Golden 1 Credit Union (CA) Adds Competitive 15-Month CD Special

For a limited time, Golden 1 Credit Union (Golden 1) is offering a 15-month CD Special earning 5.00% APY. The minimum opening deposit is $500 with no stated balance cap.

The 15-month CD Special is also available as an IRA CD Special (Traditional, Roth, CESA), earning the same APY with the same funding requirement.

As stated in the Golden 1 Disclosure of Account Information document (page 53), the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

If your account has an original maturity of 12 months through 23 months, the penalty we
may impose will equal 180 days’ dividends on the amount withdrawn subject to penalty.

Availability

Based in Sacramento, Golden 1 Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) is community-based, with individuals who live or regularly work anywhere in California eligible to join. Previously an “easy membership requirement” credit union, Golden 1 narrowed the FOM approximately three years ago.

Employees/members of more than 900 SEGs (listed on the first page of the online application) also qualify for membership.

According to the online application, family members and the registered domestic partner of current Golden 1 members are welcome to apply.

Account Opening

Joining Golden can be done online or at any of the 72 branches located throughout California, from Shasta County to Los Angeles.

Golden 1’s Regular Savings Account requires just a minimum opening
deposit of only $1 and establishes you as a member of Golden 1.

The landing page includes detailed information about opening a 15-month CD Special.

Current Golden 1 members can open this special certificate by signing on to Online Banking and following these steps.

1. Go to Accounts, then Open an Account
2. Click Open an account, then Savings and Certificates
3. Select 15 Mo Certificate Special
4. Enter your Opening Deposit and select the account you wish to transfer funds from

To open a 15-month IRA certificate, visit our IRA Service Center, print out the form, then visit a branch or mail it to us at the address provided.

New Golden 1 members need to call 1-877-GOLDEN 1 (1-877-465-3361) or visit any of the above-mentioned branches to open a 15-month CD Special or 15-month IRA CD Special.

CD Funding and Other Details

The following information is from a conversation with CSR.

• Funding – ACH, wire (no fee), internal transfer, Shared Branch transfer.
• CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – Yes
• Dividends – Compounded/credited monthly. Dividends can be paid out to you or transferred to another account monthly.
• Maturing Funds – ACH, wire ($25 fee), cashier’s check, or internal transfer to a Golden 1 Regular Savings Account.
• Beneficiaries – Unlimited, equal shares, Social Security numbers are required.
• Grace Period –7 calendar days before renewal as a 13-17 month CD.
• Credit Check – Soft pull.

Credit Union Overview

Golden 1 Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 3.51% (excellent), based on September 30, 2022 data. In the past year, Golden 1 has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $538.21 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 3.34%. Please refer to our financial overview of Golden 1 Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 65610) for more details.

Founded by a group of California state employees in 1933, Golden 1 Credit Union is currently the second largest credit union headquartered in California. With more than $18.2 billion in assets and more than 1.1 million members, Golden 1 is also the sixth largest credit union in the U.S.

According to a recent Credit Union Times article, wider interest margins have helped the largest credit unions to improve their loan origination programs.

Rising interest margins allowed the nation’s 10 largest credit unions to increase their earnings in the fourth quarter despite falling loan production and rising costs for payroll and loan loss provisions.

The Top 10 credit unions earned $1.1 billion in the three months ending Dec. 31, or an annualized 1.17% of their average assets for the quarter. ROA was up from 1.08% a year earlier and 0.95% in the third quarter. […]

The Top 10 account for about 20% of credit union assets and members. The group, unchanged from the third quarter, showed the following results: […]

7. Golden 1 Credit Union, Sacramento, Calif. ($18.5 billion, 1.1 million members) had ROA of 0.71% in the fourth quarter, compared with 0.53% a year earlier and 0.68% in the third quarter. Originations were $1.7 billion, up 25%.

How the 15-Month CD Special Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com which are available within the FOM and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, no banks or credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the Golden 1 Credit Union 15-month CD Special. The following table compares the 15-month CD Special to the two highest-rate CDs from credit unions and to the other two highest-rate CDs from banks.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 2/16/2023.

To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.