Colorado Federal Savings Bank 12-Month CD Rate On The Move Again

For the last year, the Colorado Federal Savings Bank (CFSB) 12-month CD APY has been flirting with the rate-leading nationally available 1-year CDs, but never quite secured a top rate for any length of time. Following a 15-bps rate increase this week, the CFSB 12-month CD is once again a bridesmaid with a new 5.55% APY. The 12-month CD can be opened with a minimum $5k deposit, with no stated balance cap.

Early Withdrawal Penalty

As stated on the Savings & CDs page, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows.

An early withdrawal penalty may invade principal.

Early Withdrawal Penalty for withdrawals prior to maturity date equals 1 month of interest on Certificate Term of less than 6 months, 3 months’ worth of interest on Certificate Term of 6 months and one year, and 6 months’ worth of interest for a certificate term over one year.

As stated in the Disclosure of Account Terms PDF (link at the bottom of CDs drop-down on the Savings & CDs page),

All currently accrued but unposted interest will also be forfeited. Any penalty will be assessed first against posted interest, and any penalty in excess of posted interest will be deducted from the remaining account balance. The interest rate we will use to calculate the interest forfeiture will be the interest rate the account is currently earning.

Availability

As a “pure” internet bank, CFSB offers its CDs and Savings accounts to all US citizens (18 years or older) who have a valid Social Security number. Trust accounts are not available and business accounts cannot be opened online. “For inquiries about business accounts, please contact our treasury and Cash Management department at [email protected].”

While the CFSB headquarters in Greenwood Village (15 miles south of Denver) previously provided a brick-and-mortar location for local customers, this service no longer exists. Opening any type of account and all subsequent transactions must be done online.

As stated on the FAQs page,

You will receive an e-mail with important information once your application has been processed or if additional information is needed to complete your application.

Account Opening

Funding and Other Details

Much of the following information can be found on the CFSB FAQs page and the Savings & CDs page.

• Funding – ACH or internal transfer.
• Ownership – Individual or joint; no trust accounts available.
• Interest – Compounded daily/credited monthly and can be withdrawn penalty-free.
• Maturing Funds – ACH to original external account used to open the CD. If that external account has been closed, verification of a new account must be completed before an ACH to the new account can occur. A check will not be issued.
• Beneficiaries – Up to five beneficiaries, equal shares, Social Security numbers required.
• Grace Period – 10 calendar days before automatic renewal.
• Credit Check – ChexSystems

Bank Overview

Colorado Federal Savings Bank has an overall health rating of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 0.24% (excellent), based on March 31, 2023 data. In the past year, CFSB’s total non-brokered deposit have decreased by -$180.32 million, a poor annual growth rate of -16.3%. Please refer to our financial overview of Colorado Federal Savings Bank (FDIC Certificate # 33111) for more details.

Established in 1990 as a savings institution, Colorado Federal Savings Bank was acquired by new ownership in 2008. The new owners contributed more than $100 million in assets and $10 million of capital “to put the bank on solid footing.” Currently operating as a non-branch direct banking platform, CFSB is Colorado’s ninth largest bank, with assets in excess of $2 billion and nearly 156,000 customer accounts.

How the 12-Month 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, one bank and two credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the CFSB 12-Month CD. The following table compares the 12-Month CD to the two highest-rate CDs from other banks and the two highest-rate CDs from credit unions. FYI – the banks and credit unions in this comp table (other than CFSB) are completely different than those featured in the July 2023 CFSB blog post comp table.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 8/24/2023.

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