Meadville Area Federal CU Offers Very Competitive Short-Term CDs

POSTED ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2014 BY Ken Tumin

UPDATE 10/6/2015: Meadville Area Federal Credit Union has returned to a tiered rate system and lowered rates on all its CDs.

6-month CD (0.65% APY)
9-month CD (0.70% APY)
12-month CD (0.75% APY)

Meadville Area Federal Credit Union (Northwest Pennsylvania) has simplified the sometimes confusing array of different interest rates for different length of terms: the same rate, 1.25% APY, for all CDs. This change to APY uniformity happened yesterday. The 1.25% APY is very attractive for the 6-, 9- and 12-month CDs, while not being as competitive for the 24- and 36-month CDs.

There is no minimum deposit to open, no maximum balance cap and all are available as IRAs (Traditional, Roth and CESA), at the same 1.25% APY.

Availability

Meadville Area Federal Credit Union’s (MAFCU) field of membership is residency based: anyone who lives, works, worships, volunteers, or attends school in, and businesses and other legal entities in Crawford County, Pennsylvania is eligible to become a member.

Joining MAFCU and opening any CD requires an in-person visit to either of two branch locations in Meadville or Titusville. The membership application process can be streamlined by printing out the application and completing it before your branch visit.

Meadville Area Federal Credit Union membership lasts forever:

Once you become a member, you remain a member, no matter where you live or work, as long as your account is not closed.

Credit Union Overview

Meadville Area Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of B+ at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas ratio of 6.99% (excellent) based on June 30, 2014 data. In the past year, MAFCU (NCUA Certificate # 6187) increased its total deposits by $37,000, an above average yearly growth rate. Please refer to our financial overview of Meadville Area Federal Credit Union for more details.

Founded in 1949, the original Viscose Employees Federal Credit Union served the employees of the American Viscose Corporation, a manufacturer of acetate rayon and the largest employer in Meadville. As company ownership and scope of the credit union changed, so did the credit union’s name: FMC Employees Federal Credit Union, Avtex Employees Federal Credit Union, and finally, Meadville Area Federal Credit Union. Currently, MAFCU has over 11,000 members and assets of in excess of $61 Million.

How the CD Compares

Obviously, with only one interest rate, the shorter the CD term, the more competitive it is. Based on similar length of term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com and available to Pennsylvania residents, Meadville Area Federal Credit Union’s short term CDs are quite competitive:

Interest Rate	CD Length	Institution
1.25% APY	6-month CD	Meadville Area Federal Credit Union
1.00% APY	5-month Loyalty CD	America’s Credit Union
0.85% APY	6-month Connect CD	Bank5 Connect
Interest Rate	CD Length	Institution
1.25% APY	9-month CD	Meadville Area Federal Credit Union
0.91% APY	9-month CD	Doral Direct
0.70% APY	9-month CD	GE Capital Bank
Interest Rate	CD Length	Institution
1.30% APY	13-month CD Special	USAlliance Credit Union
1.25% APY	12-month CD	Meadville Area Federal Credit Union
1.10% APY	12-month CD	GE Capital Bank

These rates are accurate as of 9/30/2014.

To look for the best nationwide CD rates and the best CD rates in your state, please refer to our CD rates table.

Gaelicwench | Oct 2, 2014 | Comment #2

I've been a member of this CU and I can say with certainty they're awful in the customer service department. They're the only CU in town, along with a couple of community banks. There are other issues my BF and I have had with them (accessing website online and a lot of hoops to go through at drive-up). Not worth the trouble. Also, they have posting "periods" during the day that, should you miss it when depositing money, it is not available until the next posting period - around 4:00pm. The first is at 11:00am. One time we stopped to make a deposit through drive-up early in the day, then proceeded to go do some shopping. BF went to use his debit card from the account the deposit had been made. It was refused. Went back to the credit union to find out what the problem was, and that is when they explained to us their policy on deposits. They "allowed" the money to become available, so we returned to the store and went through the shopping process all over again. It was a REAL goat rope. I DO NOT recommend this credit union. Completely worthless for the rates they have.

Anonymous | Oct 6, 2014 | Comment #3

Gosh, you sound like a really tough cookie. Same-day availability of deposited cash would, to my mind, be unexpected. Many banking institutions need a very short time, e.g., overnight, to credit each account and to update everything. It was very kind and considerate of MAFCU to make an exception for you, but you seem unappreciative.

Your post brings to mind for me the English author Charles Dickens. It's because Mr. Dickens wrote Great Expectations. You appear to possess such expectations in a manner both unreasonable and unbounded.

Gaelicwench | Oct 7, 2014 | Comment #4

I normally do not reply, as I avoid confrontational issues. I brought this (what I wrote above and your response) up to my BF and he refreshed my memory of what took place regarding our deposit being held.

BF is a 100% disabled former Marine. The deposit in question had been a DIRECT DEPOSIT by the government the night prior. The credit union, the following morning, were still holding onto the deposit. It even showed up online as being deposited. They just hadn't released the funds.

Unappreciative? You're **** straight! There have been other incidents with them we've experienced over the five years we've been members. There are no other CUs in town, so they don't feel the need to compete, and are lax with customer service. I know that which I speak of.....savvy?