It is a different organization entirely. Functionally it is declared the same in all the googling that I've done, but in practice, are they? I don't know, and personally, I don't really want to find out.
This post made me chuckle. It's basically: I don't know about it, therefore it's scary!
But like, what do you know about the FDIC that you don't know about the NCUA? I suspect to most people they're both just opaque blobs of the US Federal government that insure deposits up to $250,000, and that's the limit of most people's understanding of either organization. If you're not confident in the NCUA, I'm not sure what extra information you could possibly have that would make you suddenly confident in the FDIC.
What's wrong with that? Seriously, belittling someone because they don't know about something, so therefore they'd rather avoid it, doesn't seem right either.
I know about FDIC. I understand the rules. My bank has a great explainer on their website about the coverage. I don't know anything about NCUA and I don't care to learn, because I'm already protected at the bank that I'm at.
> I know about FDIC. I understand the rules. My bank has a great explainer on their website about the coverage. I don't know anything about NCUA and I don't care to learn,
The rules are pretty much the same. A credit union is likely to have the same kind of explainer that tells you the same stuff, except there's magic words like 'share account' instead of 'savings account' and 'member' instead of 'account holder'. And credit unions have to have some 'affinity' requirement. Most credit unions these days just have a geographic requirement (live, work, or worship in a list of counties), but some require a connection to some company or organization, but for otherwise national credit unions, there's often a 'loophole' way to get affiliated; you can often make a trivial one-time donation to become a member of an affiliate supporting organization and then get into the credit union. There's a little bit of smoke and mirrors there, to support the creative fiction that credit unions aren't just banks, but they pretty much are. Just like banks, some are good and some are bad, some will fail in the near future, some won't, and deposits under the $250k threshold are explicitly insured. Updates to rules that affect banks usually lead to updates that affect credit unions, but it sometimes takes a little while longer.
You'll also get notices about board of supervisors elections, which you won't for a bank with stockholders, but might get for a mutual bank.
It's certainly a difference, but then it's like a mutual bank that's actually mutual. Given that there are 6,940 FDIC institutions and 6,815 U.S. credit unions (according to another poster), one should choose from the commodity that is banking institutions based on the services of the bank or credit union. I bank with two credit unions that are former aerospace employee credit unions; one of them gets most of my business because they offer a savings rate of 2.1%, the other one offers 3.0% on the first $500, and 0.5% on the rest. The second one has branches (or at least something that looks and smells like a branch, but doesn't touch cash), which was helpful during the pandemic when I couldn't get in for shared branching.
I really should move my savings to a commercial bank, where I can get 3.6%, but I haven't been inspired enough yet. Sure, the commercial bank may be making a profit, but they're giving their depositors more, and that's really what I'm looking for in a banking relationship.
It’s wrong because you weren’t just trying to avoid it personally; you were trying to scare others away by confidently declaring a problem (“a big one”) while knowing you were ignorant about it.
But it is a banal truth, because they are simply insured by a different agency.
> I don't know anything about NCUA and I don't care to learn
So you were motivated by apathy and content in ignorance, rather than trying to scare people, with your language. Still a bad choice because it shows that you're not seriously trying to engage in a discussion and learn about a subject.
I've already learned about the subject from the other helpful comments that didn't dig into what I was saying. Now, you're the 3rd person to come quote my statements, instead of being helpful. Geez, what is wrong with you?
> Now, if I'm _ignorant_ to the other ways it is insured, great, educate me, but don't be a dick about it.
When someone tried to educate you, you responded with:
"Functionally it is declared the same in all the googling that I've done, but in practice, are they? I don't know, and personally, I don't really want to find out."
Hey, sincerely sorry to hurt your feelings. I was trying to explain to you what everyone is seeing in your series of comments. I will think how to write it better next time (or just not.)
I appreciate the irony of coming across wrong in an attempt to tell you how you came across wrong. :)
Yes, the NCUA enforces regulatory standards including auditing for credit unions to remain insured.
Actually in many ways the NCUA is a bit more open about their work.
Here's the NCUA informing all credit unions back in 2022 that risk assessments are changing to factor in the sharp rising interest rates affecting asset values.
But like, what do you know about the FDIC that you don't know about the NCUA? I suspect to most people they're both just opaque blobs of the US Federal government that insure deposits up to $250,000, and that's the limit of most people's understanding of either organization. If you're not confident in the NCUA, I'm not sure what extra information you could possibly have that would make you suddenly confident in the FDIC.