Federally insured credit unions offer a safe place for you to save your money, with deposits insured up to $250,000 per individual depositor. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is the independent agency that administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF).  Like the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund, the NCUSIF is a federal insurance backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.  Congress permanently increased NCUA’s standard maximum share insurance coverage to $250,000 on July 22, 2010.

You may obtain additional separate coverage on multiple accounts, but only if you have different ownership interests or rights in different types of accounts and you properly complete account forms and applications. For example, if you have a regular share account and an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) at the same credit union, the regular share account is insured up to $250,000 and the IRA is separately insured up to $250,000. However, if you have a regular share account, a share certificate, and a share draft account, all in your own name, you will not have additional coverage. Those accounts will be added together and insured up to $250,000 as your individual account. Additionally, shares denominated in foreign currencies are insured as outlined in NCUA Rules and Regulations.

Coverdell Education Saving Accounts, formerly education IRAs, are insured as irrevocable trust accounts and will be added to a member’s other irrevocable trust accounts and insured up to the SMSIA. Roth IRAs will be added together with traditional IRAs and insured up to $250,000.

Additional coverage is available on revocable trust or payable on death accounts on a per beneficiary basis. A co-owner’s interest in all joint accounts in the same credit union will be added together and insured up to the SMSIA.

Not one penny of insured savings has ever been lost by a member of a federally insured credit union. The federal insurance fund has several programs to help insured credit unions which may be experiencing problems, and liquidations or failures are usually done only as a last resort. If a federally insured credit union does fail, however, the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) will normally make any necessary payouts within two weeks of the time the credit union closes its doors.

Insured credit unions are required to deposit and maintain 1% of their insured shares in the NCUSIF. The fund is currently at the strongest and best reserved level in its history. Historically, deposit insurance funds strive for a ratio of equity to insured savings of a least 1%. NCUSIF ratio of equity to insured savings ranges from 1.25% to 1.30%.

As a member of Omaha FCU, you do not pay directly for your share insurance protection. And no tax dollars are used to fund NCUSIF. Omaha FCU pays into the NCUSIF a deposit based on the total amount of insured shares in the credit union.