First Peoples Community Offers Up to 3.25% APY On 60-Month CD

First Peoples Community Federal Credit Union (First Peoples) is offering four Promotion Rate CDs: 9-month (2.60% APY), 21-month (2.85% APY), 39-month (3.00% APY), 60-month (3.05% APY in MD/WV; 3.25% APY in PA). The minimum opening deposit for any of these Promotion Rate CDs is $500, with no stated balance cap.

The Promotion Rate CDs are also available as IRAs (Traditional, Roth, CESA), earning the same APYs with the same funding requirements.

Determining the Early Withdrawal Penalty on First Peoples CDs is not easy. There is no documentation (disclosure or Truth-in-Savings) on the website and CSR only offered the vaguest of explanations: “it’s based on the amount of time left until maturity.” I asked for an example or the formula that’s used; CSR was unable to provide either. CSR did state that partial withdrawals are permitted.

Unlimited beneficiaries (equal shares) can be named and Social Security numbers are required.

eFirst Checking

First Peoples’ product line also includes eFirst Checking, a rewards checking account earning 2.00% APY on qualifying balances up to $25k; qualifying balances over $25k earns 0.10% APY, with non-qualifying balances not earning any interest. The current APY and qualifying balance limit hasn’t changed since the eFirst Checking was first introduced in January 2010.

Qualifying Requirements

• One Direct Deposit per calendar month
• Sign-up for and receive e-Statements
• Use First Peoples online bill payment at least once per calendar month
• Make at least five signature-based First Peoples VISA Debit Card per calendar month. Any signature-based purchase beyond the required five will earn 10¢.

There is a $5 monthly service fee if the above requirements are not met.

Availability

Headquartered in Cumberland, Maryland, First Peoples Community Federal Credit Union field of membership (FOM) is residency based, with individuals who live, work, worship, attend school, or regularly do business in any of nine counties in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, eligible of join.

Maryland counties: Allegany and Garrett, and portions of Washington.

Pennsylvania counties: Bedford, Fulton, and Somerset.

West Virginia counties: Hampshire, Mineral, and Morgan.

Joining First Peoples requires an in-person visit to any of the eleven Maryland branches located in Accident, Cresaptown (2), Cumberland (3), Frostburg, Grantsville, LaVale, Lonaconing, and Oakland; the three Pennsylvania branches located in Everett, Meyersdale, and Somerset; or the three West Virginia branches located in Keyser, Ridgeley, and Rocket Center.

While joining members must open a CD in-branch, current First Peoples members can open a CD over the phone.

A $5.00 balance maintains your membership with First Peoples. Your
interest is compounded daily, paid monthly with a minimum balance of $100.

Credit Union Overview

First Peoples Community Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 8.11% (excellent) based on June 30, 2019 data. In the past year, First Peoples has increased its total non-brokered assets by $12.44 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 3.7%. Please refer to our financial overview of First Peoples Community Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 13345) for more details.

Originally known as the Amcelle Employees Federal Credit Union, First Peoples Community Federal Credit Union was organized in 1960 to serve the employees of the Amcelle Plant in Cumberland, Maryland. (The Amcelle Plant was part of the Celanese Corporation of America.) Through a series of NCUA approved charter amendments, First Peoples expanded their FOM to include residents of Allegany County, MD (1975), Mineral County, WV (1983), Garrett County, MD (1998), and Somerset County, PA (2001). In 2017, the FOM added five more counties: Washington County (MD), Hampshire and Morgan Counties (WV), and Bedford and Fulton Counties (PA). These charter amendments resulted in a unique credit union offering membership to residents of multiple states, with current membership of over 32,000 individuals and assets in excess of $435 million.

How the Promotion Rate CDs Compare

Given that First Peoples’ FOM includes portions of three different states, an "apples-to-apples" comparison is a bit difficult. I’ve opted to compare the First Peoples Promotion Rate CDs to nationally available CDs.

When compared to the nationally available similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com, which require a similar minimum deposit, all of First Peoples Community Federal Credit Union's Promotion Rate CD APYs currently ranks first.

The above rates are accurate as of 9/21/2019.

Looking for the best CD rates, either nationwide and state specific? Please refer to our CD Rates Table page.