Legal Definitions - National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF)

The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) is a program created in 1970 by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) to protect members of federally insured credit unions against losses in case of a credit union failure. The NCUSIF is funded by participating credit unions and provides insurance coverage for deposits made by credit union members.

• Insures individual member accounts up to $250,000 per individual depositor. This includes regular shares, share drafts, money market accounts, and share certificates.
• Insures joint accounts and provides each joint account holder with $250,000 coverage for their aggregate interests at each federally insured credit union.
• Provides separate insurance for traditional and Roth IRAs up to $250,000 in the aggregate at each credit union.
• Provides separate insurance for KEOGH up to $250,000 in the aggregate at each credit union.
• Provides separate insurance for revocable and irrevocable trusts. For revocable trusts, the coverage may be of up to $250,000 per beneficiary named by the owner. For irrevocable trusts, each beneficiary in an account may have separate coverage of up to $250,000.

These examples illustrate the different types of accounts and trusts that are covered by the NCUSIF and the maximum amount of insurance coverage provided for each type of account. The NCUSIF does not cover losses on money invested in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, life insurance policies, and annuities offered by affiliated entities.

The NCUSIF is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government, which means that credit union members are guaranteed to receive their insured deposits in case of a credit union failure. According to the NCUA, no member has ever lost a penny from accounts insured by the NCUSIF.