Deposit Insurance

Columbia provides both federal and private deposit insurance

Update! Federal deposit insurance increases
Recent action by the federal government resulted in an increase in federal insurance from NCUA or FDIC on deposit accounts. Effective Oct. 3, 2008, federal insurance coverage on deposit accounts has increased from $100,000 to $250,000. 

Because Columbia chooses to purchase additional private deposit insurance — free to members — members with qualifying personal deposit accounts receive an additional $250,000 of private insurance in addition to the federal insurance for coverage up to $500,000.

For additional questions about your coverage, speak with a Columbia representative.

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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 Columbia deposit accounts (other than IRA deposits) owned by one person are combined and insured to $250,000.
• IRAs: All Columbia IRA accounts are combined and insured to $250,000.
• Joint accounts: Columbia accounts with two or more owners, each having equal share, are combined and insured to $250,000 for each owner.
• Revocable trust accounts: Any natural 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.

Since coverage is defined by ownership, you may be able to receive coverage beyond the above limits, depending on how your account ownership is structured.

» 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. For more information, you can also download a insurance pamphlet from NCUA.

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Columbia chooses to purchase private deposit insurance through Excess Share Insurance (ESI). This is a great benefit to members, and it’s absolutely free and automatically applies to personal ownership balances in excess of the NCUSIF limits.

ESI gives Columbia members added protection not often found at other financial institutions. ESI covers up to an additional $250,000 on:

• Personal savings accounts
• Personal money market accounts
• Personal checking accounts
• IRA accounts

Note: Non-IRA certificates and business accounts are not covered.

ESI Insurance Questions
You can contact ESI directly at 1.800.521.6342 mail@excessshare.com. We also encourage you to visit Excess Share Insurance's website.

Questions about Coverage at Columbia
We encourage you to visit with a Columbia representative to review your account balance and ownership structures to maximize your deposit insurance.