Where is my money held?
Oportun is not a bank. We hold all the members’ money at partner banks and all our partner banks are FDIC insured. Oportun doesn’t have any relationship with the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) so none of our members’ funds were impacted by the recent closure of SVB.
What partner banks do you work with?
If you have active Bills and Spending accounts (i.e. the Oportun banking account), those funds along with your Savings are held at Pathward, N.A. Your Bills and Spending accounts are demand deposit accounts held in your name and your savings is in what’s called “For the Benefit of” (FBO) account. This FBO account is held in our name for the benefit of each of our banking members. It pools savings of all our banking members - you always own your portion of the funds in this account and you can withdraw them at any time.
If you only use our savings product, the money saved is, similarly, held in FBO accounts at Citi Bank, Wells Fargo Bank and JP Morgan Chase Bank. We’ve also partnered with StoneCastle to distribute some of these funds among its network banks. We received confirmation from StoneCastle that none of the network banks used for these savings include Silicon Valley Bank.
Is my money insured by FDIC?
The short answer is yes, the funds in your savings goals as well as the Spending and Bills accounts are covered by FDIC insurance because they are held at FDIC-insured banks. FDIC insures deposits so that you do not lose all the money in case the bank fails, but some limitations apply.
For example, FDIC imposes a limit on how much deposit insurance it provides. Currently, the limit is set at $250,000 for all funds that belong to the same person at each bank. If you already have money deposited (separately from the Oportun account) at the same partner bank, the FDIC insurance limit would apply to the total of your funds at that bank; if the total is more than the FDIC limit, the excess may not be insured. You can find more information about FDIC insurance here.
Keep in mind that Oportun investing and retirement accounts are not covered by FDIC insurance. These accounts are protected by SIPC. Learn more here: How are the funds in Oportun investing and retirement accounts protected?
Keep in mind that Oportun investing and retirement accounts are not covered by FDIC insurance. These accounts are protected by SIPC. Learn more here: How are the funds in Oportun investing and retirement accounts protected?