America First Credit Union Ups 60-Month CD Rate

Utah-based America First Credit Union (America First CU) is currently offering 3.25% APY on all of its various 60-month Certificates: Regular, Dedicated Savings, Ladder, and IRA. The minimum deposit is $500 and there are no stated balance caps, with the exception of the Dedicated Savings Certificate, which has a $100k balance cap, but no minimum deposit.

In the past year, the 60-month Regular Certificate has added 70 bps, resulting in the highest APY since 2010.

Dedicated Savings Certificate

America First CU’s Dedicated Savings Certificate is essentially an add-on CD. I first wrote about the Dedicated Savings Certificate in a May 2012 blog post, and the most pertinent features have not changed since then:

• Additional contributions up to $10k per month.
• Each member limited to deposits of $100k in any one or combination of Dedicated Savings accounts.
• Automatic share transfer or payroll deduction (must be at least $10 per month).

As stated in the Truth-In-Savings disclosure, Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

Terms of twelve (12) months or less–sixty (60) days of dividend;
terms over twelve (12) months–one hundred eighty (180) days of dividend.

Availability

Headquartered in Riverdale, Utah, America First Credit Union is the largest credit union in the state. Following the March 2018 merger with Arizona-based Altier Credit Union, the field of membership (FOM) has changed.

Residency: Individuals who live, work (or regularly conduct business), worship, attend school, or volunteer in the Utah counties of Davis, Juab, Salt Lake, Utah, or Weber; Mohave or Maricopa Counties, Arizona; or Clark County and portions of Lincoln County, Nevada are eligible for membership. The Credit Union provides an interactive map to help determine eligibility.

Employment: Owners, employees, or suppliers involved in the food industry in Utah qualify for membership.

Family Relationship: Members of the immediate family (Parent, Spouse, Sibling/Step, Child/Step, Grandparent, Grandchild) or household of current America First CU members or those eligible for membership are welcome to apply.

Joining America First CU and/or opening a Regular Certificate can be done online or at any of 118 Utah branches, located in the greater Salt Lake City area and the southwest corner of the state, or 15 southeast Nevada branches. There are now five Arizona branches (Altier CU branches) and a single branch in Boise, Idaho.

Credit Union Overview

America First Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 9.16% (excellent) based on March 31, 2018 data. In the past year, America First CU has increased its total deposits by $1.17 billion, an excellent annual growth rate of 15.16%. Please refer to our financial overview of America First Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 24694) for more details.

America First Credit Union was founded in 1939 as the Fort Douglas Civilian Employees Credit Union. (Closed in 1991, Fort Douglas was originally established in 1862 to protect the Central Overland Route telegraph lines and mail route.) The Credit Union’s first home was a small office in Fort Douglas that was only open for 30 minutes every Friday afternoon. In 1939, there were 79 member and total assets of $788; nearly 80 years later, the membership has grown to more than 949,000, with assets in excess of $10 billion.

How the Regular Certificate Compares

When compared to the similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available with the FOM and require a similar minimum deposit, all of America First Credit Union’s 60-Month Regular Certificates APY currently ranks second.

The above rates are accurate as of 6/29/2018.

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