2.50% 18-Month CD & Other High CD Rates at Montauk Credit Union in New York - Local Only

Montauk Credit Union continues to offer very competitive rates on its share certificates. The rates have fallen some since my June post, but they're still better than what you can find at most other banks and credit unions. Below is the full list of CD and IRA rates as listed at the credit union's rate table as of 8/05/2009:

• 2.25% 12-month
• 2.50% 18-month
• 2.75% 24-month
• 3.00% 36-month
• 3.50% 48-month
• 3.75% 60-month
• 4.25% 84-month

Note, they only do simple interest, so there's no compounding. A reader reported that they'll deposit the interest in your credit union savings account every quarter. You can also request for them to send you a check.

According to the credit union's About page, anyone is eligible to join:

MCU has an "open charter" which enables us to extend membership to anyone.

A reader reported that she had to go into the branch to join. According to the reader, the office is in a teeny "storefront" on west 26th Street just off 6th Avenue. The process of opening a CD appears to be a little odd. Here's how the reader described it:

I had to send them a letter telling them I wanted to open a CD, and then someone called me to give me the "go-ahead". I put the check in the mail today.

The credit union's financial ratings for safety and soundness remain fair to strong: 5 stars (superior) at BauerFinancial and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com. Both ratings are based on 3/31/09 financial data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Certificate # 63231).

Other Competitive Certificate of Deposit Rates

I used to call these rates high, but in today's environment there are no "high" deposit rates. I'll use the term competitive instead which means that the rate will be better than what other federally insured institutions offer on a similar bank deposit product. As a comparison, Bankrate.com's best nationwide 12-month CD and 24-month CD rates are 2.07% APY and 2.47% APY as of 8/05/09. Refer to the following pages to find other competitive CD rates:

• My weekly list of hot nationwide and local CD deals
• My weekly list of all nationwide CD deals
• Index of state CD and bank deals

Tags: New York, Montauk Credit Union, CD rates, IRA rates