interest you’ve earned, up to the federal limits.
2. True or False: Historically, insured deposits are available to customers shortly after the closing of an insured bank.
3. True or false: If you purchase any of the following at an FDIC-insured bank, the FDIC will protect these investments against loss.
*These investments are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
4. True or False: The basic insurance limit is $250,000 per depositor per bank, but it’s possible to qualify for more coverage under the FDIC’s rules.
5. True or False: You’re thinking about taking a $300,000 lump-sum, eligible rollover distribution from your employer’s qualified pension plan and depositing it into two different IRAs at your bank. The entire $300,000 balance would be insured because you opened two accounts.
6. True or False: You have three different joint accounts at the same bank — one for $250,000 with your spouse, another for $250,000 with your sister, and a third for $250,000 with your brother. Because you own each account with a different person, each account qualifies for $250,000 of insurance.
7. True or False: You want to open a “payable-on-death” account naming your two children as the beneficiaries, and you don’t have any other trust deposits at the bank already. Under the FDIC’s insurance rules, this account qualifies for $500,000 of insurance — $250,000 for each eligible beneficiary — rather than $250,000 in total.
Answers:
1. True. If your insured institution fails, FDIC insurance will cover your deposit accounts, including principal and any accrued interest, up to the insurance limit.
2. True. To protect insured depositors, the FDIC responds immediately when a bank or savings association fails. If another bank acquires the deposits of the failed bank, customers of the failed bank automatically become customers of the acquiring institution. Most of the time, the transition is seamless from the customer's point of view. If there is not an acquiring bank, the FDIC will promptly pay depositors the amount of their insured deposits. For more information, visit When a Bank Fails - Facts for Depositors, Creditors, and Borrowers.
Note, when a third party fails (and not the insured bank) FDIC deposit insurance does not protect against the insolvency or bankruptcy of a nonbank company. If a nonbank company claims to offer access to products that it states are FDIC-insured, you should identify the specific FDIC-insured bank or banks where they say they will deposit your funds. You can confirm that the bank they claim to be working with is FDIC-insured using BankFind. If technology glitches happen with the services provided by a nonbank company, such as at its app or website, you may experience error messages, slow response times, or site crashes that temporarily impede access to your accounts or other mobile banking services. Be sure to contact the nonbank company’s customer service as soon as possible to help resolve the issue.
3. False. Non-deposit investment products are not insured by the FDIC, even if they were purchased from an insured bank. Examples of non-deposit investment products include:
*Specifically from this list, Treasury securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
Each consumer should take into consideration their own financial goals, risk tolerance, and other factors when making the decision to purchase or invest in a non-deposit product. For more information, read The Importance of Deposit Insurance and Understanding Your Coverage.
4. True. You may qualify for more than $250,000 in coverage at one insured institution if you own deposit accounts in different ownership categories as defined by the FDIC. The most common ownership categories are single, retirement, joint, and trust accounts (revocable and irrevocable trusts). Your deposits in each of those categories are separately insured to $250,000. In addition, your trust account deposits may be insured up to $250,000 for each beneficiary, with a maximum level of coverage of $1,250,000 per trust owner per bank. For more details, visit Your Insured Deposits.
5. False. All of your self-directed retirement accounts (you decide where the money is deposited) at the same insured bank are added together and the total is insured up to $250,000. Note, opening multiple IRAs at the same insured bank or adding beneficiaries will not increase insurance coverage.
6. False. Deposit insurance is calculated per ownership category, not per account. Under FDIC rules, each person’s combined interest in all joint accounts at the same institution is insured up to a combined total of $250,000. In this example, your ownership interest in each account would be $125,000 because the interests of the co-owners are presumed equal. This means your combined interest in all three joint accounts would be $375,000. In this example, you’d be uninsured in the amount of $125,000.
7. True. In general, the owner of payable-on-death (POD) accounts and other trust accounts at a bank is insured up to $250,000 for each “eligible beneficiary.” To be eligible, a beneficiary must be a living person, a charity, or a nonprofit organization (the latter two must be valid under IRS rules). All of an owner’s trust deposits are insured for up to $250,000 per eligible beneficiary, up to a maximum of $1,250,000 if five or more eligible beneficiaries are named. FDIC deposit insurance only covers deposits at FDIC-insured banks and savings associations.
Make sure your bank is FDIC-insured, using the BankFind Suite search tool. If you still have deposit insurance questions, call 877-275-3342 (877-ASK-FDIC) to speak to a specialist.
Additional Resources:
FDIC:
- Know Your Risk
- Banking With Third-Party Apps
- Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (EDIE)
- Fact Sheet: What the Public Needs to Know About FDIC Deposit Insurance and Crypto Companies
- Information on Scammers and Fake Banks
Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC):
For more consumer resources, visit FDIC.gov, or go to the FDIC Knowledge Center. You can also call the FDIC toll-free at 1-877-ASK-FDIC (1-877-275-3342). Please send your story ideas or comments to ConsumerEducation@fdic.gov. You can subscribe to this and other free FDIC publications to keep informed!