Golden Plains Credit Union (KS) Adds 13-Month CD Special

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Deal Summary: 13-month CD Special, 0.81% APY, $5k minimum deposit.

Availability: 77 Central, Western, and Southeast Kansas counties.

In the past ten months, Golden Plains Credit Union (GPCU) has offered limited-time “seasonal” CD Specials. First there was the “Savings are in Bloom” 15-month CD Special (0.81% APY) in March and then the “Back to School” 14-month CD Special (0.91% APY) in August. The latest is the “There’s Snow Place like Home” 13-month CD Special, earning 0.81% APY. Like the previous CD Specials, the minimum opening deposit is $5k, with no stated balance cap.

According to CSR, the Early Withdrawal Penalty is 180 days of interest, with partial withdrawals allowed.

Opening and Funding a 13-month CD Special

Existing members can open the CD Special at any branch location, by phone, or through a secured email using GPCU’s Online Banking platform. Those applying for membership first need to establish membership and then transfer funds for the CD Special into their savings account. Once the funds are in the savings account, the CD Special can be opened in-branch, by phone, or secured email. GPCU participates in the CO-OP Shared Branch network, making the transfer of funds relatively easy.

Golden Rewards Checking

The Golden Rewards Checking (GRC) account currently earns 1.56% APY on qualifying balances up $25k. Qualifying balances greater than $25k earn 0.16% APY, with non-qualifying balances earning 0.05% APY. The monthly qualifying requirements include,

  • At least ten debit card transactions
  • Receive e-Statements
  • Log into Golden Plains Online at least once a month

The GRC is limited to one per member and two per household. When I wrote about the GRC in 2008, it was available outside Kansas, but that has changed. As stated in the GRC FAQs, a GRC account can be opened by Golden Plains Credit Union Members and Kansas Residents ONLY.

The GRC has no monthly service fee or minimum balance requirement, but does require a $100 minimum opening deposit. Nationwide ATM fees will be reimbursed up to $25 per month, if the qualifying requirements are met.

Freedom 12 e-Checking

The Freedom 12 e-Checking account is a cash back account paying 2% cash back on monthly debit card purchases up to $600 per month (maximum of $144 annual earnings) when the following monthly requirements are met.

  • At least 12 debit card transactions
  • Receive e-Statements
  • Log into Golden Plains Online at least once a month

The Freedom 12 e-checking account has no monthly service fees, minimum balance requirement, or minimum opening deposit requirement. Nationwide ATM fees will be reimbursed up to $12 per month, if the qualifying requirements are met.

More than two Freedom 12 e-Checking accounts can by opened by members of the same household.

There is a limit of one Freedom 12 e-Checking account per member; a limit of two Freedom 12 e-Checking accounts per household, unless there are "students" living in the household. These students would be eligible for Freedom 12 e-Checking accounts in addition to the 2 adults (parents) within the same household.

Availability

Headquartered in Garden City, Kansas, Golden Plains Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) is primarily community-based, with those who live, work, or worship in any of the following 77 Central, Western, and Southeast Kansas counties eligible to join:

Allen, Anderson, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Butler, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Decatur, Dickinson, Edwards, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Geary, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearney, Kingman, Kiowa, Labette, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Logan, McPherson, Marion, Meade, Mitchell, Montgomery, Morton, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Osborne. Ottawa, Pawnee, Phillips, Pratt, Rawlins, Reno, Rice, Riley, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Saline, Scott, Sedgwick, Seward, Sherman, Smith, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wallace, Wichita, or Wilson.

Members of the Friends of Lee Richardson Zoo ($30 fee) or the Leave a Legacy Foundation also qualify for membership.

According to CSR, joining GPCU must be done in person at any of 13 Kansas branches, which are located in Ellsworth, Garden City (2), Hays, Haysville, Hesston, Lakin, Liberal, Parsons, Phillipsburg, Quinter, Ulysses, and Wichita.

As I noted in an earlier blog post, it’s surprising that a credit union with an FOM that includes nearly 75% of all Kansas counties doesn’t have an online membership application, but there is an online checking application. This may be a work-around to avoid an in-person branch visit to apply for membership. While the application asks for a membership account number, the fine print reads,

Don’t have an account number? Please put ‘New Member’

Once a new checking account (along with a new membership) is opened, opening a CD Special can be done by phone or secured email, as described above.

All you have to do is open a savings account and maintain
a $10 balance and you can become a member, too!

GPCU participates in both the CO-OP Shared Branch and ATM networks.

Credit Union Overview

Golden Plains Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 1.52% (excellent), based on September 30, 2021 data. In the past year, GPCU has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $86.9 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 13.7%. Please refer to our financial overview of Golden Plains Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 62542) for more details.

Established in 1951, Golden Plains Credit Union is currently the fifth largest credit union headquartered in Kansas, with more than 82,000 members and assets in excess of $819 million. As I mentioned earlier, GPCU limited the availability of its rewards checking account back in 2008. This change was forced by the passage of a “tough field of membership and branching bill pushed successfully by the banking lobby” in Kansas. According to a CUTimes.com article,

The state’s eased laws on statewide branching for credit unions seem about to end and could cause a reduction in CU membership growth.

The good news, according to the leadership of the Kansas Credit Union Association, is that the bill drafted by the Kansas Bankers Association months ago and passed by the Senate March 19 by a lopsided 35-2 margin, has an extensive grandfather clause covering existing branches, occupation and association groups, counties and geographic FOM for most Kansas CUs.

However, nine CUs [including GPCU], principally in Wichita and Topeka, would face what is being called an expansion rollback. In addition, if the bill is enacted, new and complicated formulas–including a so-called escalator clause–would be applied to restrict new branches, mergers or the addition of new members based on a combination of metropolitan statistical area population growth and county boundaries.

How the CD Special Compares

When compared to the similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available within the FOM and require a similar minimum deposit, Golden Plains Credit Union’s 13-month CD Special APY currently ranks third.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 1/6/2022.

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

Related Pages: Joplin checking accounts, Wichita checking accounts, Lincoln checking accounts, reward checking accounts, 1-year CD rates



Golden Plains Credit Union (KS) Adds 14-Month CD Special
Deal Summary: 14-month CD Special, 0.91% APY, $5k minimum deposit.

Availability: 77 Central, Western, and Southeast Kansas counties.

According to Golden Plains Credit Union’s (GPCU) 14-month CD Special landing page, “August means it's back to savings with our current CD Special!” The newly added 14-month CD Special earns 0.91% APY. The minimum opening deposit for this limited-time CD Special is $5k, with no stated balance cap.

This 14-month CD Special is similar to the 15-month CD Special that I reviewed in March. It's a positive...

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Golden Plains Credit Union (KS) Adds 15-Month CD Special
Deal Summary: 15-month CD Special, 0.81% APY, $5k minimum deposit

Availability: 77 Central, Western, and Southeast Kansas counties

As spring draws near, “savings are in bloom” at Golden Plains Credit Union (GPCU) with a newly added 15-month CD Special earning 0.81% APY. The minimum opening deposit is $5k, with no stated balance cap.

According to CSR, the Early Withdrawal Penalty is 180 days of interest, with partial withdrawals allowed.

Opening and Funding a 15-month CD Special

Current members can open the CD Special at any branch location,...

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The field of membership includes those who live, work or do business in the Kansas counties of Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, McPherson or Saline. Also eligible are those affiliated with Raytheon Aircraft Company.

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