American 1 Credit Union Adds 6% APY 1-Year CD Special
Now through September 8, 2023, Michigan-based American 1 Credit Union (American 1) is offering a 1-Year Share Certificate Special earning 6.00% APY. (FYI – CSR stated that the September 8 end-date was added to the 1-Year Share Certificate Special fact sheet yesterday afternoon, which doesn’t bode well for a long-lived offering.)
This limited-time promotion can be opened with a $1k minimum deposit, with no stated balance cap. New money is required, but as stated in the fine print of the landing page,
At least $1,000 must be funds not previously on deposit with the credit union. Withdrawals and re-deposits made within 7 days will not be eligible for the promotional rate.
As stated in the Truth-in-Savings disclosure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:
The penalty we may impose will equal 90 days dividends on the amount withdrawn plus the amount of dividends earned on the amount withdrawn in excess of the amount of dividends that would have been earned at the Savings/Share account rate.
Many thanks to DA reader, midas89, for yesterday’s heads-up Forum post about this new rate-leading 1-year CD. (Note to midas89 – I made sure I got your name right!)
Availability
Headquartered in Jackson, Michigan, American 1 Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) is open to U.S. citizens and resident aliens who have a valid Social Security number by joining the Community 1 Cooperative, which is a grocery cooperative. The membership fee is just $3 and is part of the initial deposit when opening an American 1 membership.
The American 1 FOM no longer has any geographic limitations: all U.S. citizens/resident aliens with government issued IDs are welcome to apply.
Account Opening
Joining American 1 Credit Union can be done online (there’s a “Become A Member” button at the top left of every American 1 website page), but the online membership application is more like a “Contact Me” form that collects basic personal information. According to CSR, after the application is submitted, American 1 will contact you within one business day to finalize the application, including instructions as how to fund your account(s). Applying for membership can also be done at any of 15 Michigan branches located in Adrian, Brooklyn, Canton, Chelsea, Clark Lake, Hillsdale, Jackson (5), Manchester, Michigan Center, Milan, and Spring Arbor.
Just $5 in your savings account makes you a member of
the area's most convenient and member-friendly credit union.
Existing American 1 members can open a Share Certificate Special using the Online Banking platform, or submitting an Additional Services Request Form, or at any of the above-mentioned branch locations.
NOTE: If you are interested in opening a 1-Year Share Certificate Special, I suggest you do not hesitate. With the Labor Day holiday weekend, the window to get an application approved and funding in place is a short four business days. When I called American 1 yesterday, I was disheartened when I heard “You are caller #19.” The total time on the phone (holding and conversation) was more than 42 minutes. CSR stated the call center had been busy all day with calls about the 1-Year Share Certificate Special.
Funding and Other Details
The following information is from the Truth-in-Savings disclosure and a conversation with CSR.
- Funding – ACH, wire ($5 fee), cashier’s check, or shared branch transaction.
- CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – Yes.
- Dividends – There is no compounding. Dividends will be credited at maturity, or “you may choose to have dividends paid to you or to another account every month, every quarter, or semiannually rather than credited to this account.”
- Maturing Funds – Internal transfer to an American 1 Primary Share Savings Account.
- Beneficiaries – Unlimited, with equal shares; Social Security number not required, but DOB is required.
- Grace Period – 10 calendar days before automatic renewal.
- Credit Check – Hard pull when joining, using Experian.
Credit Union Overview
American 1 Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 8.85% (excellent), based on March 31, 2023 data. In the past year, American 1’s total non-brokered deposits have decreased by -$3.49 million, an average annual growth rate of -0.77%. Please refer to our financial overview of American 1 Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 65595) for more details.
Established in 1950 as the Jackson Co-Op Federal Credit Union, the original FOM was exclusive to members of the Jackson Co-Op Services (a grocery cooperative known today as Community 1 Cooperative). In 1987, the name was changed to American 1 Federal Credit Union, with the American 1 Credit Union rebrand occurring in 2011 following the adoption of a state charter. American 1 is currently Michigan’s 40th largest credit union, with more than 62,600 members and assets in excess of $590 million.
How the 1-Year Share Certificate Special Compares
When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com which are available nationwide and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, no banks or credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the City Credit Union 12-month CD. The following table compares the 12-month CD 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 9/2/2023.
To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.
We are starting a 3-day holiday weekend now, that's plenty of time for plenty of people to file the application and indicate they want the CD. From the quote above, I would expect the CU will contact those people by Wednesday, Sept. 6. I would hope that since any further delay in contacting you would be the fault of the CU, they would honor the rate under which you applied, maybe paid them $3, and specified you want a CD.
I see at the DA page for American CU, it says anyone can join as a member of the Community 1 Cooperative for a $3 fee. From that name, I expect one would join via the credit union, probably during the application process. (For readers, the CU does not make the methods of joining obvious. To find this one, you will need to pretty much read through all the text on the About Us page, it is a sentence buried in there. If you instead use the button to go to the page for Become a Member, you will not see this, not even in the application there.)
That is, you stand to get the same either way as long as you hold the CD to maturity.
Some banks also will pay all interest at maturity, not as you go. That can give you tax deferral, which can yield you more money in your pocket. Of course, it will give you a higher income in the year it pays the interest, so that has to be considered. And you would not have gthe option to withdraw the interest without penalty.
"Our 6% Share Certificate Promotion has Ended. All applications that were received before 7pm EST on 9/11/2023 will be honored. Please be patient as we continue to follow up on inquiries."