Alliant Credit Union Ups Rates On Its Nationally Available CDs
Over the weekend, Chicago-based Alliant Credit Union (Alliant CU) posted across-the-board Share CD and Jumbo Share CD rate increases. As I was reviewing my Forum posts about previous Alliant’s Share CD rate changes, I noticed I used the phrase, “these rate increases are nothing to get excited about” often. That same sentiment applies to the recent 25-55 bps increases: I’m not that excited about them, but I’m happy to see Alliant pushing its Share CD rates upward.
Of the six term-length Share CDs in the product line, the 18-23 month and 60-month have the most competitive rates. While Alliant offers both Share CDs ($1k minimum) and $25k Jumbo Share CDs ($25k minimum), the rates for the same term-length Share CDs and Share Jumbo CDs are the same.
The Share CDs are available as IRA Share CDs (Traditional, Roth, and SEP) earning the same APYs, with the same deposit requirements.
As DA reader, Sylvia, pointed out in a Forum post, Alliant CDs have a
flexible maturity date – you pick within the allowable range (12 to 17 months).
This is a really nice feature, because you can choose which day (within the term range) the Share CD matures.
As stated on Alliant CU’s Certificate Features page, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:
12-17 months: number of days the certificate is open, up to 90 days
18-34 months: number of days the certificate is open, up to 120 days
24-48 or months: number of days the certificate is open, up to 180 days
Beneficiaries
Alliant members can add beneficiaries through the Alliant Online Banking platform. Alliant’s website also has a Beneficiary Add/Delete Form, which
will supersede any previous beneficiary designation you may have on record with Alliant and any accommodations you have made in your Will for the disposition of your Alliant accounts. Beneficiaries may be an individual or a Trust.
Up to five beneficiaries can be added/deleted per each individual form. The completed form can be returned in-person, by mail, or by fax.
Trusts
Alliant also provides detailed information on its website concerning just about everything you need to know about Trusts, including exactly what documentation is required to open a living trust with Alliant.
ACH Tranfers
More than six years ago, Alliant began offering same-day funds availability for incoming ACH transfer that have been initiated from other financial institutions. According to Alliant’s Money Transfer FAQs,
With same-day ACH, all ACH transfers sent from your originating financial institution by 1:45pm CT will post by 5:00pm the same day!
The limit for same-day ACH transfers is $25,000 per day. This is the same limit that Alliant has for all ACH transfers.
Same-day outbound ACH transactions are still not available.
$100 Ultimate Opportunity Savings Account Bonus
Alliant is offering the $100 bonus through the end of 2022. There’s only requirement to earn the bonus.
Deposit at least $100 a month—for 12 consecutive months—into The Ultimate Opportunity Savings Account. Not only will you earn the current interest rate of 0.60% APY, but after those 12 consecutive months, you’ll also get a $100 bonus!
Alliant’s savings account rate has been going up, albeit slowly. Its current 0.60% APY is in line with savings rates offered by several big online banks like Ally and Discover.
More details about the $100 Ultimate Opportunity Savings Account bonus can be found in my January 3, 2022 blog post.
Availability
Headquartered in Chicago, Alliant Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) provides a way for almost any U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien to join.
Easy Membership: Any member of Foster Care to Success (FCS), regardless of residency or employment status, is eligible for membership. According to an Alliant representative, “Alliant will make a $5 support payment to FCS on the applicant’s behalf,” with Alliant's website providing a link to FCS to facilitate joining.
Residency: Individuals who live or work in 20 Chicagoland communities are eligible to join.
Employment: Employees and retirees of hundreds of Qualifying Companies also qualify.
Affiliation: Members of 37 different organizations are also eligible for membership.
Relationship: Anyone related by blood or law, or a domestic partner of a current Alliant member are welcome to apply.
Complete details about joining Alliant can be found on the Join Us page.
Joining Alliant and/or opening a Share CD can be done online, via mail (application available for download,), or by phone (800.328.1935).
You must have an active Alliant Savings Account or Alliant Trust Account with at least a $5 balance in the account before a certificate can be opened.
As part of Alliant’s “evolution to digital banking,” all its limited-access branches located in airports in California, Illinois, Texas, and Virginia have been closed. Alliant continues to operate two full-service branches in Chicago, located on Touhey Avenue and in Willis Tower.
Alliant participates in the CO-OP ATM network, but not the Shared Branch network.
Credit Union Overview
Alliant Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 2.63% (excellent), based on December 31, 2021 data. In the past year, Alliant has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $1.58 billion, an excellent annual growth rate of 14.11%. Please refer to our financial overview of Alliant Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 67955) for more details.
Ten years after United Airlines was founded, a small group of the company’s employees came together to organize a credit union in October 1935. At the end of the first year, the newly established United Airlines Employees’ Credit Union had 146 members and $5,088 in assets. The FOM was opened to organizations outside the airline industry in 2003, and since that time, Alliant has grown to become the eighth largest credit union in the country, with more than 668,000 members and assets in excess of $15 billion.
How the 18-23 Month Share CD Compares
When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are nationally available and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, only one bank has a higher rate than currently offered on the Alliant Credit Union 18-23 month Share CD. The following table compares the 18-23 month Share Certificate to the two highest-rate CDs from other credit unions and the two highest-rate CDs from banks.
How the 60-Month Share Certificate Compares
When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are nationally available and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, one bank and two credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the Alliant Credit Union 60-month Share Certificate. The following table compares the 60-month Share Certificate to the two highest-rate CDs from other credit unions and the two highest-rate CDs from banks.
The above information and rates are accurate as of 5/24/2022.
To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.
Also, FYI - just received an email from PenFed re. 3-year “Memorial Day Special” CD, 2.75%. Offer ends 5/31/22, $1K minimum, but it has the typical nasty PenFed EWP -
https://www.penfed.org/accounts/money-market-certificate?s_cid=em-1029148&cid=PRODDM22368&bid=1388989237
First, he says you can add beneficiaries through the online banking platform. But I already am preparing to change my beneficiaries, and Alliant says I cannot do that online, I must fill out the hard-copy form and send in.
That is another point, Ken’s story first says you can do it in the online banking platform, then he says you must do it on paper and return in-person, by mail or by fax. Must. Again, not intending to be critical, just helping to get the info straight.
Third, how is anyone to do it in person? Alliant has closed all its branches, it is now strictly an online credit union (but lagging in rates compared to other online banking institutions). (And now it is even shutting down the ability to deposit checks via your online account from a computer, you will be able to do that only from a cell phone. It is becoming more and more limited.)
And just a tip, Ken is correct about how many beneficiaries per form. However, if you are making a trust, such as a living trust, the beneficiary, then each beneficiary in that one trust gets you an additional $250,000 of NCUA insurance. It would be one beneficiary on the Alliant account but up to five times the NCUA coverage for all your accounts at Alliant (NCUA coverage goes to a maximum of $1.250 million, or $250,000 per beneficiary, so five beneficiaries).
The link above is for regular accounts only. According to footnote on form, you can name more than 5 beneficiaries: “Note: If you have more than five beneficiaries, you may obtain additional beneficiary add/ delete forms at alliantcreditunion.com or by calling 800-328-1935 (24/7).”
"(NCUA coverage goes to a maximum of $1.250 million, or $250,000 per beneficiary, so five beneficiaries)"
You comment refers to coverage for a revocable trust.
A revocable trust can potentially have more than $1.25 million in NCUA insurance coverage depending on the actual interests of each beneficiary and the number of beneficiaries. In fact, coverage is potentially unlimited.
If, for example a trust had 10 beneficiaries, and each beneficiary had an actual interest of $250,000 then the trust would be insured for up to $2.5 million.
(From that language, up to $250,000 "PER BENEFICIARY," which is how the NCUA states it, I am wondering: If a beneficiary is getting $50,000, does that mean the rest of the $200,000 applies to others, or does it mean that $200,000 is lost, it was available only to the one beneficiary? If the latter, and I supect it is the latter, then you could have less than $1.25 million over all, not more.)
One further question I wonder about, but it won't make any differnece to my situation, involves having a trust as a beneficiary in my living trust. How does NCUA coverage apply (or not) to that?
There are two parts to the coverage:
If there are 5 beneficiaries or less, then insurance coverage will be $250,000 per beneficiary.
If there are 6 beneficiaries or more, the MINIMUM coverage will be $1.25 million. But it could be higher than that depending on the actual interest of each beneficiary and how many there are. There is an alternative method you can use to determine the coverage if there are 6 or more beneficiaries that could increase the coverage beyond $1.25 million. It is a little more complicated but I can explain it if you are interested.
"If a beneficiary is getting $50,000, does that mean the rest of the $200,000 applies to others"
No. This is a question that only applies if there are 6 beneficiaries or more. Even with 6 beneficiaries, coverage is limited to no more than $250,000 per beneficiary. And the excess that you described is not applied to other beneficiaries.
"If the latter, and I supect it is the latter, then you could have less than $1.25 million over all, not more"
That is correct. Using the 6 or more beneficiary method of calculating coverage, it is possible that the actual interests of all the beneficiaries (capped at a maximum of $250,000 each) will add up to less than a total of $1.25 million. In that case, the coverage will be $1.25 million anyway because coverage is the greater of the sum of the actual interests or $1.25 million.
I am not clear on your last question but maybe it is about naming the living trust as a beneficiary instead of titling the account in the name of the trust?
In general this is risky. There are a number of problems you could run into by doing this. For example, there could be a delay in transferring the funds to the trust where the trustee can use them to pay trust expenses (such as funeral expenses, taxes, etc.). They may not have access to the funds for a period of time since they will not be able to access the funds until they are titled to the trust. If it is titled to the trust while the grantor is still alive the trustee will have immediate access upon the grantor's death.