The Exclusive Progressive Credit Union in New York City

Progressive Credit Union in New York City has a very unique field of membership. According to the credit union's About Us page:

In order to become a member, an individual or credit union needs to be recommended by another member.

Many readers have been trying to find members willing to give them recommendations, but there doesn't seem to be many members out there. It is a small credit union. According to the latest NCUA data, it has 6,478 members. Those members are probably not searching the web for the best CD rates since Progressive has offered very competitive CD rates for the last couple of years. Below are the current CD and IRA CD rates as listed in the credit union's rates page as of 7/09/2010:

• 1.76% APY 12-month CD
• 1.82% APY 15-month CD
• 1.86% APY 18-month CD
• 2.27% APY 24-month CD
• 2.79% APY 36-month CD
• 3.55% APY 60-month CD

Compared to other banks and credit unions, the best deal from Progressive is its 3.55% APY 5-year CD. The best nationwide CD rate is currently 3.29% APY from Melrose Credit Union. Progressive also has an advantage over Melrose in terms of the early withdrawal penalty. Progressive has a simple 180-day interest penalty for its 3- and 5-year terms.

In addition to the CD rates, Progressive's savings account is also competitive with a top rate of 1.51% APY for a $50K balance as of 7/9/2010.

Progressive Credit Union continues to have solid ratings for safety and soundness: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial, 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 5 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our Progressive Credit Union financial overview). These ratings are based on March 2010 data except for Bankrate which is based on 12/31/09 data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 60064).