3.75% 15-Month CD at Provident Credit Union in California - Easy Membership

Update 1/10/09: The CD rate has fallen. As of today the APY is 3.10% (3.35% with checking) for the 15-month term.

Provident Credit Union is offering a special 15-month certificate with a yield of up to 3.75% APY. This requires that you have a Provident checking account (other accounts also qualify). Without the checking, the APY is 3.50%. Minimum deposit is $1,000 ($500 for IRAs). The promotion is listed on the credit union's home page and in this promotion page as of 1/06/09.

Provident Credit Union has a reward checking account that currently pays 3.76% APY on balances up to $25K. Like many other accounts, this rate has gone down over the past year. It started at 6.01% APY in July 2007 (see post).

Provident makes it easy to use the credit union if you don't live near one of their branches. They are part of Credit Union Service Centers, so you can use branches of other credit unions. They also have a free extended ATM service available at 7-Eleven stores nationwide.

Field of membership includes members of several associations. Some of the associations listed with national coverage include the American Cancer Society and the Sierra Club and Sierra Club Foundation. The Sierra Club has a membership page where you can become a member online. The lowest membership level costs $25.

For those in California, you can be immediately eligible to join if you live or work in one of the following counties: San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Humboldt. Also those in Los Angeles City are elibible. Please refer to the eligibility page for the full details. A minimum deposit of $5 is required into the share savings account.

The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 66343). It's a large credit union with $1.6 billion in assets and 96,526 members.

Thanks to the reader who emailed me news of this promotion.