Georgia's Own Credit Union Offers Competitive CD Rates

It’s been nearly ten years since I wrote about Georgia’s Own Credit Union. In 2010, Georgia’s Own product line was only available to the residents of 13 Georgia counties, but its competitive CDs are now available nationwide. The 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year CDs can be found near the top of their respective term categories in this week’s CD Rates Summary. The minimum opening deposit for any of the CD is $500, with no stated balance cap.

All the CDs are available as IRAs (Traditional, Roth, CESA), earning the same or slightly higher APYs with the same funding requirements.

As stated in the Truth-In-Savings disclosure, partial withdrawals are allowed and the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows,

Terms of 13-24 months – 180 days’ interest

Terms of 25-36 months – 270 days’ interest

Terms of 37-48 months – 360 days’ interest

Terms of 49-60 months – 450 days’ interest

Maturing funds can be distributed by check, wire transfer, or transferred into a Georgia’s Own checking or savings account. There is a 10 day grace period before a CD automatically renews.

Unlimited beneficiaries can be named (equal shares), with Social Security numbers required for each beneficiary.

Availability

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia’s Own Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) provides a way for virtually all U.S. citizens/resident aliens (valid Social Security number required) to join.

Easy Membership: Individuals who don’t qualify for membership through employment or residency can join by making a $10 contribution to the Georgia’s Own Foundation, the charitable arm of Georgia’s Own. Joining the Foundation can be can be done during the membership application process.

Members of the Getting Ahead Association (GAA) also qualify for membership. “GAA is designed to help you gain access to the information that you need to improve your quality of life and reduce the cost of living.”

Residency: Individuals who live or work in any of the Georgia counties of Baker, Barrow, Bartow, Brooks, Calhoun, Carroll, Chatham, Cherokee, Clarke, Clay, Clayton, Cobb, Colquitt, Columbia, Coweta, Crisp, Dekalb, Dougherty, Douglas, Early, Effingham, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Lee, Lowndes, Meriwether, Mitchell, Newton, Paulding, Quitman, Randolph, Richmond, Rockdale, Spalding, Sumter, Stephens, Stewart, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Walton, Webster, or Worth qualify for membership.

Employment: Individuals who work for any of Georgia’s Own nearly 950 Premier Partners are eligible for membership.

Educational Relationship: Georgia State University students, alumni, faculty, staff, and retirees are also eligible to join.

Relationship: Family members (defined as anyone related by blood, adoption or marriage) of a current Georgia’s Own member are welcome to apply.

Complete details concerning membership eligibility are available on the Membership page.

Joining Georgia’s Own and/or opening a CD can be done online. As of today, only the Morrow, Georgia branch has lobby hours. Fourteen branches are limited to drive-thru transactions, with eight branches only offering phone/email service. For up-to-date information, please refer to Georgia’s Own COVID-19 Updates page.

A minimum deposit of $5 is required to establish your membership. This $5 refundable deposit represents your “share” in Georgia’s Own and is held on deposit as long as you are a member.

Note: There is a monthly $5 inactivity fee if there are no transactions in the regular savings account for 12 consecutive months AND the balance is below $250.

Georgia’s Own participates in both the CO-OP ATM and Shared Branch networks.

As a result, you can conduct most business on your Georgia’s Own Credit Union accounts at other credit unions throughout the country as though you were at your Georgia’s Own Credit Union local branch!

Credit Union Overview

Georgia’s Own Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 2.88% (excellent) based on December 31, 2019 data. In the past year, Georgia’s Own increased its total non-brokered deposits by $25.02 million, an above average annual growth rate of 1.31%. Please refer to our financial overview of Georgia’s Own Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 67390) for more details.

Established in 1934, Georgia’s Own Credit Union was originally known as the Atlanta Telco Credit Union. The founding members were eight telephone company employees, who contributed total deposits of $160. Ten years later, the name was changed to Georgia Telco Credit Union, when a new charter was adopted that expanded the FOM to include telephone employees anywhere in Georgia. The Georgia’s Own rebrand occurred in 2007, as the FOM changed to include the residents of several Georgia counties. Georgia’s Own Credit Union is currently the third largest credit union in Georgia, with nearly 183,000 members and assets in excess of $2.4 billion.

How the CDs Compare

When compared to 166 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit of $10k or less and are available nationwide, Georgia’s Own Credit Union's 5-year CD APY currently ranks second.

When compared to 160 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit of $10k or less and are available nationwide, Georgia’s Own Credit Union's 4-year CD APY currently ranks second.

When compared to 185 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit of $10k or less and are available nationwide, Georgia’s Own Credit Union's 3-year CD APY currently ranks third.

When compared to 187 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit of $10k or less and are available nationwide, Georgia’s Own Credit Union's 2-year CD APY currently ranks second.

The above rates are accurate as of 4/23/2020.

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