Empeople Credit Union Revives Competitive 15-Month CD Special

Empeople Credit Union (formerly known as Deere Credit Union) has brought back its 15-month Share Certificate Special with a competitive 5.50% APY. The minimum opening deposit is $500 minimum, with no stated balance cap.

The 15-month Share Certificate Special is also available as an IRA Certificate Special (Traditional, Roth, and CESA), earning the same APY with the same deposit requirements.

As stated in the Truth-in-Savings disclosure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

If your account has an original maturity of less than 60 months, the forfeiture is an amount equal to 90 days dividends, whether earned or not, calculated on the principal amount.

For those not familiar with the phrase “whether earned or not,” it means the Share Certificate Special principal will be reduced if a withdrawal is made within 90 days of opening.

Availability

Headquartered in Moline, Illinois, Empeople Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) is a combination of the FOMs of Deere Credit Union and Maine-based Infinity Credit Union. Following the 2021 merger, residents of the Maine counties of Cumberland and York, and the City of Bangor qualify for membership, as do employees and retirees of Deere & Company, and their immediate family members (children, spouse, parents, siblings, in-laws, grandparents, and grandchildren).

Contract employees for John Deere and employees of wholly owned subsidiaries or joint ventures with John Deere and employees of John Deere Dealers (and their families) continue to be eligible to join.

While there is a “Join” button on the top of every page of the Empeople CU website, it just begins the application process.

To become a member/owner, simply complete the Online Membership Application. After we have received your application, we will review it for qualification and eligibility. One of our Empeople Representatives will contact you within one business day to help finalize your account.

Once a membership is established, opening a Share Certificate Special can be done by logging into Empeople CU’s digital banking platform (there is a LOG IN button on every page of the website), over the phone, or in-person at any of 12 Iowa branches, located in Ankeny, Davenport, Dubuque, Johnston, Ottumwa, Waterloo (7). There is also a total of 14 branches in Georgia (2), Illinois (4), Maine, North Carolina (2), North Dakota (3), South Carolina, and Wisconsin.

An initial deposit of $5 is required to establish
your share of membership in the Credit Union.

Funding and Other Details

The following information is from a Live Chat with CSR.

• Funding – ACH, wire ($35 fee), internal transfer.
• CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – No.
• Dividends – Compounded daily/credited quarterly; can be paid out to you or another account quarterly.
• Maturing Funds – Internal transfer to an Empeople CU savings or checking account.
• Beneficiaries – While a single beneficiary (w/Social Security number) can be designated for an entire Empeople CU account, beneficiaries cannot be named to a CD alone.
• Grace Period – 7 calendar days before automatic renewal as a 12-month Share CD.
• Credit Check – Soft.

Credit Union Overview

Empeople Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 5.36% (excellent) based on March 31, 2023 data. In the past year, Empeople CU has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $110.94 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 6.78%. Please refer to our financial overview of Empeople Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 68598) for more details.

Founded in 1935, the original Deere & Company Credit Union was one of several Mid-West credit unions formed to serve the employees of Deere & Company – all of which had “Deere” in their names. In 2005, Deere & Company requested that these credit unions change their names to “avoid trademark confusion.” As stated in a January 2005 CU Times article,

Only Moline, Illinois-based Deere & Company CU will be permitted to retain some reference to Deere, because it has not expanded its field of membership and is focused solely on John Deere employees.

When Maine-based Infinity Credit Union merged into Deere Employees Credit Union in 2021, a rebrand was in order. According to the “Introducing Empeople” page,

Over the years, our field of membership has evolved beyond Deere Employees. We have been working with the Brand Team at John Deere over the last three years to try to maintain Deere branding within the Deere field of membership, but based on our growth beyond Deere, the request was made for the credit union to proceed with a name change.

Empeople Credit Union is currently the seventh largest credit union headquartered in Illinois, with more than 62,000 members and assets in excess of $2 billion.

How the 15-Month Share Certificate 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, one credit union has a higher rate than currently offered on the Empeople Credit Union 15-Month Share Certificate Special. The following table compares the 15-Month Share Certificate 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 9/8/2023.

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