Last night on Anderson Cooper 360, I addressed a question, “Are deposits in credit unions insured by NCUA and ASI, as safe as deposits in FDIC insured banks?” and I answered “Yes”.

PLEASE NOTE HOWEVER -- JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE CLEAR ON MY ANSWER YOU NEED TO KNOW THE FOLLOWING

Similar to FDIC, NCUA provides federal insurance for credit union deposits. This is done through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which a federal fund backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is the only federal agency that insures credit union member deposits in the United States and its territories. NCUA insures all federal credit unions and the vast majority of state-chartered credit unions as well, which means that 98 percent of all credit union member deposits are insured through NCUA.

American Share Insurance (ASI) is a private insurance firm. While ASI does insure credit union member deposits in approximately 160 state chartered credit unions, it is NOT a federal insurance provider and is NOT backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

Hope this clears any confusion. And thank you to the NCUA for pointing this out to me.

Suze