NCUA share insurance for credit union deposits

Credit unions call deposits "shares" because members are part-owners of the cooperative. Savings at a federally insured credit union are protected by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), which is administered by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), an independent federal agency. Like the FDIC's fund, the NCUSIF is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

The standard maximum is the same as for banks: $250,000 per share owner, per insured credit union, for each account ownership category. Coverage is automatic and costs members nothing directly; insured credit unions fund the NCUSIF.

Look for the official NCUA sign at branches and on websites. It reads, in substance, that your savings are federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government.

NCUA rules mirror the FDIC's structure closely. The categories most members use are:

• Individual accounts — owned by one person, added together at each credit union and insured up to $250,000.
• Joint accounts — each co-owner's share of all joint accounts is insured up to $250,000.
• Retirement accounts — share deposits in traditional and Roth IRAs and certain other retirement accounts are insured up to $250,000 per owner, separately from regular accounts.
• Trust accounts — revocable trust accounts (including payable-on-death accounts) and irrevocable trusts are insured based on the owner and the beneficiaries.
• Business and organization accounts — insured separately from the owners' personal accounts.

The trust-account rules for credit unions are similar to, but not guaranteed to be identical with, the FDIC's rules at any given time. If you hold large trust balances at a credit union, check your coverage with the NCUA's Share Insurance Estimator rather than assuming the bank rules apply.

For an insured depositor the protection is equivalent: the same standard maximum, the same federal backing, and a similar goal of making insured funds available quickly if an institution fails. The NCUSIF was created by Congress in 1970. Since then, no member has lost a penny of insured savings at a federally insured credit union, according to the NCUA.

Share insurance has the same exclusions as FDIC insurance. Investment products sold at a credit union — mutual funds, annuities, stocks, bonds, crypto assets and insurance — are not shares and are not insured by the NCUSIF, even when sold in a credit union branch. Safe deposit box contents are not insured either.

1. Look up the credit union on the NCUA's website using its "Research a Credit Union" tool or credit union locator. Federally insured credit unions have an NCUA charter number.
2. Check the credit union's website footer and account disclosures for the NCUA insurance statement.
3. On TellerScore, every credit union page shows its NCUA charter number and links to the regulator's record.

All federally chartered credit unions must be insured by the NCUSIF, as are most state-chartered credit unions.

A small number of state-chartered credit unions, concentrated in a handful of states, are not insured by the NCUA. Most of them carry private deposit insurance instead. Private insurance is not backed by the U.S. government; its strength depends on the private insurer's own resources.

Federal law requires these institutions to disclose clearly that they are not federally insured — on signs, in account documents and in advertising — and members typically must acknowledge that disclosure when opening an account. If you see a phrase such as "not federally insured" or the name of a private insurer, the NCUA protections described on this page do not apply.

Because TellerScore relies on NCUA call report data, privately insured credit unions that do not file with the NCUA may not appear on our site at all.

When a federally insured credit union fails, the NCUA usually arranges for another credit union to take over the accounts (a merger or purchase and assumption) or, if that is not possible, liquidates the credit union and pays insured members directly. The NCUA aims to pay insured shares promptly, typically within days. For more detail, read what happens when a bank or credit union fails.