Eastman Credit Union 1-2 Year CD and Jumbo CD Rates Soar
Tennessee-based Eastman Credit Union (ECU) recently boosted the rates on its 1-2 year Jumbo Investment Certificate and Investment Certificate (IC). Following increases of 170 bps, the 1-2 year Jumbo IC ($100k minimum) and 1-2 year IC ($1k minimum) offer rate-leading APYs of 5.40% and 5.35%, respectively.
The Jumbo IC and IC are also available as IRA Jumbo IC and IC (Traditional, Roth, and CESA), earning the same APYs with the same deposit requirements.
Early Withdrawal Penalty
As stated on the rates table of the Investment Certificates page, the Early Withdrawal Penalty read as follows:
1 to 2 years (365 days to 729 days) 90 days’ dividends on the amount withdrawn.
BTW, it's nice to see a credit union's rates table include early withdrawal penalties.
Availability
Headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, Eastman Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) is primarily community-based in three different states – Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Community: Individuals who live, work, worship, attend school, or operate a business in the Tennessee counties of Carter, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicol, or Washington; the Virginia counties of Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Washington, or Wise; or the Texas counties of Gregg or Harrison are eligible to join.
SEGs: Employees of 48 Sponsor Companies and 32 Approved Contractors (including Eastman Chemical Company) qualify for membership.
Employment: Those who regularly work in the healthcare industry in the Virginia counties of Smyth or Tazewell also qualify for membership.
Relationship: Immediate family members of anyone eligible to join ECU also qualify for membership. In other words, if your mother is eligible to join, you can apply for membership, whether your mother is an ECU member or not.
Account Opening
Joining Eastman Credit Union and/or opening an Investment Certificate can be done online or at any of the 21 Tennessee branches located in Blountville, Bristol, Gray, Greenville (2), Johnson City (4), Jonesborough, Kingsport (8), Mount Carmel, Piney Woods, and Rogersville. There are also four Texas Piney Woods branches (Longview (3) and Hallsville), and four branches in southwest Virginia – Abingdon, Bristol, Duffield, and Gate City.
Note: IRA Investment Certificates can only be opened in-branch: no online opening.
Primary Share Account is a regular savings account that earns dividends with only a $5.00 minimum balance. Required for new members.
Funding and Other Details
The following information is from the ECU website and a conversation with CSR.
- Funding – Internal transfer or check when opening online. Funds must be on deposit at ECU Primary Share Account before an Investment Certificate can be opened and can be deposited via ACH, wire or check.
- CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – No.
- Ownership – Individual, joint, or trust.
- Dividends – Compounded daily and credited monthly. “Dividends earned on all accounts may be transferred to another account at ECU. You may elect to receive a check only for dividends earned on investment certificates.”
- Maturing Funds – Cashier’s check to address on file or internal transfer to ECU Primary Shares Account.
- Beneficiaries – Up to 4 can be named, but if a death benefit is paid out, the beneficiary listed first receives the entire proceeds from the IC. Social Security number and DOB required for all beneficiaries.
- Grace Period – 10 calendar days before automatic renewal.
- Credit Check – Hard pull through Transunion when joining.
Credit Union Overview
Eastman Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 0.87% (excellent) based on September 30, 2023 data. In the past year, ECU has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $105.38 million, an above average annual growth rate of 1.6%. Please refer to our financial overview of Eastman Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 68095) for more details.
Eastman Credit Union was founded in 1934 by employees of the Eastman Chemical Company, which has been based in Kingsport (TN) since 1920. With more than 320,000 members and assets in excess of $7.8 billion, ECU is currently the largest credit union headquartered in Tennessee and the 41st largest credit union in the country.
According to a Credit Union Times December 2023 article, ECU announced special dividends for its members
The largest distribution came from the nation’s 41st largest credit union: Eastman Credit Union of Kingsport, Tenn. ($7.8 billion in assets, 320,400 members), which is paying members $16 million in January as an Extraordinary Dividend. The amount represents about $50 per member and 21 basis points of its return on average assets of 2.00% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
President/CEO Kelly Price said the credit union’s strong financial performance in 2023 allowed ECU’s board of directors to approve the year-end bonus, up from $15 million a year ago. The 2024 payout is ECU’s largest ever and will raise the total given back to members to $193 million since 1998.
How the 1-2 Year Investment Certificate Compares to 2-year CDs
When compared to the 2-year CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that have fixed rates and are available within the FOM, no banks or credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the Eastman Credit Union 1-2 Year Jumbo Investment Certificate, regardless of minimum deposit requirements. The following table compares the 1-2 Year Jumbo Investment Certificate to the four highest-rate 2-year CDs from other banks/credit unions.
The above information rates are accurate as of 2/8/2024.
To search for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table.
