General Electric Credit Union 5-Year CD Now Earns 4.00% APY
Ohio-based General Electric Credit Union (GECU) has boosted its 5-year Share Certificate rate to 4.00% APY. Following a 50 bps increase, the 5-year Share Certificate currently has the highest 5-year CD rate in the country. The minimum opening deposit is $500, with no stated balance cap.
| APY | MIN | MAX | INSTITUTION | PRODUCT | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.00% | $500 | - | General Electric Credit Union | 5 Year Share Certificate | |
| 4.00% | $500 | - | General Electric Credit Union | 5 Year IRA (Traditional, Roth) |
The 5-year Share Certificate is also available as an HSA Certificate or IRA Certificate (Traditional and Roth), earning the same APY with the same deposit requirements.
Since my last GECU blog post in July, there’s a new limited-time feature for Share Certificates:
60-Day Rate Match: If the rate increases on the same term Certificate purchased on or after August 1, 2022, an account owner can request a rate adjustment to the certificate anytime within the first 60 days from account opening. Limited time only. 60-Day Rate Match does not apply to Bump Certificates.
1-Year Share Certificates
The 1-year Share Certificate offers three rates based on deposit levels: 3.00% APY, $500, Share Certificate; 3.30% APY, $100k, Jumbo Share Certificate; and 3.50% APY, $250k, Jumbo Plus Share Certificate. All three 1-year Share Certificates are available as an HSA Certificate or IRA Certificate (Traditional and Roth), earning the same APYs with the same deposit requirements.
As stated in the Truth-in-Savings disclosure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:
For certificate terms less than 18 months, you will incur a 90-day dividend penalty on the principal amount withdrawn if completed prior to maturity. For certificate terms of 18 months or greater, you will incur a 180-day dividend penalty on the principal amount withdrawn if completed prior to maturity.
11-Month No Penalty Certificate Special
GECU added the 11-month No Penalty Certificate Special to the product line about two months ago. Earning 2.55% APY, this limited-time No Penalty Certificate Special has no minimum opening deposit requirement. The above-mentioned 60-day rate guarantee applies to the 11-month No Penalty Certificate Special.
| APY | MIN | MAX | INSTITUTION | PRODUCT | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.55% | - | - | General Electric Credit Union | 11 Month No Penalty Share Certificate |
According to the fine print on the 11-month No Penalty Certificate Special page,
Early withdrawals are not permitted within the first six (6) days after account opening. To withdrawal funds for this 11-month certificate with no penalty assessed, the entire amount, principal plus dividends earned, must be withdrawn in one single transaction. IRA and HSA Certificates are not eligible for the 11-month Certificate Special.
Funding and Access Maturing Funds
Funding a Certificate can be done by ACH, wire transfer, internal transfer, or check. (GECU does not participates in the CO-OP Shared Branch network, which is surprising to me.) Maturing funds will be distributed through a cashier’s check, wire transfer ($20 fee), or transferred to a GECU Share Savings account. There is a 10-day grace period before certificates automatically renew.
The fine print on the Certificates landing page states,
Certificates will be opened, and interest will accrue as of the date funding is received; funding must be received within 30 calendar days of opening the account.
Dividends are compounded and credited monthly and can be paid out at any time, if so desired.
Unlimited beneficiaries can be designated (equal shares), with Social Security numbers are required for all beneficiaries.
Availability
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, General Electric Credit Union's field of membership (FOM) is varied, with residency, employment, and organizational membership as the defining criteria. Since mid-2020, an additional five Ohio counties and four Kentucky counties have been added to the FOM.
Residency: Ohio – Individuals who live, work, worship, or attend school in Adams, Brown, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Darke, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Highland, Madison, Miami, Montgomery, Pickaway, Preble, Shelby, or Warren Counties are eligible for membership.
Kentucky – Individuals who live, work, worship, or attend school in Boone, Bourbon, Campbell, Fayette, Grant, Harrison, Kenton, Pendleton, or Scott Counties also qualify for membership.
Indiana – Individuals who live or work in Dearborn, Franklin, Ohio, Switzerland, or Union Counties are eligible to join.
Employment: There are more than 335 SEGs that offer membership in GECU as an employee/retiree benefit. The General Electric Company in the Greater Cincinnati area and the General Electric Company Aircraft Engine Division are the two largest SEGs offering membership eligibility.
Church Affiliation: Parishioners of All Saints Church, Assumption Catholic Parish, Crestview Presbyterian Church, Forest Chapel United Methodist Church, Glen Este Church of Christ, North Cincinnati Community Church, Sharonville United Methodist Church, St. Michael’s Church, or True Holiness Covenant of the Peace Woodlawn Assembly are welcome to apply for membership.
School Affiliation: Students (and their family members) and employees of Kings Local Schools, Loveland City Schools, or Mason City Schools qualify for membership.
Relationship: Immediate family members (spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent/grandchild, step parents/children/siblings, and adoptive relationships) of a current GECU member are eligible to join.
Please refer to GECU's Membership and Eligibility page for a comprehensive description of membership eligibility requirements.
Joining GECU and/or opening a Share Certificate can be done online, by phone (513.243.4328 or 800.542.7093) or at any of the nine full-service Ohio branches located in Cincinnati (4), Fairfield, Loveland, Mason, South Lebanon, and West Chester, or at either of two full-service Kentucky branches located in Florence and Highland Heights.
Note: The Evendale GE Aircraft Engines Plant (Evendale, OH) is only open to GEAE Plant employees, with no public access.
If you want to see a GECU team member at a GECU location, you can skip the lines by scheduling an appointment online in advance.
Opening a Share Savings account with a $5 minimum deposit establishes a GECU membership.
Credit Union Overview
General Electric Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 3.23% (excellent), based on June 30, 2022 data. GECU has an average capitalization level (8.23%), the resulting of holding $4.19 billion in assets with $345.26 million in equity. Please refer to our financial overview of General Electric Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 68574) for more details.
General Electric Credit Union was chartered in 1954 as a credit union for the employees of General Electric Aircraft Engines. In the 1980s, GECU expanded its FOM to include SEGs, and in 2007 a further expansion included residents of select counties in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. GECU is currently Ohio’s second largest credit union, with assets in excess of $3.8 billion, with over 240,000 members, and more than 210,000 customer accounts.
How the 5-Year Share Certificate 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 General Electric Credit Union 5-year Share Certificate. The following tables compares the 5-year Share Certificate to the two highest-rate CDs from other credit unions and the two highest-rate CDs from banks.
| APY | CD Term (Early Withdrawal Penalty) | Credit Union/Bank |
|---|---|---|
| 4.00% | 5-year Share Certificate (EWP=180 days) | General Electric Credit Union |
| 3.75% | 60-Month MYSB Direct Online CD (EWP=90 days) | M.Y. Safra Bank |
| 3.65% | 5-Year Bread Savings CD (EWP=365 days) | Bread Financial |
| 3.64% | 5-Year Fixed CD (EWP=600 days) | Lafayette Federal Credit Union |
| 3.56% | 60-Month CD (EWP=180 days) | Financial Resources Federal Credit Union |
The above information and rates are accurate as of 9/26/2022.
To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.
For 15 years a multitude here have been cowed into submission by abnormally low deposit rates, where a 5 year 3% CD has been like manna from heaven they will storm after as if ravenously hungry beasts.
Now they see this unheard of circumstance emerge with a feast of all but previously impossible 4% (or higher) offers, and nearly collapse with anxiety that something will happen and take it all away if they don't immediately act and gorge for all they are worth.
It's really quite pathetic and pitiable to observe, these people with no backbones or the fortitude to just patiently wait as interest rates move inexorably higher celebrate themselves scoring the "deals of a lifetime", when truly they are merely being played.
So - what's your outlook now, especially for rates from 2 - 6 years out?
And no, I'm not going to come back in 6 months, 1 year, 4 years, whatever - to moan or groan about a missed prediction. I'm just curious about your opinion.
You see, I did not ask you any question at all. I also did not ask for my “courage” - nor anything else of mine - to be analyzed by you. I simply asked lou a question. You just happened to intervene a minute or two too early - when I was interrupted by a phone call. Understand now?
It has become increasingly likely we are going to hit with a painful recession which will test the Fed's determination to maintain high interest rates. I think they mean it but of course I don't really know. The hard part will be trying to time the peak so I am not purchasing CDs after rates start falling. That won't be easy.
Fed’s Collins Says Further Tightening Needed to Cool Inflation (msn.com)
I am not so sure about this. The Fed Funds rate is 3.25% today and we are now seeing some 4% 5-yr rates. Many are predicting the Feds Fund rate could easily go to 5% or higher in the next 6 months. If the current differential between the Federal Funds rate and the 5-yr rates hold, then you could easily see 5-yr 6% CDs.
Someone like PD means everything he writes here (no matter how outrageous, extreme, and made up) with purely literal intent, absent any self-questioning, absent any irony, and absent any humor. Is your preference that we all imitate such a model?