2.00% 5-Month CD at Chartway FCU in Several States

Chartway Federal Credit Union is offering a special 5-month CD with a 2.00% APY. Minimum deposit is $5,000, and the maximum deposit is $250,000. It requires a Preferred Plus, Elite 50 Plus or Premier Checking. New money is required. This special is listed in the credit union's rates sheet as of 10/11/09.

The checking account requirement hurts this deal. All three of the qualifying checking accounts have a minimum balance requirement to avoid a monthly fee. The Preferred Plus checking and the Elite 50 Plus checking have a $10 monthly fee unless a minimum balance of $2,500 is maintained. These two would be preferable to the Premier Checking which has a $20 monthly fee unless a minimum balance of $5,000 and direct deposit are maintained.

Unfortunately, their eChecking account does not qualify for this CD. This is a reward checking account that pays up to 3.84% APY on a $20K balance (see review).

Membership is open to those who live, work, worship or go to school in a defined geographic area served by the credit union's Virginia, Florida, Rhode Island and Texas branches. A reader noted in a previous post that the geographic areas are narrow, so please call to see if you can be eligible. You can also be eligible via schools and select employer groups. The online application has a list of eligible schools and employers. Please refer to their Membership Page for more details. Membership requires a $5 minimum deposit into the Prime Share savings account.

Branches are located in Virginia, Georgia, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Ohio and New Jersey.

The credit union has some decent financial ratings for soundness: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com. Both are based on 6/30/09 data. Chartway is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 13242).

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

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Tags: Chartway Federal Credit Union, Virginia, CD rates, Rhode Island, Texas, Florida