Community Choice CU (Easy Membership) Offers Two CD Specials

Availability

UPDATE - We all love to hear the words, "Easy Membership Requirements." What we don’t want to hear is "Easy Membership Requirements, But It’s Complicated."

One of DA’s long-time readers contacted me after an extremely frustrating experience opening one of CCCU’s CD Specials. It seemed that she was stymied at every step of the process, because CCCU didn’t seemed prepared to easily handle out-of-state applications.

While opening the membership itself went smoothly, everything else was a struggle. For example,

There is no way to open a CD online for more than $4,955, and the online application does not have an check mail-in option.
A deposit had to be made into the Share Account via the Co-Op Network, and then a CCCU Rep opened the CD over the phone, after the Share Account deposit had cleared.
She was charged a $4 fee to use the Co-Op Network branch to make the deposit inside the branch.
She was initially told that "once the share account is opened, the CD owner must make at least one transaction every 6 months to avoid being charged a $5 inactivity fee." After much back and forth, CCCU’s Operations Department "figured out a way" to not require the activity on the Share Account.

To paraphrase what the DA reader stated in an email to me, everything at CCCU seems to be set up on the assumption that a member can easily walk into an office for any and every transaction.

Bottom line, Easy Membership does not always equate with Easy Everything.

Headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Community Choice Credit Union offers membership through a variety of ways:

Easy membership: Members of the Detroit Historical Society are automatically eligible for CCCU membership.

Residency: Individuals who live, work, or worship in the Michigan counties of Allegan, Genesee, Kent, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, Ottawa, St. Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne are eligible for membership.

Employment: Employees of Kelly Services, Inc. and select divisions of General Motors qualify for membership.

Relationship: Immediate family members of any of the above also qualify for membership.

Complete eligibility details can be found on CCCU’s About Us page.

Joining CCCU and/or opening a CD can be done either online, or in person at any of the 14 suburban Detroit branches located in Dearborn Heights, Eastpointe, Farmington Hills, Flat Rock, Holland, Livonia (2), Milford, New Hudson, Redford, Royal Oak, Troy (new as of last month), Warren, and Wyandotte. As part of a recent merger with NuPath Community Credit Union, CCCU now has a branch location in Holland (western Michigan).

CCCU is also part of the CO-OP Shared Branch network that provides Credit Union members with access to more than 5,000 shared branches and nearly 30,000 ATMs.

Credit Union Overview

Community Choice Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 64880) has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas ratio of 5.41% (excellent), based on December 31, 2015 data. In the past year, Community Choice Credit Union increased its total deposit by $160.78 Million, an excellent annual growth rate of 34.78%. Please refer to our financial overview of Community Choice Credit Union for more details.

The journey of Community Choice Credit Union began in the most humble of circumstances:

A few neighbors put five dollars in a fund from which anyone could borrow in a time of need.

Established in 1935 as the Redford Township Credit Union, the first "branch location" was the home of Arthur and May Jenkins, the founders of the Credit Union. The name was changed to Community Choice Credit Union in 1999, following a charter expansion into neighboring communities. The charter was expanded once again in 2002, increasing CCCU’s original footprint of 58 square feet to 592 square miles. Following mergers with four credit unions, CCCU has become the 12th largest credit union in Michigan, with nearly 74,000 members and assets in excess of $736 Million.

How the CDs Compare

When compared to the 135 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit and are available nationally, Community Choice Credit Union's 11-month Share Certificate Special currently ranks in the top five. The following is a sampling of those CDs.

When compared to the 113 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit and are available nationally, Community Choice Credit Union's 57-month Share Certificate Special currently ranks first.

The above rates are accurate as of 3/3/2016.

To look for the best nationwide CD rates and the best CD rates in your state, please refer to our CD rates table or our new Rates Map page.