Five Star Credit Union (AL/GA) Offers 6% APY On 13-Month CD Special
Let’s Brighten Your Future
Best Certificate Rate In 20 Years!
Many financial institutions exaggerate when describing a new product, but there’s no hype attached to the Five Star Credit Union (Five Star CU) 13-month CD Special. Offering a rate-leading 6.00% APY, this limited-time 13-month CD Special can be opened with as little as $500.
The 13-month CD Special is available to current members and to those joining. There are no special requirements to earn the stated APY: no new money, no checking relationship, and no small balance cap – just a great rate for 13 months.
Availability
Headquartered in Dothan, Alabama, Five Star Credit Union's field of membership (FOM) is community-based, with U.S. citizens and resident aliens who live, work, worship, or attend school in any of seven southeast Alabama counties eligible to join. U.S. citizens and resident aliens who live or work in one southeast Georgia county or any of 19 southwest Georgia counties are also eligible to join.
Alabama counties: Barbour, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Pike, or Russell.
Georgia counties: Chattahoochee, Crisp, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Glynn, Grady, Lee, Miller, Mitchell, Muscogee, Quitman, Seminole, Stewart, Sumter, Terrell, Tift, Turner, Webster, or Worth.
Georgia residents who do not live in the above-mentioned counties can qualify for membership in Five Star CU by joining the GettingAhead Association, “a collaborative effort between credit unions, nonprofit organizations and public agencies.”
Membership is open to any individual who maintains a valid Georgia residence
and is genuinely committed to improving their own financial well-being.
Immediate family and household members of a current Five Star Credit Union are welcome to apply.
Employees of more than 150 Alabama SEGs and more than 155 Georgia SEGs also qualify for membership, as do the employees of nine Florida SEGs. A complete list of SEGs is available on the Five Star CU website.
Account Opening
Joining Five Star CU can be done online or at any of eight Alabama branches located in Abbeville, Cottonwood, Dothan (4), Eufaula, or Headland, or eleven Georgia branches located in Bainbridge, Blakely, Brunswick, Cairo, Camilla, Cedar Springs, Donalsonville, Georgetown, Lumpkin, Richland, or St. Simons Island.
According to CSR, the 13-month CD Special can only be opened at any of the above-mentioned branch locations. It’s possible current Five Star CU members can open a 13-month CD Special over the phone (888.619.1711). (While regular CDs can be opened over the phone, CSR wasn’t sure about the CD Special.)
You must complete payment ($5) of one share in your membership share account as a condition of admission to membership. If the balance in your membership share account falls below $5.00, you may be terminated from membership immediately.
Funding and Other Details
The following is from a conversation with CSR.
- Funding – ACH, wire, cashier’s check, internal transfer.
- CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – Yes.
- Ownership – Individual, joint, or trust.
- Early Withdrawal Penalty – 120 days of dividends; partial withdrawals are not allowed; early closure only.
- Dividends – Compounded/credited monthly; cannot be withdrawn.
- Maturing Funds – Deposited in a Five Star CU checking/savings account.
- Beneficiaries – Unlimited, percentages can be assigned, Social Security numbers are required.
- Grace Period – 10 calendar days.
- Credit Check – Soft pull.
Credit Union Overview
Five Star Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 1.2% (excellent) based on March 31, 2023 data. In the past year, Five Star CU’s total non-brokered deposits decreased by -$8.12 million, an average annual growth rate of -1.31% APY. Please refer to our financial overview of Five Star Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 68302) for more details.
Founded in 1964 as the Cedar Springs Federal Credit Union, the original FOM was exclusive to employees of the Great Southern Paper Company. Like many fledgling credit unions in an industrial or manufacturing setting, the first “office” was a storage closet. By the end of its first year, Cedar Springs FCU had 262 members and more than $81,000 in assets. The following timeline paints a picture of a thriving and innovative credit union.
- 1985 – merger with Engelhard Credit Union.
- 1991 – Five Star Federal Credit Union rebrand.
- 1997 – credit union headquarters moved to Dothan, Alabama.
- 2000 – community charter adopted and “Federal” dropped.
- 2012 – Frederica Credit Union merges into Five Star Credit Union, expanding footprint in Georgia’s east coast.
- 2014 – Five Star Credit Union purchases assets of Flint River National Bank (GA) and merges with Georgia Coastal Federal Credit Union.
- 2015 – Five Star Credit Union purchases assets of Farmer’s State Bank (GA).
Five Star Credit Union is currently the 13th largest credit union headquartered in Alabama, with more than 55,000 members and assets in excess of $764 million.
How the 13-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, no banks or credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the Five Star Credit Union 13-month CD Special. The following table compares the 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 8/25/2023.
To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.