How do I know if my bank is safe?

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 most reliable way to know if your bank is safe is to verify that it is an FDIC-insured institution (for banks) or NCUA-insured (for credit unions). You can use the FDIC’s "BankFind" tool on their official website to confirm a bank's status. In 2026, the standard insurance limit remains $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category. This means that if the bank were to fail, the U.S. government guarantees you will get your money back up to that amount. Beyond insurance, you can check a bank's "Texas Ratio" or other financial health indicators often reported in public quarterly filings, which compare the bank’s non-performing assets to its capital. A bank with a low ratio is generally considered more stable. If you have more than $250,000, safety experts recommend spreading your funds across multiple banks or using services like CDARS (Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service) to ensure every dollar is fully protected under federal limits.

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In short, if you have less than $250,000 in your account at an FDIC-insured US bank, then you almost certainly have nothing to worry about. Each deposit account owner will be insured up to $250,000 - so, for example, if you have a joint account with your spouse, your money will be insured up to $500,000.

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As long as that bank is FDIC-insured and your deposit doesn't exceed $250,000, you should be safe to do so. It might be worth it to maintain an account at a separate bank, however, just in case a bank error or accidental account freeze results in a loss of access to your money for a time.

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