# Banking Huge Sums of Money **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 17, 2001, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banking-huge-sums-of-money/69129 "2001-06-17T17:32:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banking-huge-sums-of-money/69129/1 "2001-06-17T17:32:04Z")
If I understand correctly, the FDIC insures your deposits for up to $100,000 (or is it $250,000?). What does this insure _against_, exactly? Bank failure? Also, what if I have, say, $5 million? Do I need to spread the money out into 50 accounts? If I have the whole $5 million in one account at Fred’s Bank and it goes under, am I SOL? Also, do banks just _eat_ the cost of a robbery? I know that most of the money in a bank is just entries into account books, but obviously they have to have a certain amount of cash on hand. Say a robber manages to make of with $20,000. Does the bank just debit the $20,000 divided equally among the account of its account holders (say, $5 per account for 4,000 accounts)? Or do they just suck up the loss as a cost of doing business? TIA ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banking-huge-sums-of-money/69129/2 "2001-06-17T17:47:45Z")
[http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/insured/general.html](http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/insured/general.html) > [@](#): > > _(question 4_In the event of a bank failure, federal deposit insurance protects deposits that are payable in the United States. Deposits that are only payable overseas, and not in the United States, are not insured. \*(questions 10&11)\*The basic insured amount of a depositor is $100,000. Accrued interest through the date of the financial institution’s closing (failure) is included when calculating insurance coverage. Federal deposit insurance is not determined on a per-account basis. You cannot increase FDIC insurance by dividing funds owned in the same ownership category among different accounts Banks certainly don’t just eat the cost of a robbery. I don’t know if they carry insurance against robbery(it would make sense that such a thing exists). They don’t pass losses on to the customer with a charge on your statement that for “robbery” fees or anything like that, but they certainly can increase the fees for banking with them, or drop benefits like free checks with your account. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banking-huge-sums-of-money/69129/3 "2001-06-17T19:01:13Z")
You can get some added protection, if you’re married. John and Mary can have I think up to five accounts, each insured at a hundred grand: One in John’s name, one in Mary’s name, one in John’s name with Mary as co-signer, one in Mary’s name with John co-signer, and one more, I think John and Mary equally. Isn’t robbery one of the things covered by the FDIC insurance? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banking-huge-sums-of-money/69129/4 "2001-06-17T19:40:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Also, what if I have, say, $5 million? Do I need to spread the money out into 50 accounts? If I have the whole $5 million in one account at Fred’s Bank and it goes under, am I SOL? You could be but I don’t think this have ever happened - all claims usnder FDIC were paid in full (that’s IIRC).