Does a money market account always come with a debit card or check-writing?

Not necessarily. The CFPB describes check or debit-card access as a common feature of money market accounts, but each bank sets its own terms, and some money market accounts do not include either.

Is a money market fund at a brokerage ever FDIC-insured?

No. A money market mutual fund is an SEC-regulated investment product with no FDIC insurance and no guaranteed principal, according to Vanguard's investor-education material, even when cash in the same brokerage account sits in an FDIC-insured sweep program as a separate arrangement.

If I move money between a savings and a money market account at the same bank, does that count toward a transfer limit?

It depends on the specific bank's account terms; the Federal Reserve's 2020 rule removed the federal six-transfer cap, but a bank can still define and limit what counts as a transfer under its own disclosure.

Does a credit union money market account use the same $250,000 limit?

Credit unions are insured by the NCUA rather than the FDIC, but the CFPB describes the standard coverage level as the same $250,000 per depositor, per institution, per ownership category.

Does the $280,000 example change if the accounts are joint instead of single-owner?

Yes, but that calculation is not covered here; joint, trust and retirement ownership categories use different FDIC formulas than the single-ownership example in this guide.

Money Market vs Savings Account: Insurance & Access

A money market account (MMA) and a savings account are both interest-bearing deposit accounts offered by a bank or credit union, and both are insured the same way: up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured institution, per ownership category, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the FDIC. The account label does not create extra insurance -- if you hold both a savings account and a money market account at the same bank under the same ownership category, the FDIC adds the two balances together and applies one $250,000 limit, not two.

Quick answer

Both account types are FDIC-insured (banks) or NCUA-insured (credit unions) up to $250,000 per depositor, per institution, per ownership category -- the two products do not get separate limits.
CFPB describes MMAs as typically paying more than a regular savings account and often allowing checks, a debit card or electronic transfers, while unlimited ATM, in-person, mail or phone withdrawals are typical; a plain savings account usually skips check/debit access.
A money market mutual fund is a different product sold by brokerages and fund companies, regulated by the SEC, and carries no FDIC insurance -- do not confuse it with a bank money market account.
The Federal Reserve removed the federal six-transfer-per-month limit on savings deposits in 2020, but individual banks can still cap transfers or charge fees of their own.
Actual APY, minimum balance, monthly fees and transfer rules vary by bank and by specific account, so the only way to compare two real products is to read each one's current account disclosure.

What separates a money market account from a savings account

Both are deposit accounts held at a bank or credit union, both earn variable interest, and both fall under the same federal deposit insurance rules. The CFPB's consumer-education page on money market accounts notes that an MMA "usually" pays a higher rate than other savings accounts and may require a higher minimum balance to open or to avoid a fee, while a savings account is more likely to carry a low or no minimum. The practical differences that show up in most institutions' disclosures are:

Feature	Savings account	Money market account
Typical interest approach	Variable APY, often simpler tiering	Variable APY, sometimes tiered by balance; CFPB says MMAs usually pay more, but this is not guaranteed by every bank
Minimum balance / opening deposit	Often lower or none	Often higher to open or to avoid a fee
Check writing / debit card	Typically not offered	Often allowed in limited amounts, per CFPB
ATM, in-person, mail or phone withdrawals	Usually unlimited	Usually unlimited, per CFPB
Transfers/withdrawals by check, debit or electronic transfer	May be limited by the bank's own policy	Often limited by the bank's own policy, per CFPB
FDIC/NCUA insurance	Up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category	Up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category -- aggregated with the savings balance, not separate

Every row except the insurance rule is institution-specific. Neither account type is required by federal rule to pay a particular rate, waive a particular fee, or include a debit card -- a reader has to check the specific bank's current disclosure to know what their account actually offers.

Money market account vs. money market fund: two different products

The name overlap causes real confusion. A money market account is a bank or credit union deposit product, insured by the FDIC or NCUA. A money market (mutual) fund is an investment product sold by a brokerage or fund company, regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission rather than FDIC/NCUA rules. Vanguard's investor-education material describes money market funds as carrying no FDIC insurance and no guarantee of principal, even though they aim to maintain a stable share price. If a product is held at a brokerage, pays a "yield" rather than an APY, and is described as a fund rather than a deposit account, it is very likely a money market fund, not a money market account, and the FDIC/NCUA insurance discussed below does not apply to it.

How FDIC insurance aggregates across both accounts at one bank

The FDIC's deposit insurance rule, summarized in its "Deposit Insurance At A Glance" brochure, sets the Standard Maximum Deposit Insurance Amount (SMDIA) at $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category. Ownership category refers to how the money is legally owned -- single ownership (one person, no co-owner or payable-on-death beneficiary), joint ownership, certain trust arrangements, and so on. Within a single ownership category at a single bank, the FDIC adds together every deposit account the owner holds there -- checking, savings, CDs and money market deposit accounts alike -- and insures the total up to $250,000. Opening a second deposit product under a different name at the same bank does not create a second $250,000 allowance; only a different ownership category or a different insured institution does that.

Worked example: $180,000 savings plus $100,000 money market, one bank

This is a hypothetical, illustrative calculation, not a reported case. Assume one person, no co-owner, no payable-on-death beneficiary, holding accounts at a single FDIC-insured bank:

Savings account balance: $180,000
Money market account balance, including accrued interest: $100,000
Combined balance in the single-ownership category at this bank: $180,000 + $100,000 = $280,000

Because both accounts sit in the same single-ownership category at the same bank, the FDIC treats them as one pool for insurance purposes. The SMDIA caps coverage at $250,000. That leaves $280,000 − $250,000 = $30,000 uninsured at that bank if the institution fails. The $30,000 does not disappear from the account and is not inherently at risk day to day -- it simply would not be covered by federal deposit insurance in a bank failure, unlike the first $250,000.

This math applies only to the single-ownership category described here. A joint account, a payable-on-death/trust arrangement, or a retirement account follows a different FDIC formula with its own allowance, and this example should not be applied to those ownership types. A reader who wants the $30,000 covered has two general options under FDIC rules: move the excess to a second FDIC-insured bank, or restructure the ownership category (for example, adding a joint owner) -- each of which changes how the FDIC calculates the limit and should be checked against the FDIC's own rules for that category before acting.

Withdrawal and transfer limits: the six-transfer rule is gone, but bank limits are not

Many readers still ask whether savings and money market accounts cap withdrawals at six per month. That federal rule no longer exists. On April 24, 2020, the Federal Reserve Board issued an interim final rule amending Regulation D to delete the six-per-month limit on "convenient transfers" (by check, debit card, or similar electronic transfer) from the definition of a savings deposit, according to the Board's press release. That change removed the federal ceiling, not the concept of a limit. Bankrate's explainer on the rule notes that many banks and credit unions kept their own version of the old cap, along with excess-transfer fees, after the Fed's change -- because nothing in the 2020 rule requires an institution to allow unlimited transfers free of charge. The CFPB's page on savings-account transaction charges makes the same point from the consumer side: a bank can still charge for transfers that exceed its own account terms, even without a federal rule forcing it to. Practically, this means a reader cannot assume either a savings account or a money market account allows unlimited free transfers just because the federal rule changed; the number of covered transfers, any excess-transfer fee, and whether debit or check transactions count toward the limit are all set by the specific account's current disclosure.

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a money market account always pays more than a savings account at the same bank -- CFPB describes this as typical, not guaranteed, and some banks price the two products close together or even invert the usual pattern on promotional savings rates.
Treating a brokerage "money market fund" as FDIC-insured because it has "money market" in the name -- it is an SEC-regulated fund, not a deposit account, per Vanguard's investor-education description.
Opening a money market account at the same bank as an existing savings account to "get more insurance" -- the FDIC aggregates both within the same ownership category, so this does not add coverage; a second insured bank or a different ownership category is what changes the limit.
Assuming the 2020 Reg D change means unlimited free transfers everywhere -- it removed the federal cap, not any bank's own limit or fee schedule.

What to check before moving money

Pull the current account disclosure for each specific product under consideration -- not a marketing page -- and compare the APY and any balance tiers, the minimum balance to open and to avoid a fee, the number of free transfers per statement cycle and the fee for exceeding it, and whether checks or a debit card are included. Then add up every deposit balance held in the same ownership category at that bank, including any savings, money market, checking or CD balances, and check the total against the $250,000 SMDIA using the FDIC's own ownership-category rules (the FDIC's Electronic Deposit Insurance Estimator glossary is one place to confirm how a specific ownership category is defined). If the combined total exceeds $250,000 in a single-ownership category, that excess is the amount not covered by federal deposit insurance at that bank, regardless of which account label holds it.