PIDM Deposit Insurance Explained: How Much of Your Money Is Protected

Your savings at any PIDM member bank are automatically protected up to RM250,000 per depositor per bank, free of charge, with no application required. If the bank ever fails, PIDM reimburses you up to that limit without you needing to file a single form.

For the vast majority of Malaysians this is complete protection: PIDM estimates that more than 97% of all depositors are covered in full under the current limit. But if you hold more than RM250,000 at a single bank, or if you keep money in investment products, there are things you need to know.

What is PIDM and why does it exist?

Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia is a statutory body established under the Malaysia Deposit Insurance Corporation Act 2011. It operates under the oversight of the Ministry of Finance and works alongside Bank Negara Malaysia to safeguard the stability of the financial system.

PIDM runs two separate protection schemes:

Deposit Insurance System (DIS) for conventional deposits at commercial banks.
Islamic Deposit Insurance System (IDIS) for Islamic deposit products at Islamic banks.

Both schemes are funded by premiums paid by member banks, not by depositors. You pay nothing extra; protection is baked into being a customer of any PIDM member bank.

The RM250,000 limit: what it means exactly

The protected amount is RM250,000 per depositor per member institution. This covers both the principal and any accrued interest or profit at the point the bank is declared insolvent.

A few important nuances:

The limit applies to the total of all your accounts at the same bank, not per account. If you have a savings account with RM150,000 and a fixed deposit of RM150,000 at the same bank, only RM250,000 is protected.
Separate banks mean separate limits. RM250,000 at Maybank is fully protected, and another RM250,000 at CIMB is also fully protected.
Conventional and Islamic deposits are counted separately at the same bank. This is a significant feature discussed in detail below.

What PIDM covers

Deposit type	Protected?	Notes
Savings account	Yes	Up to RM250,000 combined
Current account	Yes	Up to RM250,000 combined
Fixed deposit / term deposit	Yes	Principal + interest
Foreign currency deposit	Yes	Converted to RM at point of payout
Islamic savings / current account	Yes	Separate RM250,000 limit from conventional
Islamic fixed deposit (General Investment Account-i that is a deposit)	Yes	Must be a deposit product, not investment account
Bank drafts and cheques drawn on a deposit account	Yes	Covered as part of the deposit
Joint accounts	Yes	Separate limit from individual accounts
Trust accounts	Yes	Each named beneficiary gets separate RM250,000
Business accounts (sole proprietor, partnership, company)	Yes	Separate limit from personal accounts

A note on foreign currency deposits

Foreign currency accounts (USD, EUR, SGD, etc.) are covered, but the payout is calculated in ringgit at the prevailing exchange rate on the date of the bank failure. You do not receive foreign currency back. The foreign currency balance is also combined with your other accounts at the same bank for the RM250,000 limit, unlike Islamic deposits which get a separate limit.

What PIDM does NOT cover

This is where many depositors are caught off guard. PIDM protects deposits, not investments. The following are explicitly excluded:

Unit trusts and mutual funds (including money market funds sold by banks)
Stocks and shares (including equity-linked deposits)
Bonds and sukuk
Negotiable Instruments of Deposit (NIDs) and Floating Rate NIDs
Repurchase agreements (repos)
Structured products and dual currency investments (DCIs)
Investment accounts (including Islamic Investment Accounts under IFSA)
ASNB funds (ASB, ASM, ASW, ASG, etc.) held via the bank as agent
Gold investment accounts
Cryptocurrency accounts
Deposits payable outside Malaysia
Interbank placements

The key principle: if the bank is acting as a custodian of your investment risk, PIDM does not step in. If the bank is holding your money as a deposit (where it owes you the amount back), PIDM protects it.

Practical tip: When a bank officer offers you a “high-yield deposit” or a “structured product,” ask directly: “Is this product protected by PIDM?” The answer will tell you whether you are taking on investment risk.

Islamic deposits: the dual-limit advantage

One of the most useful and underused features of PIDM is the separate RM250,000 limit for Islamic deposits at the same bank.

Under the Islamic Deposit Insurance System (IDIS), premiums from Islamic banks flow into a separate Islamic Deposit Insurance Fund (IDIF), ring-fenced from the conventional fund. The Shariah framework underpinning this is the concept of kafalah bi al-ujr (guarantee with fee).

What this means in practice:

Account	Protection
Conventional savings at Maybank	Up to RM250,000
Islamic savings at Maybank Islamic	Up to RM250,000 (separate limit)
Combined maximum at the Maybank group	RM500,000

Maybank Islamic and Maybank Berhad are legally distinct member institutions. The same applies to CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic Bank, Public Bank and Public Islamic Bank, and so on. Holding both a conventional account at the parent bank and an Islamic account at the Islamic subsidiary doubles your PIDM protection at that banking group.

Special account structures: joint accounts and trust accounts

Joint accounts

A joint account (e.g., a husband-and-wife account) receives protection separately from the individual accounts of each holder. So if you have RM250,000 in your own name and RM250,000 in a joint account with your spouse, both amounts are fully protected at the same bank.

Each joint account held with a different combination of holders is also treated separately. The bank’s records must clearly identify all account holders for the protection to apply.

Trust accounts

Trust accounts are protected per beneficiary, not per trustee. If you are a trustee holding RM750,000 in trust for three named beneficiaries (RM250,000 each), all three amounts are fully protected, provided the beneficiaries and their shares are disclosed in the bank’s records.

Business accounts

A business entity (sole proprietorship, Sdn Bhd, partnership) has its own RM250,000 limit, separate from the personal accounts of its owners. A business owner can therefore have full protection on both their personal savings and their business operating account at the same bank.

How to protect more than RM250,000

For depositors with larger sums, the legitimate strategies PIDM itself outlines are:

Spread across multiple banks. RM250,000 per member bank is the rule. RM250,000 at Maybank + RM250,000 at Public Bank + RM250,000 at RHB = RM750,000 fully protected.
Use the Islamic/conventional split at each banking group. As described above, each doubles your effective limit within the same group to RM500,000.
Open a joint account in addition to your individual account. The joint account has its own separate limit.
Use trust accounts for beneficiaries. Each named beneficiary gets their own protection.

None of these strategies require any special application. They are built into how PIDM counts deposits.

PIDM member banks (as of 2025)

All banks licensed under the Financial Services Act 2013 (conventional) and the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 (Islamic) are automatically PIDM members. This includes:

Conventional banks: Affin Bank, Alliance Bank, AmBank, Bangkok Bank, Bank of America Malaysia, Bank of China (Malaysia), BNP Paribas Malaysia, Boost Bank, China Construction Bank Malaysia, CIMB Bank, Citibank, Deutsche Bank Malaysia, GX Bank, Hong Leong Bank, HSBC Bank Malaysia, ICBC Malaysia, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, Malayan Banking (Maybank), Mizuho Bank Malaysia, MUFG Bank Malaysia, OCBC Bank Malaysia, Public Bank, RHB Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Malaysia, UOB Malaysia, YTL Digital Bank (Ryt Bank).

Islamic banks: AEON Bank, Affin Islamic Bank, Alliance Islamic Bank, Al Rajhi Banking Malaysia, AmBank Islamic, Bank Islam Malaysia, Bank Muamalat Malaysia, CIMB Islamic Bank, Hong Leong Islamic Bank, HSBC Amanah Malaysia, KAF Digital Bank, Maybank Islamic, MBSB Bank, Kuwait Finance House Malaysia, OCBC Al-Amin Bank, Public Islamic Bank, RHB Islamic Bank, Standard Chartered Saadiq.

If you bank with any institution on this list, your eligible deposits are automatically protected.

What happens when a bank fails?

PIDM does not wait for you to file a claim. When a member bank is declared unable to meet its obligations, PIDM:

Takes over and determines the total eligible deposits for each depositor.
Reimburses depositors up to RM250,000 automatically.
Provides continued access to funds as quickly as possible.

You do not need to take any action. No form, no claim, no queue. For the 97%+ of depositors whose total balances are under RM250,000, the process is essentially invisible.

Key takeaways

PIDM covers up to RM250,000 per depositor per member bank, including principal and interest.
Coverage is automatic and free. You cannot opt out, and you do not apply for it.
Savings accounts, current accounts, fixed deposits, and foreign currency deposits are covered.
Unit trusts, bonds, shares, investment accounts, and gold investment accounts are NOT covered.
Islamic and conventional deposits at the same banking group count separately, effectively giving you up to RM500,000 of protection per group.
Joint accounts, trust accounts, and business accounts each carry their own separate RM250,000 limit.
To protect more than RM250,000, spread deposits across multiple PIDM member banks and use the Islamic/conventional split.
Malaysia had 27 conventional and 18 Islamic PIDM member banks as of 2025.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Does PIDM cover e-wallet balances like Touch ‘n Go eWallet or GrabPay?

No. E-wallets are not deposits at licensed banks. They are regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia under a separate payment systems framework, but their balances are not covered by PIDM deposit insurance. If you hold large amounts in an e-wallet, check directly with the provider on how your funds are safeguarded.

Q: I have RM300,000 in a fixed deposit at one bank. How much am I losing if the bank fails?

You would recover RM250,000 from PIDM. The remaining RM50,000 would become an unsecured claim against the failed bank’s estate in the liquidation process. Recovery of that RM50,000 is uncertain and could take years. The practical lesson: keep balances at any one bank below RM250,000.

Q: Are ASB and other ASNB funds protected?

No. Even though you may access ASB through a bank branch or app, ASNB funds are investments managed by Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad. They are not deposits and are not covered by PIDM. ASB has its own government-backed structure, but that is separate from deposit insurance.

Q: My fixed deposit matures during a bank crisis. Am I still protected?

Yes. PIDM protection applies at the point the bank is declared insolvent. Both the principal and any accrued interest up to that date are protected (combined, up to RM250,000). If your deposit has not yet matured, the protection still applies.

Q: Does the RM250,000 limit apply per account or per person?

Per person (depositor) per bank, not per account. All your individual accounts at the same bank are added together. Only the combined total up to RM250,000 is protected.

For more on managing your money at Malaysian banks, see how bank interest on savings and fixed deposits works and how digital banks and e-wallets work in Malaysia.

Educational content only, not financial advice. Verify current figures with official sources.