Education First Credit Union (TX) Boosts Rate of 9-Month CD Special

Funding and Other Particulars

The following information is from a Live Chat with a very knowledgeable CSR.

Early Withdrawal Penalty – The penalty for the 9-month CD is 180 days’ worth of dividends. We only allow early closure.
Funding – Funding a CD can be done by ACH, internal transfer, or through a CO-OP Shared Branch transfer.
Finalization – The paperwork required for a new CD has to be physically signed, but it can be mailed or emailed.
Maturing Funds – Once a CD has matured the funds can be transferred to a member's regular savings or checking, and from there can be disbursed via ACH transfer, wire, cashier's check, or left in the account.
Dividends – When the CD is first opened you have the option to have the monthly dividends put into the member's regular savings/checking, added to the CD to compound, or sent in the form of a cashier's check in the mail.
Grace Period – ten days before automatic renewal as a regular 6-month CD
Beneficiaries – There is no limit to how many beneficiaries can be named for a membership, but upon a member's death the funds will be distributed equally. Social Security numbers are not required, but we do like to have them on file to make identification easier.
Credit Check – We do a soft credit check when opening a membership for a brand new member, if an existing member chooses to open another share on their current membership or wants to open a second membership, another credit pull is not done.

Availability

Headquartered in Beaumont, Texas, Education First Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) uses residency and employment to determine eligibility.

Individuals who live, work, worship, volunteer, or attend school in the Texas counties of Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Newton, Orange, or Tyler qualify for membership

Current employees and retirees of the East Chambers or the High Island Independent School District are also eligible to join.

Immediate family members (spouse, child, parent, sibling) of a current Education First member also qualify for membership.

Joining Education First and/or opening a CD can done online or any of the seven Texas branches located in Beaumont (2), Jasper, Kountze, Silsbee, and Woodville.

The Membership Application is also available as a download and can be returned by snail mail or to any of the above-mentioned branch locations.

Establishing an Education First membership requires opening a Savings Account with a minimum $5 deposit.

Education First belongs to the CO-OP Shared Branch network, “ensuring that any credit union member has access to in-branch services at any credit union in the network.”

Credit Union Overview

Education First Federal Credit Union has an overall health rating of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 5.05% (excellent) based on June 30, 2022 data. In the past year, Education First has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $39.52 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 8.45%. Please refer to our financial overview of Education First Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 24470) for more details.

Established in 1951 as the South Park Teachers Credit Union (SPTCU), the founding members were ten teachers who pooled $50. SPTCU’s first president and treasurer, Mr. Peavy, used his classroom as the credit union’s home for ten years. As the membership grew and the FOM expanded (including the Beaumont Independent School District), the name was changed to Teachers Credit Union of Beaumont. The Education First rebrand occurred in 2006 when a community charter was adopted. Education First Federal Credit Union is currently the 57^th largest credit union headquartered in Texas, with more than 33,000 members and assets in excess of $575 million.

How the 9-Month CD Special Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available within the FOM and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, two banks and one credit union have higher rates than currently offered on the Education First 9-Month CD Special. The following table compares the 9-Month CD Special to the two highest-rate CDs from other credit unions and the two highest-rate CDs from banks.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 10/27/2022.

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