Great River Federal Credit Union Adds Top-Rate 37-Month CD Special
Minnesota-based Great River Federal Credit Union (Great River) has added two 37-Month CD Specials, both offering exceedingly competitive rates. The Classic Advantage CD Special currently earns 4.02% APY, with the Premier Advantage CD Special earning 4.07% APY. The minimum opening deposit is $500, with a cap of $250k. At least 50% of the opening deposit must be new money, simply defined as funds not on deposit with Great River.
This limited-time offer has no end-date specified and will “end at the Credit Union’s discretion.” About a year ago, Great River introduced an exceedingly competitive CD Special, and due to overwhelming response, it stopped accepting applications just a few days after my post. So please keep that in mind if you try to apply for this CD.
The CD Specials are also available as IRA CD Specials (Traditional and Roth), earning the same APYs with the same deposit requirements.
Classic Advantage and Premier Advantage
Classic Advantage and Premier Advantage, refer to the type of accounts offered by Great River, with Classic Advantage being the default:
Classic Advantage Accounts give you access to all of the products and solutions that the Credit Union has to offer, with no minimum balance requirement.
Premier Advantage Accounts reward our members for taking advantage of the various lending and savings products we have to offer. With a combined savings/checking account balance of $15,000, or an open loan above $15,000, Premier Members enjoy a $5 discount on safe deposit boxes, Share Certificate bonus of .05% APY, 1 Free box of checks per year, and free corporate checks.
Bump-Up Feature
The bump-up feature may be used once at any time throughout the 37-month term. In my opinion, the idea of the bump-up option is actually better than the reality of the bump-up. The bump-up rate would apply to a new 37-month CD Special rate and as the 37-month CD Special may “end at the Credit Union’s discretion,” there’s no guarantee there will even be any future 37-month CD Specials offering a higher rate.
Early Withdrawal Penalty
According to CSR, a CD Special can only be closed early: no partial withdrawals are allowed. As stated in the fine print on the Share Certificates page, the Early Withdrawal Penalty (EWP) reads as follows:
The penalty assessed on the amount withdrawn will equal: three months dividends on terms one year or less, six months dividends terms greater than one year.
Funding and Maturing Funds
According to CSR, funds must be on deposit at Great River before a CD Special can be opened. Great River participates in the CO-OP Shared Branch network, making the transfer of funds relatively easy. ACH and wire transfers can also be used to deposit funds.
Maturing funds can be distributed by check to the address on file or transferred to a Great River savings account. A maturity notice will be sent 20 calendar days prior to maturity. There is a ten day grace period before a 37-month CD Special renews as a 36-month CD.
Up to six beneficiaries (equal shares) can be designated. While Social Security numbers are not required for each name beneficiary, “they are greatly appreciated.”
New Member Checking Account Bonus
Great River is also offering a new member bonus of $100 for opening a checking account or credit card. In addition to opening the checking account, the new member must either establish direct deposit or make at least five debit card transactions within 60 days. Full details are available at this Great River bonus page.
Availability
Headquartered in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Great River Federal Credit Union joined the American Consumer Council (ACC) in May 2021, which allowed an expansion of the “field of membership (FOM) to include anyone who joins the ACC.” Prior to offering an easy membership requirement, the FOM was limited to three west central Minnesota counties.
Employees of more than 36 Minnesota Select Employer Groups also qualify for membership, as do immediate family members (siblings, parents, children) of current Grand River members.
Joining Grand River can be done online, through Great River’s Go Live-video chat, or at any of the seven Minnesota branches located in Big Branch, Foley, St. Cloud, Sartell, Sauk Centre, Sauk Rapids, and Waite Park.
Following the recent acquisition of two out-of-state credit unions (GEM Federal Credit Union and Four Flags Area Credit Union), Great River now has a brick-and-mortar presence in Minot, North Dakota and Niles, Michigan.
While checking and savings accounts can be opened online, CDs have to be opened in-branch or over the phone (888.211.5393). CSR stated that opening a CD can be done over the phone AFTER the membership application is approved and funds for the CD have been deposited in a Great River savings account.
Your initial $5 deposit entitles you to ownership of the credit union.
Readers have reported that a hard credit pull is done in the membership application process. This can ding your credit score.
Grand River has joined the CO-OP Shared Branch and ATM networks, giving its members,
nationwide access to over 5,600 shared branches to cash checks, make deposits, and withdraw money wherever you go! That’s not all, the CO-OP ATM Network has nearly 30,000 ATMs nationwide you can use for FREE!
Credit Union Overview
Great River Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 2.11% (excellent) based on March 31, 2022 data. In the past year, Great River has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $72.11 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 32.76%. Please refer to our financial overview of Great River Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 24632) for more details.
Great River Federal Credit Union was originally chartered in 1948 as Machinist Federal Credit Union, serving the employees of Franklin Manufacturing’s refrigerator factory. The first rebrand (St. Cloud T&L Credit Union) occurred in 1964 when the FOM expanded to include a variety of other trade groups. The Great River name was chosen in 1999 because the FOM had grown to include more than 80 employer groups in Minnesota, the source of the Great River (aka, the Mississippi). In 2001, a community charter was adopted to include three Minnesota counties. Great River Federal Credit Union is currently the 18th largest credit union in Minnesota, with more than 19,000 members and assets in excess of $320 million.
How the 37-Month CD Specials Compare
When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationally and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, no banks or credit unions have a higher rate than currently offered on the Great River Federal Credit Union 37-month Premier Advantage CD Special and 37-month Classic Advantage CD Special. The following table compares the 37-month CD Specials 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 8/12/2022.
To look for the best CD rates, either nationwide or state-specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.
Unethical, no.
Looks like the last special only lasted a couple of days.
It comes down to, do you want the 4.0%+ rate or not?
Personally, I don't think it's worth the bother.
Coincidentally, I also had an experience similar to yours in that I enjoyed and am still enjoying a CD I have with a credit union that did a hard pull.
But in that case, the experience was even worse because the CSR told me that there was a soft pull only, and it turned out to be incorrect. I got lucky, but you should not have to rely on luck when you're lending your money.
Keeping it more Local that way.
Smart move.
Keeping the Whales stranded.
“Save the Whales!”
That compounding sure sounds low. And their own calculators say a 4.0% rate compounded monthly should come out to 4.19% APY. It sounds like they are not really offering a 4.0% rate as stated. Their calculator says a 4.7% APY would come from a rate of 3.895% compounded monthly.
I have a real problem when the rate and APY listed are not correct -- which one is wrong, what am I really getting? It leaves me not knowing what I'm getting into, and that is not acceptable. The APY is what really matters, but when you have wrong numbers, you can't be sure of anything of what you are getting, whether your yield will be more or less - wrong numbers are unreliable in either direction.
I do also agree that to not let you lock in the rate while waiting on them to process your membership and the CD application is a problem too -- especially with Ken noting right up top that they made a similar offer a year ago and withdrew it within just a few days. And this offer has already been out there for three days, since Aug. 9.
If the APR is 4.00%, and compounding is monthly, then an APY of 4.07% is correct. It comes out to 4.07415% (rounded) to be more precise.
The formula for APY = (1 + Rate / Interest Compounding Periods) ^ (Interest Compounding Periods) -1
In this case, APY for 4% compounded monthly, does in fact, equal 4.07%.
https://www.greatriverfcu.org/money-market-and-share-certificates/
That's my five minutes for this time site, today.
Does that include the FED blog?
$500 Minimum Investment
Change Effective - August 12, 2022
Term
Dividend Rate
APY10
Compounded Monthly
6 Month .55% .55%
12 Month 1.10% 1.11%
18 Month 1.20% 1.21%
24 Month* 1.30% 1.31%
25 Month** 2.70% 2.73%
36 Month* 1.35% 1.36%
48 Month* 1.70% 1.71%
60 Month* 1.90% 1.92%
And they did! I got the deal.
I don't just throw money at some place I've never done business with before in a rush before I've had adequate time to evaluate it. If it requires a rush I don't do the deal. Buying a CD should not be a speculative investment because the return isn't high enough to pay for speculative risk.
I've walked away from a number of scenarios like this one for that reason. I don't regret it.
Some financial institutions are much better than others, understand the depositor's point of view and make accommodations to instill confidence. Speaking for myself I would rather take a few basis points less if necessary to deal with that kind of institution.
Don't know if DA.com keeps records, but this has to be right up there re. shortest-term-offers ever. Somewhat unfair to those attempting to deposit. Guess “Great River” has other concerns they consider to be more important. May come back to bite them later, with those who attempted to become customers.
If they give you a certain number of days after the application process is completed where the rate is guaranteed to get it funded, let's say at least 10 days, that deal is much more attractive to me.
Except for the hard pull, which I think is unethical because of the way it's done without the expectation of the depositor, I think an FI is entitled not to guarantee the rate if they wish. But in most cases anyway, if they don't, they won't be getting my money.
Fast-forward to today. Arguably there are several reasons, not mutually exclusive, why FIs may fear future financial changes more than they did in 2019. Here are three -
1) They've now seen how quickly a pandemic can drop rates (or how quickly a government's misguided response to a pandemic can drop rates, but that's a different topic for another day). They fear either a new virus, or resurgences of mutations of this one.
2) Both a regional war (a la Ukraine) and a larger war (China, Russia) are now seen by many as more likely, increasing overall uncertainty.
3) This time around, a lot of economists ARE predicting an upcoming recession, increasing the changes that the Fed will have to whipsaw rates back down again very quickly.
If I were a banker, I'd be a lot more hesitant to offer rate guarantees than in 2019, unless and until the marketplace absolutely forced me to do so.
Not sure if I agree with every point 111 about a relatively greater aversion to offering rate guarantees now than in the last round of rate increases, but get the gist of what you are saying. I also agree with the notion that if they can get all the funding they need without even giving a few days rate guarantee, and don't care about relationships with depositors like me, then yes, by all means they will likely opt not to offer the rate guarantee. It's a rather short sighted policy in my view, but that is their choice to make and depending on their financial situation I also understand it may be their only choice.
But maybe with a week plus on a posting with a good rate it could be worth a try.
Ethics 101 course was apparently not offered this CU. Then again I’m reminded of US Bank posting its purported ethics awards in their lobbies across the country and this was after writing hundreds of millions in dollars for government imposed penalties!
And by the way, it’s really tiring how you’re always ragging on Ken for not doing his job as you see fit. I for one think he does a great job. Maybe you should ask for your subscription cost back.
If a credit union doesn't pander to a bunch of rate-chaser's "standards" they are the incarnation of evil?
Asked her about the hard pull and she didnt seem to care and then asked me if i want to pull my application but the damage has allready been done so let it ride and see what happens.
What's with you rate-chasers?
If they meet their funding goals they have no obligation to you.
They're supposed to be acting in the best interests of the credit union.
Not a bunch of rate-chasers who never heard of them before this deal.
As long as it's within the bounds of the law they can do anything they want, and it goes down in the category of a business decision.
I'm not convinced that this kind of program is in the best interests of the credit union as was previously suggested. They made a business decision to do hard pulls when you are not applying for credit, no kind of rate assurance, and planned a promotional gimmick that ticked off some of their potentially best sources of funding for future needs.
They have a right to make any business decisions they wish but when you play the long game using short game plays it's not always the best decision.
I don't think that speaks well of their ability to manage in the best interest of the credit union... or for that matter my money.
The FHLBs have long been considered relatively safe intermediaries because their loans to private member institutions are over-collateralized, they can jump to the front of the line when a borrower defaults--the so-called "super lien" of their loans--and they benefit from an implicit government guarantee investors appear to associate with federal agencies. Moreover, changes to prudential regulations such as the revised risk-based capital requirements and stress tests have likely made the FHLBs more resilient.
However, their increasing maturity transformation, combined with their high leverage, leave the FHLBs more vulnerable to shocks--an issue that has been highlighted recently by the regulatory authority of the FHLB system, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)."
https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/the-increased-role-of-the-federal-home-loan-bank-system-in-funding-markets-part-1-background-20171018.htm#:~:text=The%20Federal%20Home%20Loan%20Bank%20(FHLB)%20system%20was%20founded%20in,commercial%20banks%20and%20insurance%20companies.
Note the use of the words "implicit guarantee." That's not the same as an explicit guarantee. Again, nothing wrong with this investment as long as you understand the risk... Which is greater than the risk of a CD. So it's not really apples to apples.
https://www.greatriverfcu.org/money-market-and-share-certificates/
So, as many are complaining here, if anyone started the proceess to open the membership and then the CD, too late, rate is gone, but you suffered the hard credit pull.
With that speed of pulling it down, it was never real.
Being one of the first tiny green shoots of 4%+ rate offers surfacing after a long deposit rates drought. Hopefully in the months ahead, including near or after the next Fed meeting in late September, there will be more and better such offers.
Do your homework, meaning read the previous post from October, and you'll know they do a hard pull and can close the rate down after two days. First, get your application into the system before the rate comes off the website - this is somewhat obvious but should be emphasized. Then you'll get a personal call within 2 days and, if approved, the CSR will tell you your account number. I applied on Thursday and got my call on Saturday. Their reasonable expectation is that you've got the funds on hand and ready to transfer. Get a wire out shortly, like within a couple of days, then call them with the term you want, and you'll get the rate advertised at the time you submitted your application.
APY is calculated using this formula: APY= (1 + r/n )n – 1, where “r” is the stated annual interest rate and “n” is the number of compounding periods each year. APY is also sometimes called the effective annual rate, or EAR.
Or you can use a calculator since it's way easier. ; ) https://www.omnicalculator.com/finance/apy
I use CD's from credit unions/banks primarily in my IRA. I always check to make sure I can withdraw (or transfer) accrued dividends/interest with no penalty for two reasons...to provide income, if needed, or to stay below $250K insurance cap. In every case, my credit unions/banks have agreed to do this. However, some will limit frequency. So, you just need to ask up front if this is permitted.
Did the efcu and Grand Green River deal ...but was patient about it and left a lot of dry powder. Deployed about 15% of capital. So now I'm only losing 4 1/2 % a year on my cd's with inflation @ 9%.
Same as with stocks each new bull run (Interest rates) seems to have new leaders like EFCU and Grand River. Past leaders GTE and Andrews, Penn Fed etc. having fallen by the wayside.
Was a tad nervous about EFCU, kept thinking of the video ..Going down South by Black keys
https://youtu.be/ndEQ1hnYj0Y
7. Early Withdrawal Penalty. We may impose a penalty as stated in the “ACCOUNT INFORMATION” section if you
withdraw any of the principal from your certificate account or Individual Retirement Account (IRA) before the
maturity date.
a. Amount of Penalty. The early withdrawal penalty amount is set forth in the “ACCOUNT
INFORMATION” section.
b. How the Penalty Works. The penalty is calculated as a forfeiture of part of the dividends that have been
or would be earned at the nominal dividend rate on the account. It applies whether or not the dividend
has been earned. In other words, if the account has not yet earned enough dividends or if the dividends
have already been paid, the penalty will be deducted from the principal.
c. Exceptions to Early Withdrawal Penalties. At our option, we may pay the account before maturity
without imposing an early withdrawal penalty under the following circumstances:
i. When an account owner dies or is determined legally incompetent by a court or other body of
competent jurisdiction.
ii. Where the account is an IRA and any portion is paid within seven (7) days after establishment;
provided that the depositor forfeits an amount of at least equal to the simple dividends earned on
the amount withdrawn; or where the account is an IRA and the owner attains age 59½ or becomes
disabled.