Barksdale Federal Credit Union CDs Continue To Be Rate Leaders

It has been just over two months since I last wrote about the Certificates offered by Barksdale Federal Credit Union (Barksdale Federal). Rates have fallen, but their rates remain well above what other credit unions and banks currently offer. Barksdale Federal and its products may not technically be considered nationally available, but its field of membership is actually wider than you might think. Due to the relatively high rates and the wide availability, I thought a new blog post would be worthwhile.

Any of the Barksdale Federal Certificates can be opened with a $1k minimum deposit.

All the Certificates are also offered as IRA Certificates (Traditional, Roth, CESA), earning the same APYs with the same deposit requirements.

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

Terms of 12 months or less – 90 days’ dividends

Terms of longer than 12 months – 180 days’ dividends

Plus Point Certificates

Barksdale Federal must have realized that their Plus Point Certificates were too good of a deal. The rate premium over the standard Certificates has fallen from 20 to 10 basis points. The 5-year Plus Point Certificate rate is now only 1.81% APY. The previous rate (2.12% APY) had been the only nationally available 2% CD.

Barksdale Federal’s Plus Point Certificates require that you open five Certificates with terms from one to five years as if you were starting a 5-year CD ladder. Five Certificates (one for each term) must be opened at the same time with a $1k minimum deposit.

With a Plus Point Certificate you stagger your money into each available term. Once each certificate matures, your money plus the interest earned is available to you again for spending or additional investing options.

As DA reader Anon456 noted in the comments of the last Barksdale post, they “do require $1,000 each for the 5 year ladder, but you can do more and they do not have to be equal. You can do higher amounts in any of them and they do not have to match the others, as long as you do the minimum $1000 in each.” For example, you could fund the 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-year Certificates with $1k each and the 5-year Certificate with $200k.

High Yield Savings and Christmas Club Savings

If you join Barksdale Federal for the CDs, you might want to consider opening the High Yield Savings account and the Christmas Club Savings account. Both currently have a very high rate relative to other liquid accounts. The caveat is that the high rate only applies to balances up to $5k. Due to this maximum balance, it probably won’t be worth joining Barksdale Federal for these accounts, but if you’re joining for the CDs, there’s little reason not to open these accounts with a combined $10k deposit. If this rate holds, you’ll earn about $150 in a year, which is about $50 more than you would earn in a top online savings account.

Availability

Headquartered in Bossier City, Louisiana, Barksdale Federal Credit Union's field of membership (FOM) has expanded this year, and like Navy Fed and Service Credit Union, former members of the US military (and their immediate family) are now eligible to join. As stated on the online application, those who qualify for membership now include,

Honorably discharged or retired veterans or immediate family members who served in a branch of the Armed Services of the United States.

Others who qualify for membership include individuals who live, work worship, attend school, or own a business in the Louisiana parishes of Allen, Bossier, Caddo, Grant, Rapides, or Webster.

Active military and civilian employees at Barksdale Airforce Base or Fort Polk Army Base also qualify for membership.

Employees of more than 1,000 Select Employee Groups (SEG) in twelve Louisiana parishes and Gregg County, Texas, are eligible to join. (A list of all SEGs can be found on the first page of the online application.)

Immediate family members of a current Barksdale Federal member or any one eligible for membership, are welcome to apply.

Joining Barksdale Federal and/or opening a Certificate can be done online. A long-time DA reader recently opened a Barksdale Federal CD and shared his experience with me.

Yes, I did the online [application]. They do not do funding immediately .... took about 5-10 days for my initial share to fund, and they will not allow initial CDs to be funded. You have to get funds into the [savings] share first.

Barksdale Federal participates in the CO-OP Shared Branch network so transferring funds in a savings share account should be relatively easy.

CDs can also be opened at any of the 25 Louisiana branches or the two Texas branches.

Our lobbies are open with limited occupancy. If you would like to make a lobby appointment for a loan or new account opening, please fill out the lobby appointment form.

Opening a Prime Savings account with a minimum $10 deposit ($5 one-time membership fee and $5 savings deposit) establishes a Barksdale Federal membership.

Credit Union Overview

Barksdale Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 2.73% (excellent) based on June 30, 2020 data. In the past year, Barksdale Federal has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $234 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 18.83%. Please refer to our financial overview of Barksdale Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 9589) for more details.

Founded in 1954, Barksdale Federal Credit Union’s original FOM was exclusive to the military and civilian personnel at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana. As the largest credit union in Louisiana and the 215^th largest credit union in the country, Barksdale Federal Credit Union has more than 138,000 members and assets in excess of $1.6 billion.

How the Certificates Compare

When compared to the nationally available similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit, all of Barksdale Federal Credit Union's Certificate APYs currently rank first. Only the 12-month and 60-month Certificates are compared below.

The above rates are accurate as of 9/17/2020.

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