Questions?
Contact our deposit insurance specialists by email at shareinsurance@patelco.org. You can also read the NCUA Frequently Asked Questions for more information.

We are announcing an important change at Patelco Credit Union. After more than a year of consideration, your Board of Directors has elected to change Patelco's deposit insurance to insurance provided by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). The NCUSIF carries the full faith and credit of the Federal government. It is similar to the deposit insurance protection offered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and is the type of deposit insurance currently carried by the largest credit unions in the country.

Effective January 1, 2008, your savings are insured by the NCUSIF. Through this government agency, your non-IRA credit union savings deposits are insured up to $100,000 and IRA deposits are insured up to $250,000. This insurance replaces the $250,000 per account coverage previously provided by American Share Insurance (ASI) on your credit union accounts.

NCUSIF Insurance Coverage Overview
As noted above, the standard maximum share insurance amount is $100,000. Recent legislation has increased the insurance coverage on certain retirement accounts, such as IRAs, up to $250,000. Generally, if you have more than one account in Patelco, those accounts are added together and insured in the aggregate. However, you may obtain additional coverage on multiple accounts, if you have different ownership interests or rights in different types of accounts and you properly complete account forms and applications. For more detailed information about your insurance coverage, please refer to the link on our website to NCUA's brochure: Your Insured Funds or to estimate your share insurance protection go to the NCUA Share Insurance Estimator.

You can continue to have confidence in Patelco's size and strength. The credit union has $4.1 billion in assets and over $425 million in capital. Through the first nine months of 2007, we have earned over $11 million in net income.

Why Are We Making this Change?
Since we became insured by ASI late in 2002, a number of changes have occurred that lead us to believe that Federal deposit insurance is a better fit for our future. The reasons behind this decision to return to the Federal insurance program include:

• The maximum amount of NCUSIF insurance for IRA accounts has been increased to $250,000; this is a substantial improvement in the Federal program.
• The cost borne by Patelco for deposit insurance through NCUSIF will be lower.
• Recently, we have found that our private insurance coverage has limited our ability to work with some Federal agencies.
• Finally, private insurance has not enhanced our ability to increase our branch network through partnerships with other credit unions.

For most members this is great news. Your deposits will now be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Should you require coverage greater than $100,000, it may be possible for you to arrange your accounts to maximize the coverage available.

Questions?
Contact our deposit insurance specialists by email at shareinsurance@patelco.org. You can also read the NCUA Frequently Asked Questions for more information.