Security centre

Deposit protection

If a bank fails, deposit protection is what stands between you and the loss. Here is exactly what the protection covers at ICB, stated before you ever need it.

The protection in one paragraph

Eligible deposits at ICB are protected up to 250,000 per depositor. The limit applies to the total across all your ICB accounts — current, savings and fixed deposits added together — not to each account separately. Joint accounts are protected per named holder, so a joint account held by two people is protected up to 500,000 in total.

You do not need to sign up, pay, or hold a minimum balance. Protection attaches to the deposit itself, from the day it is made.

What is and is not covered

Covered

Current account balances, in any of the fifteen supported currencies
Savings balances, including savings goals and round-ups
Fixed term deposits, including interest accrued to the date of failure
Business current and deposit balances

Not covered

Investment products — their value moves with the market and is a different kind of risk
Money in transit between banks at the moment of failure, which remains the sending bank’s liability
Balances above the 250,000 limit per depositor

If the worst happened

Payouts are made automatically — you would not need to apply. The scheme pays out within seven working days of a failure, to an account you hold elsewhere, using the contact details on your ICB profile. Keeping your phone number and address current is the one thing we ask.

Temporary high balances — from a house sale, an inheritance or an insurance payout — are protected above the standard limit for six months from the date of deposit. If you expect such a balance, tell us and we will confirm the cover in writing.

Protection is the backstop, not the plan. The plan is a ledger that reconciles to the cent every business day, capital held against the risks we actually run, and six invariants asserted continuously so that a problem is found by us before it is found by anyone else.