Are my deposits insured?
Under State law (Section 412:4-104, Hawaii Revised Statutes), deposits in all Hawaii-chartered and Hawaii-licensed banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations, and depository financial services loan companies must be insured up to the maximum amount allowed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC"), and deposits and shares in all Hawaii-chartered credit unions must be insured up to the maximum amount allowed by the National Credit Union Administration ("NCUA").
On October 3, 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which temporarily raises the basic limit on federal deposit insurance coverage from $100,000 to $250,000 per depositor. The temporary increase in deposit insurance coverage became effective immediately upon the President's signature. The legislation provides that the basic deposit insurance limit will return to $100,000 after December 31, 2009.
Accordingly, both the FDIC and NCUA now insure deposits up to a maximum of $250,000 per depositor. If you have over $250,000 deposited in one institution, you may still be fully insured, depending upon a variety of factors such as the type of deposit or the manner of ownership of the account. Since the rules are many and can be confusing, you should contact your institution or the applicable federal insuring agency for assistance in determining the extent of your insurance coverage.
For more information on these changes go to the FDIC website at: www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/.
or the NCUA website at: www.ncua.gov/ShareInsurance/Index.htm
Regarding deposits insured by the FDIC, you may find assistance at the FDIC's Web site, where the FDIC maintains an interactive application called the Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator (“EDIE”) that allows consumers or bankers to enter information about an account or group of accounts at an FDIC-insured institution, and receive back a report that states whether the funds are fully insured. EDIE is at www2.fdic.gov/edie.
The NCUA also has a share insurance estimator, which you can find at http://webapps.ncua.gov/ins/.
To determine which agency insures the deposits in your institution, see the next question and answer.
