Advancial Raises Short-Term Jumbo Certificate Rates

In the past three months, Texas-based Advancial has increased the rates on most of its Jumbo Certificates, with the longer-terms having the largest gains. Advancial started the new month by raising the rates on its shorter-term Jumbo Certificates, with quite modest increases of 1-6 bps.

Advancial’s Certificates feature tiered APYs based on minimum opening deposits: Certificates ($1k min), Junior Jumbo Certificates ($25k min), and Jumbo Certificates ($50k min). The corresponding APYs are tiered in increments of 10 bps.

Advancial’s Certificates are also offered as IRA CDs (Traditional, Roth, CESA), earning the same tiered APYs with the same deposit requirements.

According to CSR, the Early Withdrawal Penalties are as follows:

• 90 days dividends for terms less than one year.
• 180 days dividends for terms between one year and three years.

Advancial offers penalty-free early withdrawals,

if you have been impacted by a federal disaster event. The standard Early Withdrawal fee is waived on requests made within 60 days from the date of declaration of a federal disaster area. IRA Savings Certificates are not eligible for this offer.

Funding and Accessing Maturing Funds

Certificates must be funded at the time of opening. CSR suggested the easiest (and fastest) way to fund a Certificate is through a transfer from an existing Advancial checking or savings account. Advancial participates in the CO-OP Shared Branch network, making the transfer of funds relatively easy. The other option would be to initiate a wire from an external financial institution.

Maturing funds can be distributed by check, wire ($15 fee), or transferred into an existing Advancial checking or savings account.

Beneficiaries

Unlimited beneficiaries can be named, with a Social Security number required for each beneficiary. According to CSR, beneficiaries can be listed on the online application, with no need for a separate form to be submitted. Percentages cannot be assigned; only equal shares are available.

Availability

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Advancial has a field of membership (FOM) that has changed a few times in the past four years. The FOM has alternated between an “easy membership requirement” (EMR) and a limited membership determined by residency or SEG relationship.

In hopes of discovering a re-instated EMR, I contacted Advancial, hoping I would be told the EMR was back in place. CSR shot down my hopes, stating Advancial is still in non-EMR mode, but then gave me a glimmer of hope, stating the possibility of an EMR “technically exists,” but not really.

Employees/members of hundreds of SEGs qualify for membership. Advancial does not list any of the SEGs on its website, but the Online Membership Application does include a search field “to find your employer or association.” Most of the SEGs are companies related to the oil and gas industries and the health industry in the Dallas area. (If you type “oil” or “gas” in the search field of the online membership application, several companies do pop up.)

In my July Advancial blog post, I quoted a Forum post by DA reader, AYPAddict, pointed out in a ,

I did a quick search of their SEG list and found that Costco is listed. It's worth a call to them to see if being a Costco member would qualify you to become an Advancial FCU member.

According to CSR, all Costco employees qualify for membership regardless of where they live or work, but the only Costco members who qualify are those who either joined at the Katy (TX) Costco or picked up their new membership cards at the Katy Costco.

The only other SEG I found that’s open to just about anyone is the United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA). CSR stated that joining the USDAA “technically” qualifies for Advancial membership, but it may be a YMMV (your miles may vary) situation. He said if you’re joining Advancial to apply for a loan, the USDAA membership would probably “technically” qualify, but wouldn’t qualify if you’re interested in opening a CD, savings, or money market account. In the past, Advancial has limited who can open a CD. In a May 2020 review of Advancial, DA reader, remmymo, stated,

After reading field of membership on this website I clicked on the Connex link and joined. Then I filled out the Advancial membership form online. I wanted to open a large CD quickly. When I called Advancial to follow up on my application I was told that membership in Connex will not be suffice to become a member of Advancial Credit Union.

According to the Membership Eligibility page,

Still not sure if you qualify for an Advancial membership? Give us a call at 800.322.2709, and we will be happy to discuss an Advancial membership with you!

The other ways to join Advancial include,

Residency: Individuals who live, work, worship, or attend school in the Louisiana parishes of Acadia, Avoyelles, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, or Vermillion are eligible to join.

Personal Relationship: Immediate family members and household members of individuals who qualify for membership through an SEG also qualify for membership. Immediate family is defined as spouse, significant other, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, grandchild, stepparent, stepchild, stepsibling, and adoptive relationships.

Joining Advancial and/or opening a Jumbo Certificate can be done online. The Membership Application is also available as a download and can be returned by mail. Advancial has ten full-service branch locations in Alaska (1), Louisiana (2), Oklahoma (1), and Texas (6).

Opening a savings account with a minimum deposit of just $5 establishes an Advancial membership.

Advancial participates in both the CO-OP Shared Branch and ATM networks, giving members access to more than 5,000 branches and nearly 30,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide.

Credit Union Overview

Advancial has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 5.94% (excellent) based on June 30, 2021 data. In the past year, Advancial has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $252.85 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 16.79%. Please refer to our financial overview of Advancial (NCUA Charter # 2285) for more details.

Chartered in 1937 as the Atlantic Federal Credit Union, Advancial is currently the 14^th largest credit union based in Texas, with more than 100,000 members and assets in excess of $1.9 billion. The original charter was issued by the Farm Credit Administration, an independent agency of the Executive Branch that was created in 1933. (If you’re wondering why a Texas-based credit union had “Atlantic” in its name, the original FOM included employees of the Atlantic Richland Company, better known as ARCO.) In 2001, the Credit Union rebranded as Advancial to better reflect its diverse membership.

How the Jumbo Certificates Compare

Given Advancial’s unique FOM, a comparison to nationally available CDs is appropriate. When compared to the similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide, all of Advancial's short-term Jumbo Certificate APYs currently rank first, regardless of minimum deposit requirements.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 12/2/2021.

To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.