Colorado Deposit Account Rates and Deals

Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) is yet another rate leader to make cuts to its CD rates. Economic data of a slowing economy and falling Treasury yields last month had pointed to a deposit rate environment that would become worse. Unfortunately, that did happen as we saw last week when several CD rate leaders including Alliant Credit Union, Melrose Credit Union, Ally Bank and Discover Bank reduced their CD rates. In this new month PenFed joins this group with its own CD rate cuts. Below are the new CD yields for September 2010. I've noted the old yields in parenthesis.

• 3.49% APY 7-year CD (was 3.75%)
• 2.75% APY 5-year CD (was 3.00%)
• 2.50% APY 4-year CD (was 2.78%)
• 2.00% APY 3-year CD (was 2.25%)
• 1.50% APY 2-year CD (was 1.75%)
• 1.26% APY 1-year CD (was 1.31%)

Minimum deposit is $1,000. The rates are also available in an IRA. These yields are listed in PenFed's Money Market Certificates page as of 9/01/2010. Even though PenFed typically maintains CD rates through the month, they no longer guarantee it.

Below is an updated early withdrawal yield table that shows approximate average yields you would receive if you close these CDs early. It allows you to determine if it makes more sense to buy a long-term CD rather than a short-term CD. I also included Ally Bank's 5-year CD which has a 2.74% APY as of 9/01/2010 with only a 60-day early withdrawal penalty.

Approximate Yields After Early Withdrawal Penalties

As you can see from the above table, if you think you're going to leave the CD untouched for at least 3 years, PenFed's 7-year CD is better than its other CD terms. Ally Bank is still the best deal if you think it's likely you'll break the CD before 4 years (either because you'll need the money or if interest rates shoot up). At year 4, PenFed's 7-year CD becomes the best deal. For more details about PenFed CDs, please refer to my PenFed CD review. For more details about Ally Bank's CDs and early withdrawal penalty, please refer to my Ally Bank CD review.

PenFed's Certificate Reservation Program

I logged into my PenFed account, and I checked the status of PenFed's certificate reservation program. I first reported on this program on August 19th. It allows select PenFed members to reserve CDs in January 2011. The best is a 5.00% APY 10-year CD. As I mentioned, I was informed that the program was only open to PenFed members who had CDs maturing in October. However, several readers who were not in the select group have commented in my post that they have been able to reserve these CDs online. I have not been able to find out if there's any chance that PenFed will not honor these reservations.

PenFed had allocated $240 million of funds for this program. As of this morning (9/01/10), there is $186.68 million left according to PenFed's Certificate Reservations page (available when you're logged in). I'm glad to see the funds are lasting. Perhaps most members are not jumping on this deal because they believe these CD terms are too long.

PenFed Membership

PenFed makes it easy for anyone to join and open accounts online. If you don't qualify based on military, employer or family, you can become eligible by joining the National Military Family Association (NMFA). Please refer to How to Join Overview Page for details. Joining NMFA and PenFed can be done at the same time all online. The yearly membership for NMFA is $20, but your membership in the association does not need to be maintained to continue as a PenFed member.

Branch Locations

Accounts can be opened online, but for those who prefer branches, PenFed has branches in several parts of the country including Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, North Carolina, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Missouri and Texas.

Financial/NCUA Info

PenFed's ratings for safety and soundness continue to be strong: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial, 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our financial overview of Pentagon FCU). These ratings are based on March 2010 data except for DepositAccounts.com which is based on June 2010 data. PenFed is one of the largest credit unions in the US with $14.33 billion in assets and $11.62 billion in deposits. It's federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 227).

Searching for the Best CD Rates

To search for the best nationwide rates and the best rates in your state, please refer to the following tables at DepositAccounts.com:

• Best CD rates
• Best IRA CD rates

Mountain View Bank of Commerce is offering several deposit account deals. The first is a savings account with a 1.52% APY for balances of at least $1,000. The rate falls to 0.60% for smaller balances. The Health Savings Account is also a good deal with a 2.43% APY on balances of at least $10,000. For balances from $3,000 to $10,000 the yield is 1.92%. These rates are listed in the savings account tab of the bank's rate page as of 8/29/2010.

The bank's Shareholder Premium Money Market Deposit Account is a tiered-rate account with very competitive rates. The yields range from 1.71% APY for balances under $20,000 to 1.89% APY for balances over $50,000. It actually goes up to 2.09% APY but this requires a $500,000 balance. These rates are listed in the checking account tab of the bank's rate page as of 8/29/2010.

The bank also has some good deals on CD rates. There's a special 13-month CD with a 1.75% APY. Minimum deposit is $500. The best standard CD is the 24-month CD with a 2.25% APY. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates are listed in the CD tab of the bank's rate page as of 8/29/2010.

It appears that a branch visit is required to open accounts. It's a small, newly established bank located in Westminster, Colorado which is in the northern suburbs of Denver.

The bank's health score is 5 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com based on 3/31/10 data (see our financial overview of Mountain View Bank of Commerce). The bank has been a FDIC member since 2008 (FDIC Certificate # 58772).

With the news that Alliant Credit Union will be lowering its savings account yield from 1.50% to 1.35% in September, more people may be interested in BankOn. I first reported on BankOn in October 2009. Since then it has maintained a very competitive rate on its Money Market Savings Account. It's currently 1.60% APY as of 8/25/2010, and this rate has been maintained since April.

Unfortunately, BankOn isn't available nationwide. It's one of the rare internet accounts that is limited to only certain states: Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Wyoming.

Another downside is the requirement of opening its internet checking account. The checking requires a $100 minimum opening deposit, and it pays no interest. However, there is no minimum balance requirement after opening.

One nice perk with BankOn is a sign-up bonus of $25 when you open the savings account. There doesn't seem to be any additional requirements to receive this bonus. The rules say there's a limit of one per household, and the bonus will be paid within 10 business days of account opening.

There's also a nice refer-a-friend bonus. This is a limited time promotion that rewards both the referrer and the new customer with $25. You can make up to $250 for referring friends.

For more details about BankOn, please refer to my 2009 BankOn review. BankOn is part of Pinnacle Bank which has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 10634). Pinnacle Bank has a link to BankOn at its website so you can confirm the relationship.

Security Service Federal Credit Union increased the yield of its 5-year CD by 15 basis points. The top rate is now 3.25% APY for a $100K minimum deposit. It continues to offer a very competitive 3-year CD special with a top rate of 2.75% APY for a $100K minimum deposit. Unfortunately, it again lowered the 15-month CD special rates. The top rate is now 1.60% APY for a $100K minimum. The following is a few of the top CD rates as listed in the credit union's rate sheet as of 8/08/2010:

• 3.70% APY 7-year CD, $100K min
• 3.25% APY 5-year CD, $100K min
• 2.75% APY 3-year CD, $100K min
• 1.60% APY 15-month CD, $100K min

Rates are slightly lower for smaller deposits. For a $500 minimum deposit, the rates are 15 basis points lower than the rates listed above. These rates are available for both CDs and IRA CDs.

For more details about these CDs, please refer to the credit union's disclosure and search for "share certificate". In this section, the early withdrawal penalties are described. Penalties for terms from over 1 year to under 5 years is a maximum of 180 days of interest. For terms of 5-years and above, the maximum penalty is 360 days of interest.

Credit union membership is open to those who live, work or worship in Central Texas counties of Atascosa, Medina, Uvalde or South Bexar in addition to other areas. In South Texas the eligible counties include Aransas, Cameron, Hidalgo, Nueces and San Patricio. In Colorado the eligible counties include El Paso, Pueblo and Denver.

There are several groups which can also qualify you for membership including the UT at San Antonio Alumni Association and the FiftyPlus Club. Please refer to the credit union's membership page for more details. Membership requires a $5 minimum deposit into a share savings account.

Branches are located in several Texas cities including Brownsville, McAllen, Corpus Christi and San Antonio. Branches are also located in several Colorado cities including Colorado Springs, Denver, Aurora, Fountain and Pueblo.

The credit union's ratings are above average: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and an overall health score of 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our Security Service FCU financial overview page). Ratings are based on March 2010 data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 11065). It's a large credit union with $5.56 billion in assets.

Searching for the Best CD Rates

To search for the best nationwide CD rates and the best CD rates in your state, please refer to the CD rates section of DepositAccounts.com.

Digital Credit Union recently increased the rates on its Jumbo certificates. Even though the credit union calls these Jumbo certificates, they only require a $25K minimum deposit. For the standard CDs, the best rates include a 3.01% APY 60-month CD, a 1.51% APY 12-month CD and a 1.35% APY 6-month CD. One nice perk for terms of 12 months and under is an add-on feature that allows you to make unlimited additional deposits of at least $100 during the term.

The credit union also has a good deal on its Jump-Up Certificate. The best one is the 15-month CD with a 1.55% APY. The 27-month CD is not quite as competitive with a 1.76% APY. If rates go up during the term, you can jump-up to the higher rate, one time, for the rest of the term. These are also jumbo rates.

The above rates are listed in DCU's rates page as of 8/05/2010.

Checking relationship required

One important note about the above rates is that they require a Loyalty Checking Plus relationship. Without Loyalty Checking Plus relationship you'll earn 0.25% less than rates shown above. Please refer to this DCU page for how to qualify for Loyalty Checking Plus.

Other Reasons to Join

The CD rates may not be high enough to make up for the hassles of Loyalty Checking Plus, but DCU has a few other reasons that can make a DCU relationship worthwhile:

• PC Deposit - This is a remote deposit capture service which allows members to make check deposits by using a home scanner.
• Free FICO Credit Scores - You can receive your Equifax FICO Credit Score once a month for free (see review)
• History of competitive CD specials - DCU has a history of offering very competitive CD specials with terms from 5 to 20 months. I first mentioned DCU in 2005 when they were offering a 5% 16-month CD (the good old days).

Credit Union Membership

Anyone can join DCU via membership in an association. Refer to this credit union page for the list of associations. The least expensive membership is $10 for joining Reach Out for Schools. You can be immediately eligible to join DCU if you live, work, worship or attend school in parts of Georgia and Massachusetts. Refer to the Join DCU page for the full details.

In the instructions for joining DCU there are links to an online membership application and a PDF application. A reader who commented on his experience with the online application in my DCU post from 2008 provided the instructions he received from DCU after he applied:

In order to continue processing your application, please mail a $5 check or money order payable to DCU to fund your membership.

If you have joined through a sponsoring organization, then please make sure to also include funds to cover that organization's membership fee.

Also, please mail a copy of your driver's license or passport. If sending a passport, or if your license does not show your current address, please also send either a utility bill in your name (electric, gas, home telephone) or a copy of your apartment lease agreement. If you have listed a Joint Owner on your application, that person must also send the required ID and address proof.

Please note, we do not accept cell phone bills, bank statements, credit card statements or pay statements as address verification.

Make sure to check with the credit union for the latest instructions. One downside to joining is a potential hard credit inquiry (which can temporarily ding your credit score). Here's what a commenter mentioned in my August 2008 DCU post:

I also have been a five-year DCU member, holding several jumbo CDs with them. Yet, when I added checking to my account this past January, they ran a check on me through Equifax!

Branches are located throughout Massachusetts, in Hudson, Merrimack and Nashua in New Hampshire, in Colorado Springs, Colorado and in Alpharetta, Georgia.

The credit union's ratings for safety and soundness are fair: 3 stars (adequate) at BauerFinancial and an overall health score of 3 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our Digital Credit Union review). Both ratings are based on March 2010 data. Note, Bankrate doesn't currently have a rating for DCU.

DCU is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 23521). It's a large credit union with $3.9 billion in assets.

I see BBVA Compass is making the most out of its new alliance with SmartyPig. I just noticed Compass is advertising this $150 checking account bonus on SmartyPig's home page. Here's the direct link to the promo, and here are the requirements for the $150:

• Open a new Build to Order Checking account online
• Set up payroll Direct Deposit and earn $75
• Sign up for Online Bill Pay and earn $25 per month by paying at least 5 bills per month for 3 months

Unlike SmartyPig which is available nationwide, Compass bank products are only available where they have branches which includes AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, NM & TX. The offer is scheduled to last until 8/31/2010, and is only available to new consumer checking households.

Here is the small print which includes some details of the requirements:

To get $75 for a recurring payroll direct deposit, you must establish the recurring payroll direct deposit of at least $300 within 30 days following the date you open a new BBVA Compass consumer checking account. $75 bonus will be deposited, within 120 days of first recurring payroll direct deposit, into the new checking account that receives the direct deposit. Account must be open at time this bonus is paid in order for you to qualify for bonus. Bonuses are paid on the last business day of the month.

To get up to $75 for using Online Bill Pay, you must pay at least 5 eligible bills via Online Bill Pay every 30 days for the first 90 days after you open a new BBVA Compass checking account. To be eligible, each online payment must be for at least $25 and must be made to an unrelated third party. You'll receive $25 for each 30-day period in which you make the required online payments, up to $75. Each $25 bonus will be deposited into the new checking account from which online payments were made, within 60 days of the fifth eligible online payment for each 30-day period.

BBVA Compass Build-to-Order Free Checking

I completed a Compass checking promotion in 2006 and received the promised $50 gift card without any problems. One downside is that I did received two hard credit inquiries by Transunion.

The Build-to-Order Free Checking comes with some basic features. Two additional premium features are allowed without cost. The notable basic feature is no minimum balance or direct deposit requirement. Also, bill pay is free. The notable premium feature for those who want to make extra money is a $25 anniversary cash bonus. One feature that is lacking is free checks. A reader in a previous Compass post mentioned that the first order of checks is free.

The disclosure has some of the details of $25 anniversary cash bonus feature. I switched my Compass checking account to this Build-to-Order Free Checking in December 2007 and chose the $25 anniversary cash bonus as one of my premium features. Then I set up small monthly ACH debits from my online bank account to keep the checking active. I received the $25 bonus for both 2008 and 2009.

BBVA Compass Bank is a member FDIC (FDIC Certificate # 19048).

Other Bank Bonuses

To find other bonus deals at other banks, please refer to the bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus blog posts. There are also additional bonuses listed in the checking account deals forum.

Pentagon Federal Credit Union came out with its August CD and IRA CD rates. Rates for most terms stayed the same. However, the 7-year CD rate increased from 3.51% APY to 3.75% APY which makes this one of the best nationwide CD rates. The 2-year CD rate also increased, but the new rate of 1.75% APY is still not a top rate. Minimum deposit is $1,000. These rates are listed in the PenFed's Money Market Certificates page as of 8/02/2010. PenFed typically maintains its CD rates through the month, but note that there's no guarantee.

The main downside with this 7-year CD is a hefty early withdrawal penalty. According to the CD application (disclosure on 2nd page), the early withdrawal penalty for the 7-year certificate is:

a) If redeemed within 365 days of the issue date or any renewal date, all dividends will be forfeited;
b) If redeemed thereafter, but prior to the maturity date, dividends for the most recent 365 days will be forfeited.

In short, the penalty is 1-year of interest for an early withdrawal after the first year. You lose all interest for an early withdrawal before the first year. The penalty for the shorter terms is only 180 days of interest.

Special Early Withdrawal Feature for PenFed IRA CDs

PenFed has a nice feature for its IRA CDs. If you have reached the age of 59½, you can avoid an early withdrawal penalty if you only take a partial withdrawal. A partial withdrawal just requires that you leave at least the minimum balance of $1,000 in the IRA CD. So for large IRA CDs, this effectively eliminates the early withdrawal penalty. I described the details of this feature in this PenFed IRA CD review.

Do Long-Term CDs Make Sense?

It might seem unwise to lock into a long-term CD when rates are so low. If rates do go up in the next year or two, you may be able to get much higher rates. So it may seem better to stay in a savings account or short-term CDs until rates improve. The risk is that if rates don't go up, you'll earn much less interest than what you could have earned with the long-term CD. You also have to take into account the early withdrawal penalty. If rates go up substantially, you can break the CD with the early withdrawal penalty and reinvest the money into higher paying accounts. You could make more money in this approach than you could if you kept your money in a savings account or short-term CDs.

Below is a comparison of the approximate annualized yields that would result if you closed PenFed's 7-year CD at year 1, 2 and up to year 6. The yield is approximated by removing one year of interest and then computing the new effective average yield for that time period. The yield at year 2 is easy to compute since you essentially cut the amount of interest that you earn in half. So you just divide 3.75% by 2 which is approximately 1.88% APY. As you can see, this is a pretty competitive yield for 2-year CDs.

For comparison, I included PenFed's 5-year CD and Ally Bank's 5-year CD. PenFed's 5-year CD's early withdrawal penalty is 180 days of interest (only half of the 7-year CD penalty). Ally Bank's 5-year CD has only a 60-day interest penalty. The rates are as of 8/02/2010.

Average Yields After Early Withdrawal Penalties

As you can see in the table above, you will earn more with the 5-year CDs if you take an early withdrawal before 3 years. After 3 years, the 7-year CD starts to outperform the PenFed 5-year CD, and after 4 years, the 7-year CD starts to outperform Ally's 5-year CD. Fore more details about Ally Bank's CDs and early withdrawal penalty, please refer to my Ally Bank CD review.

PenFed Membership

PenFed makes it easy for anyone to join and open accounts online. If you don't qualify based on military, employer or family, you can become eligible by joining the National Military Family Association (NMFA). Please refer to How to Join Overview Page for details. Joining NMFA and PenFed can be done at the same time all online. The yearly membership for NMFA is $20, but your membership in the association does not need to be maintained to continue as a PenFed member.

Branch Locations

Accounts can be opened online, but for those who prefer branches, PenFed has branches in several parts of the country including Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, North Carolina, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Missouri and Texas.

Financial/NCUA Info

PenFed's ratings for safety and soundness continue to be strong: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial, 4 stars (sound) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our financial overview of Pentagon FCU). PenFed is one of the largest credit unions in the US with $14.2 billion in assets and $11.51 billion in deposits. It's federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 227).

Security Service Federal Credit Union lowered the rates on its 15-month CD special, but it added a new 36-month CD special with some very competitive rates. The yields vary by balance and are listed in the credit union's rate sheet as of 7/25/2010:

• 2.60% APY $500 to $25K
• 2.65% APY $25K to $50k
• 2.70% APY $50K to $100K
• 2.75% APY $100K+

The top rate of the 15-month CD special is now 1.75% APY for a $100K minimum. It had been 2.00% last month. The standard rates for the 5-year and 7-year CDs continue to be competitive with top rates of 3.10% APY and 3.70% APY. These rates are available for both CDs and IRA CDs.

For more details about these CDs, please refer to the credit union's disclosure and search for "share certificate". In this section, the early withdrawal penalties are described. Penalties for terms from over 1 year to under 5 years is a maximum of 180 days of interest. For terms of 5-years and above, the maximum penalty is 360 days of interest.

Membership is open to those who live, work or worship in Central Texas counties of Medina, Atascosa, Uvalde or South Bexar in addition to other areas. In South Texas the eligible counties include Cameron, Hidalgo, Aransas, San Patricio and Nueces. In Colorado the eligible counties include El Paso, Pueblo and Denver.

There are several groups which can also qualify you for membership including the UT at San Antonio Alumni Association and the FiftyPlus Club. Please refer to the credit union's membership page for more details. Membership requires a $5 minimum deposit into a share savings account.

Branches are located in several Texas cities including San Antonio, McAllen, Brownsville and Corpus Christi. Branches are also located in several Colorado cities including Colorado Springs, Denver, Aurora, Fountain and Pueblo.

The credit union's ratings are above average: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial and an overall health score of 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our Security Service FCU financial overview page). Ratings are based on March 2010 data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 11065). It's a large credit union with $5.56 billion in assets.

Searching for the Best CD Rates

To search for the best nationwide CD rates and the best CD rates in your state, please refer to the CD rates section of DepositAccounts.com.

Update: This Bank of the West promotion has ended. For those who live in parts of New York, another bank is offering an iPod touch bank promotion that's scheduled to last through 9/30/2010.

Bank of the West just came out with another checking account promotion. I just posted on their $100 checking account bonus on Sunday. They're now offering a free Apple iPod touch when you open one of their checking accounts, and complete a few requirements. Here's the promotions page (now inactive). It's also listed on the bank's front page. The offer is scheduled to last until 9/3/2010. They give you three different ways to qualify after you open the checking account:

• Minimum monthly recurring direct deposit of $500. OR
• Make 10 bill payments with Bank of the West Online Banking, OR
• Make 20 debit card transactions

This was similar to the $100 bonus, except they added the 20 debit card purchases. The main issue with a gift reward is that they may report a value of the gift that's too high to the IRS. The bank doesn't seem to specify the iPod model, and they do say in the small print that the "iPod touch shipped may differ from the iPod touch shown." Based on a quick search on Google, it appears the value of the cheapest iPod touch is at lesat $150.

Update 8/16/2010: The small print has changed. In addition to the new end date of 8/20/2010, more people can qualify. The new small print includes the following:

Offer valid for qualifying accounts opened in person at participating branches in CA, CO, UT, WY, and NV or for accounts opened online by residents of AZ, CA, CO, ID, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, NV, NM, ND, OK, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI and WY.

Below is the offer's small print with my highlights of some of the important details:

Open any new personal checking account and either establish minimum monthly recurring direct deposit of $500, or make 10 bill payments with Bank of the West Online Banking or make 20 debit card transactions. Direct deposit must be payroll, Social Security, pension or other government benefits. Qualifying debit card transactions include signature, or PIN-based purchases only. Qualifying transactions must be completed by 10/31/10. Offer valid for new personal checking accounts opened from 07/19/10 – 09/3/10 with $100 or more from a financial institution other than Bank of the West. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer and is subject to change without prior notice and may be terminated at any time. Offer valid for qualifying accounts opened at participating branches in CA, CO, UT, WY, and NV or opened online. Offer does not apply to second or multiple checking accounts. Limit of one new checking account bonus per household per calendar year. iPod touch will be shipped to your account address of record by December 15, 2010. You must have a U.S. mailing address on 10/31/10 to be eligible. Accounts overdrawn or closed as of 10/31/10 are not eligible for this offer. The iPod touch shipped may differ from the iPod touch shown. To the extent required by law, Bank of the West will report the value of the iPod touch to the IRS on Form 1099. Any applicable taxes are the responsibility of the account holder. All accounts are subject to the Bank’s standard terms and conditions and fee schedule.

Please note the small print: "Offer valid for qualifying accounts opened at participating branches in CA, CO, UT, WY, and NV or opened online." This explains why these states were excluded in the $100 promotion. So if you don't live in these states, you may want to check with Bank of the West. When I checked with Bank of the West in March, I was told that the online account application is limited to states which have Bank of the West branches. See my $100 promotion review for a list of these states.

Regarding a hard credit pull, I was told earlier this year that they don't do a hard credit inquiry in the application (only a soft pull). So you shouldn't have to worry about a ding to your credit score.

Bank of the West is one of the large regional banks. It has $61.18 billion in assets and $41.38 billion in deposits. The bank has been a FDIC member since 1934 (FDIC Certificate # 3514).

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

Other Bank Bonuses

To find other bonus deals, please refer to my bank bonus page which has all of my recent bank bonus posts.

Security Service Federal Credit Union continues to offer a competitive 15-month CD and IRA CD special. The yields vary based on the balance:

• 1.85% APY $500 to $25K
• 1.90% APY $25K to $50k
• 1.95% APY $50K to $100K
• 2.00% APY $100K+

The CD promotion includes other terms, and these have become more competitive as rates at other banks have fallen. The top rates are 2.05% APY for the 24-month CD and a 2.55% APY for a 36-month CD. The standard rates for the 5-year and 7-year CDs are also fairly competitive with top rates of 3.10% APY and 3.70% APY.

The rates are listed in the rates table (pdf) as of 6/27/2010. The 15-month CD special was also advertised in today's Denver Post, so hopefully this is an indication that the 2% rate will continue for a while.

Membership is open to those who live, work or worship in Central Texas counties of Medina, Atascosa, Uvalde or South Bexar in addition to other areas. In South Texas the eligible counties include Cameron, Hidalgo, Aransas, San Patricio and Nueces. In Colorado the eligible counties include El Paso, Pueblo and Denver.

There are several groups which can also qualify you for membership including the UT at San Antonio Alumni Association and the FiftyPlus Club. Please refer to the credit union's membership page for more details. Membership requires a $5 minimum deposit into a share savings account.

Branches are located in several Texas cities including San Antonio, McAllen, Brownsville and Corpus Christi. It's also locaed in several Colorado cities including Colorado Springs, Denver, Aurora, Fountain and Pueblo.

The credit union's ratings are above average: 4 stars (excellent) at BauerFinancial, 3 stars (performing) at Bankrate.com and an overall health score of 4 out of 5 at DepositAccounts.com (see our Security Service FCU financial overview page). Ratings are based on March data except for Bankrate which is based on 12/31/09 data. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 11065). It's a large credit union with $5.56 billion in assets.

Searching for the Best CD Rates

To search for the best nationwide CD rates and the best CD rates in your state, please refer to the CD rates section of DepositAccounts.com.