Federal Deposit Insurance
The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) is similar to the deposit insurance protection offered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). This insurance means your accounts are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
- Individual accounts: All of your Columbia deposit accounts (other than IRA deposits) owned by you alone are combined and insured to $250,000.
- IRAs: All of your Columbia IRA accounts are combined and insured to $250,000.
- Non-Dividend Transactional Accounts (Bonus, Free For All, RewardsPLUS and Community Club checking account deposits): Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act section 343 passed in 2010, all deposits in these accounts are combined and have additional temporary unlimited deposit insurance now through December 2012. This unlimited coverage is separate from, and in addition to, the coverage provided to members with respect to other accounts held at Columbia Credit Union.
- NOTICE OF CHANGES IN TEMPORARY NCUA INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR TRANSACTION ACCOUNTS
All funds in a "noninterest-bearing transaction account" are insured in full by the National Credit Union Administration through December 31, 2012. This temporary unlimited coverage is in addition to, and separate from, the coverage of at least $250,000 available to members under the NCUA's general share insurance rules.
The term "noninterest-bearing transaction account" includes a traditional share draft account (or demand deposit account) on which the insured credit union pays no interest or dividend. It does not include any transaction account that may earn interest or dividends, a negotiable order of withdrawal ("NOW") account, money-market deposit account, and Interest on Lawyers Trust Account ("IOLTA"), even if share drafts may be drawn on the account.
For more information about temporary NCUA insurance coverage of transaction accounts, visit www.ncua.gov.
- Joint accounts: All of your Columbia accounts with two or more owners, each having equal share, are combined and insured to $250,000 for each owner. Additionally, joint accounts with deposits in non-dividend transactional accounts are combined and have temporary unlimited deposit insurance now through December 2012. This unlimited coverage is separate from, and in addition to, the coverage provided to members with other types of joint accounts held at Columbia Credit Union.
- Revocable trust accounts:
There are informal trust accounts comprised simply of a signature card where the member designates the beneficiaries to whom the funds in the account will pass upon the member's death. These are the most common type of revocable trust accounts and are generally referred to as “payable on death” (POD) accounts, in-trust-for accounts, or Totten Trust accounts. Formal revocable trust accounts are established with a formal written revocable trust document and are often referred to as living trusts, family trusts, marital trusts, survivor’s trusts, by-pass trusts, generation-skipping trusts, AB trusts or special needs trusts. Like an informal revocable trust, a living trust is created by a member and upon their death the trust generally becomes irrevocable.
A person, charity or other non-profit may be listed as a beneficiary. For most revocable trusts, the coverage is determined by simply multiplying the number of beneficiaries by $250,000.
If the revocable trust is more than $1,250,000 AND there are more than five beneficiaries, then an extra step is taken. Coverage is determined by what percent of the trust is allocated to each beneficiary with a maximum coverage of $250,000 per beneficiary. This is to prevent members from adding beneficiaries and apportioning them trivial amounts only to maximize their insurance coverage.
If you know which of your Columbia accounts are revocable trusts (including any informal trusts you established by designating a beneficiary on your signature card) and the account owners on all your Columbia Credit Union accounts, you can easily calculate your coverage using the link below.
Please contact us if you’re unsure about the ownership structure of your Columbia Credit Union accounts. We’re prepared and happy to help.
» Calculate your NCUSIF Insurance
NCUA Insurance Questions
The NCUA also has insurance experts available to answer your questions about NCUA coverage from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (EDT) Monday through Friday. The toll-free Insurance Call Center number is 1-800-755-1030, extension 1.
