Chartway Federal Credit Union Adds 9-Month CD Special, 2.75% APY

It’s been almost a year since I wrote about Virginia-based Chartway Federal Credit Union (Chartway). At that time, Chartway’s 12-month No Penalty Share Certificate was earning 2.00% APY. By March, the rate had been raised to 2.20% APY, but fell to 1.80% APY in early June. It was nice while it lasted.

Chartway’s new CD “du jour” is a 9-month CD Special, with a competitive 2.75% APY. With the highest APY offered on any Chartway CD (next highest is the 60-71 month CD’s 2.70% APY), the 9-month CD Special was unveiled over the holiday weekend. Like all Chartway CDs, the 9-month can be opened with a minimum $500 deposit.

The 9-month CD Special is also offered as an IRA (Traditional and Roth), earning the same APY with the same funding requirements.

There’s an sentence in the fine print on the Share Certificates page that doesn’t make much sense.

Rates shown not available in VA, NC, UT, NV, or TX.

According to two CSRs, that statement is in error: the stated rates are available nationwide.

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

Terms of 6-17 months – 90 days’ dividends

Funding and Accessing Maturing Funds

Funding a CD Special can be done by ACH, wire, or check. Maturing funds will be distributed through a cashier’s check (no ACH available) or transferred to any existing Chartway account (checking, savings, Money Market). There is a ten-day grace period before the 9-month CD Special automatically renews.

Beneficiaries

Unlimited beneficiaries can be named, with name, DOB, and Social Security numbers required for each beneficiary. You also have the option to assign percentages.

Availability

Headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Chartway Federal Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) offers almost any U.S. citizen or resident alien a way to join.

Easy Membership: You can qualify for membership by joining Chartway’s We Promise Foundation with a $10 donation. (Joining the We Promise Foundation is the fourth option listed on the online application.)

Residency: Individuals who live, work, worship, or attend school in an area served by a Chartway branch are eligible for membership.

Employment: Employees of more than 750 companies who have “chosen to offer Chartway’s credit union benefits are eligible to join.”

Relationship: Family members and household members of current Chartway members are also welcome to apply.

Joining Chartway can be done online, by phone (800.678.8765), or at any of 41 branches located in Texas (6), Utah (16), and Virginia (19).

All of Chartway’s Virginia branches are located in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach metro area. Chartway acquired Utah-based HeritageWest Credit Union a few years ago and while those branches operated under the HeritageWest brand for some time, they have been re-branded as Chartway branches.

You can open your account and start your membership for as little as $5 and you’ll remain a Chartway member for as long as your account is active. Earn dividends when your average daily balance reaches $100.

Chartway participates in the CO-OP Shared Branch network, the nation’s third largest financial-institution branch network, with 5,400 branch locations and at least one location in all 50 states.

As a result, you can conduct most business on your Chartway accounts at other credit
unions throughout the country as though you were at your Chartway local branch!

Credit Union Overview

Chartway Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 8.40% (excellent) based on March 31, 2019 data. In the past year, Chartway FCU has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $30.35 million, an above average annual growth rate of 1.62%. Please refer to our financial overview of Chartway Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 13242) for more details.

In September 1959, seven Norfolk Naval Air Station civilian employees each contributed $5 and the NorVA N.A.S. Federal Credit Union was founded. The original FOM included both civilian and military personnel, and their family members. With an expanding FOM and fewer ties to the military, the name was changed to Chartway Federal Credit Union in 1996. Sixty years later, Chartway Federal Credit Union is Virginia’s seventh largest credit union, with more than 188,400 members and assets in excess of $2.2 billion.

How the CD Special Compares

When compared to 178 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit and are available nationwide, Chartway Federal Credit Union’s 9-Month CD Special APY currently ranks second.

The above rates are accurate as of 7/8/2019.

To search for the best CD rates, either nationwide or state specific, please refer to our CD rates table page.