Elements Financial is headquartered in Indianapolis and is the 4th largest credit union in the state of Indiana. It is also the 183rd largest credit union in the nation. It was established in 1976 and as of December of 2019, it had grown to 179 employees and 112,635 members at 6 locations. Elements Financial's savings rates are 25% higher than the national average, and it has an A health rating.
Field of Membership Restrictions
Elements Financial is open to employees, students, retirees, or members of eligible Elements partners including Eli Lilly and Company, The Heritage Group, OneAmerica, Indy Chamber, College Park Church, Butler University or any one of the more than 135 select employer groups (a complete list can be found on the credit union's website). Immediate family and household members may also join.
See current membership details
Related Posts
7/2 - Elements Financial Ups High Interest Checking To 3.00% APY
7/1 - 3.00% APY High Interest Checking
8/2 - Rate Climber Increased
6/1 - 57-Month CD
7/1/17 - Rate Increases On Rate Climber Cds
5/18/16 - Elements Financial Offers "Grass Is Greener" 22-Month Certificate
5/18/16 - Grass Is Greener Certificate 1.50% APY 22-Month CD From Elements Financial
5/18/16 - Elements Financial And Velocity CU CD Promotions
3/1/16 - 2.00% APY* Checking On Up To $20,000 From Elements Financial
2/19/16 - Elements Financial To Improve High Interest Checking Account
2/18/16 - On 3/1/16 Rca Balance Up To $20K Was $1K, 4.00% To 2.00% APY
11/5/15 - Elements Financial Offers 32-month Harvest Certificate Special
11/4/15 - Harvest Certificate - 2.00% APY* 32-Month Savings Certificate From Elements Financial
8/29/15 - Elements Financial Offers September Special 26-Month CD
8/26/15 - September Certificate Special From Elements Financial
3/20/15 - Rate Climber IRA From Elements Financial
2/25/15 - Elements Financial Shamrock Special 32-month Certificate Has Top Rate
2/24/15 - Elements Financial Shamrock Special Certificate (32-Mo CD, 2.0% APY)
11/25/14 - Eli Lily CU's Black Friday 18-month CD Is Competitive - Nationally Available
11/25/14 - A Black Friday Special That Pays!
10/8/14 - Eli Lilly CU Offers High Rate Helium Savings Account - Nationally Available
1/21/14 - Best HSA Provider For Investing HSA Money
9/11/12 - Top 5-Year CD Rate at Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union - Easy Membership
Very Good For HSA
I took an extremely long time to open our HSA accounts because as I reviewed all the ones out there, I was not happy with any. Most have tons of fees for doing anything, or nothing at all. My primary objective was to find one where there would be no fees if I simply deposit funds and don't do anything. Elements provided that.
These days most folks are looking for the ability to use their HSA to participate in the stock market, either utilizing a brokerage account of being able to invest in mutual funds. Elements provides that ability. Yes, there are fees - as there will be with any HSA which provides for it.
My only nitpick is that during the account opening process, for a new member, they limit the initial deposit to the HSA...that limit is below their minimum for avoiding the monthly fee. I wanted to contribute the full year maximum, which was above their minimum to avoid the monthly fee. Couldn't do it - had to open it with initial limit they imposed, then do a second transfer to bring the balance up - and get hit with a fee the first month. When I opened my spouse's HSA, I figured a way around this - first funding the member savings account (required to open the HSA) and then doing an internal transfer to the new HSA for the one year maximum contribution. Elements should either raise the maximum allowable initial deposit to the HSA, or post a tip how to open it and avoid the monthly fee. I opened our accounts almost 2 years ago, so maybe they have changed that since.
Anyhow, the interest rate on savings is not competitive, and again there are fees for using a brokerage account. However, if you're looking for a safe place to put your HSA money and not have it eaten away with fees for having it simply having sit dormant, this is a good one.
Generally satisfied customer.
Generally, I have been very happy with Elements Financial Credit Union. I have been with this bank for over a decade. When I originally signed up for an account using a bank that was primarily online was a very uncommon thing to do. When I originally opened my account the bank was called Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union. There are branches available inside Lilly pharmaceutical, but are unavailable to me as a non employee. I only had a problem finding a service center during one period when I lived in Florida for a brief time. I was eventually able to find a service center, but it was quite inconvenient. There are a large variety of deposit options and they are all accessible via web or phone contact only. All in all, I was satisfied enough with my experience that I have opened an account with a different credit union under similar circumstances.
ACH Problems
I set up the Helium Savings account a month ago. I've tried twice to set up an ACH with Elements (back to my home bank). Both times failed. I called Customer service and they told me to try again and "sometimes it takes 3-4 tries". They need to do something to their system!
Transfers To External Accounts
1. They have $10,000 limit per day for outgoing ACH transfers
2. In my case, Wire Transfer Department took three attempts to type my account number correctly. Their email to me presented a correct number, but in wire transfer computer they typed incorrect. Wasted all day talking to both institutions.
General customer service is great and supportive.
For HSA Investing, Clunky And Expensive
Elements (formerly Eli Lilly FCU) used to be a good place to have an HSA investment account. These days, not good at all.
Most HSAs that allow investments have a banking side (here, Elements) and an investment side (either a small menu of mutual funds or a brokerage partner, here TDAmeritrade). Elements requires you to keep $2500 on the credit union side or pay $4/mo to invest. That's higher than many other providers. It also charges $25 per transfer to the investment (TDAmeritrade) side. That's quite unusual.
Also unusual is that instead of having two logins (one for Elements and one for TDA), you need three. The third is for a third party site (pilothsa.com) that handles the transfers.
That site imposes a three business day lag between the time a trade settles at TDA (i.e. the time that TDA says you can withdraw cash), and the time the transfer site will allow you to transfer the money. It also gets confused if you place multiple transfers too close together (even if there is enough money available). I'm still working on resolving that problem.
The final concern is that TDAmeritrade recently changed its list of NTF ETFs, replacing lots of inexpensive ones from Vanguard and iShares with more expensive ones.
If you just want to keep cash on the Elements side, it seems fine. But if you want to use this for investing within an HSA, it's not the most efficient or user friendly place to do so.
Data as of Q4 2019
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| NCUA # | 22468 |
| Year Chartered | 1976 |
| Employees | 179 |
| Primary Regulator | |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.91% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 10.09% |
| Annual Interest Income | $60.7MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $1.69B$1.54B |
| Loans | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $1.26B$1.22B |
| Deposits | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $1.39B$1.28B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $151.2MM$131.2MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $9.6MM$10.0MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $2.0MM$3.3MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2019vs Q4 2018 | $336.00K$0 |