GTE Financial 48-Month Jumbo Share Certificate Rate Soars To The Top
Following a significant rate increase of 42 bps, the GTE Financial 48-month Jumbo Share Certificate earns 5.12% APY, which is currently the highest rate offered on a nationally available 4-year CD. The minimum opening deposit is $100k, with no stated balance cap.
GTE Financial also offers “regular” Share Certificates with APYs 26-27 bps lower than the Jumbo Share Certificates APYs and can be opened with a minimum $500 deposit.
GTE Financial Jumbo Share Certificates are also available as Jumbo IRA Certificates (Traditional, Roth, CESA, SEP), earning the same APYs with the same deposit requirements.
The 60-month Jumbo Share Certificate also had a significant rate change, but in the other direction: following a drop of 150 bps, the 60-month Jumbo Share Certificate now offers a decidedly uncompetitive 3.30% APY.
| APY | MIN | MAX | INSTITUTION | PRODUCT | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.31% | $100k | - | GTE Financial | 60 Month Jumbo Share Certificate | |
| 3.04% | $500 | - | GTE Financial | 60 Month Share Certificate |
As stated in the Share Certificate Account Disclosure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:
The penalty applies to the amount withdrawn each time a withdrawal is made, and is based on the dividend rate in effect at the time of the withdrawal. The penalty will equal 90 days of dividends for accounts with terms of 12 months or less, and 180 days of dividends for account with terms greater than 12 months. If dividends are insufficient to cover any applicable penalties, there is the possibility of a principal reduction.
According to the fine print on the landing page,
No withdrawals may be made on a GTE Financial Share Certificate in the first 60 days of account opening.
Helpful Forum Post
The January 30, 2023 Forum post by DA reader, John19, is well worth the read. With 72 comments from other DA readers, the thread provides a great deal of first-hand information about GTE Financial.
Availability
Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, GTE Financial’s field of membership (FOM) has a way for virtually any U.S. citizen or resident alien to join.
Easy membership: Joining GTE Financial’s non-profit educational financial club, CU Savers (one-time $10 membership fee), qualifies for credit union membership.
Residency: Individuals who live, work, worship, or attend school in the following Tampa Zip Codes are eligible to join - 33602, 33603, 33604, 33605, 33606, 33607, 33609, 33610, 33619.
Employment: Employees of a Community Partner (SEG) qualify for membership. Individuals who have an immediate family member who works for a Community Partner are also membership eligible.
Relationship: Immediate family members (spouse, child, parent, sibling, stepparent, stepchild, grandparent, or grandchild) of a current GTE Financial member is also welcome to apply.
Account Opening
Joining GTE Financial and/or opening a Jumbo Share Certificate can be done online, or at any of 24 Florida branches located in Bradenton, Brandon, Clearwater, Crystal River, Hudson, Lakeland (2), Lutz, New Port Richey, Ocala, Plant City, Riverview, Sarasota, Seffner, Seminole, St. Petersburg (2), Tampa (6), and Temple Terrace.
Current GTE Financial members can open a Jumbo Share Certificate through the GTE online banking platform.
All it takes is a $5 deposit to become a member! When you have $100 or more in your savings account, the money will earn dividends.
Funding and Other Details
The following information is from a Live Chat with CSR.
- Funding – ACH, wire ($10 fee), credit card (up to $5k), internal transfer, or shared branch transaction.
- Ownership – Individual, joint, and trust.
- CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – Yes.
- Maturing Funds – Transferred to a GTE Financial Savings Account.
- Dividends – Compounded/credited monthly and can be transfer to a GTE Financial Savings Account without penalty.
- Grace Period – 7 calendar days before automatic renewal.
- Beneficiaries – Unlimited, percentages can be assigned, Social Security numbers required.
- Credit Check – Hard pull.
Credit Union Overview
GTE Financial has an overall health grade of "B" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 6.59% (excellent), based on March 1, 2023 data. In the past year, GTE Financial 's total non-brokered deposits decreased by -$27.54 million, an average annual growth rate of -1.06 Please refer to our financial overview of GTE Financial (NCUA Charter # 196) for more details.
GTE Financial’s predecessor, Peninsula Telephone Employees Federal Credit Union (PTEFCU) was established in 1901. While GT&E purchased Peninsula Telephone Company in 1935, the PTEFCU name remained in place until 1958, when it was changed to GTE Federal Credit Union. In the 1990s, GTE Financial was the first Florida credit union (and the second in the country) to implement a successful debit card program. The Credit Union rebranded in 2012 and is currently Florida’s ninth largest credit union, with nearly 232,000 members and deposits in excess of $2.4 billion.
As stated in GTE Financial’s “Check Out Our Timeline section,
2021 – GTE Financial opens a Community Financial Center in Lakewood Ranch and is named Corporate Philanthropist of the Year. GTE achieves $1 Billion in Total Loan Originations, providing affordable financing as the community recovers from COVID-19.
How the 48-Month Jumbo Share Certificate Compares
When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationally, no banks or credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the GTE Financial 48-month Jumbo Share Certificate, regardless of minimum deposit requirements. The following tables compares the 48-month Jumbo Share Certificates 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 6/1/2023.
To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.
CD Disclosure term: "Withdrawals before the maturity date are subject to an early withdrawal penalty. The credit union may require up to 60 days written notice prior to any intended withdrawal in accordance with federal credit union bylaws. The penalty is calculated as a forfeiture of part or all of the dividends. Withdrawals within six days of opening a certificate will be assessed a penalty of seven days dividends which may invade principal. The penalty applies to the amount withdrawn each time a withdrawal is made, and is based on the dividend rate in effect at the time of the withdrawal. The penalty will equal 90 days of dividends for accounts with terms of 12 months or less, and 180 days of dividends for account with terms greater than 12 months. If dividends are insufficient to cover any applicable penalties, there is the possibility of a principal reduction."
I sent you a private message.
I sent you two private messages.
I sent you a private message.
They tout how you can access more than 30,000 FREE coop ATMs, but you have to go to the Fee Schedule to see that GTE will charge you $3.00 for any withdrawal you make at any ATM but a GTE one.
They are in the shared branch system, so you can go to a shared branch and use that for free, make the deposit for the CD there -- except GTE adds a fee of $3.00 a day for any use of a coop branch -- I have not come across any other CU that charges such a fee. So, I have to pay a fee to give them money (as well as withdraw it)!
I dare not try to pull money in via the ACH, it says there is a fee of $2 for any "online" (meaning initiated from a GTE account) external transfer (it says "transfer," not withdrawal, so I have to take that to mean both deposit and withdrawal).
I don't see any reasonable way to fund the CD without having to pay a fee! Mailing a check takes too long, and I can see issues about a hold after they get it.
All of its checking accounts come with a fee, and the two with a way to have it waived require either 15 debit/credit card transactions per month or $500 in deposits to it each month -- you really have to work it. (And both additionally require that you take e-statements to have the fee waived.) Of course, you will find you have to buy your checks too, no first order free. Even a temporary check order (and list "check" singular) is $5.00.
I could just bite the bulet, pay the fees to get this opened and funded, and thena gain when it matures and I might move it elsewhere, and figure I get enough more in APY to justify it. But the whole operation feels too hostile, it pushes me away from GTE, it really raises my eyebrow about them. I really don't want to have to fear I am walking through landmines when I try to conduct business with my CU.
To cut to the quick, I spoke with two people, they were useless, terrible, gave me all the wrong information, just more landmines. And one also accidentally cut me off (typical accident if you get put on hold, a ittle slip in them picking up again, and you are cut off).
Took me awhile to get someone again. This time third one, I got someone very good, named Jose. At that point I was callilng as final effort, I was pretty much already decided just to drop this place as a horror, really. There is no excuse for what I had to go through.
But Jose was really on the ball, and things can be as easy as they should be, the other people just did not/would not make it so.
Jose even gave me his direct number, so now I would not have to try to rely on the regular phone number to get this done. I want the CD opened and will fund it on June 19 (waiting on some money to come in to add to it). I have an appointment for June 14 to call Jose, and we will open the membership and savings accounts, and CD that day, docusign it all. Adn once the CD is open, I have 7 days to fund it, and I can fund it direct using a shared branch - or so Jose says. If it doesn't work, I can call him, and he will transfer it over with the hold still on it.
I will have to pay the $3 to GTE to use the shared branch system (I'm surprised the shared branch system allows that!). He says the $5 fee for "assisted funds transfer" does not apply to this kind of transfer. So, I gues the only fees I willhit are $6 to jion, and $3 to used the shared branch sstem, total of $9. OK I thont I as going to have to pay $10 alone for joining. And with the CD, I dont have to even ahve anying in my working savingds account to avoid the fee onthat, the CD money gets that wived. But when I close gthe CD, I woud have toleave $500 in the svaings accountto aovid the fee, or close thememebship (who wnats to gothrough al this again!?)
I will see about the details of a checking account, but I think I would have to deposit $500 into it every month or to avoid a fee, and that's too much working it.
Th previous people did not offer any of that. I even asked if I could open the CD and fund it direct, they said no. As for the them transferring the money in the savings I put in to open the CD, they said they can't do that until the hold expires in a week. I went round and round with them, they finally said to open everything, and once the money is in the savings, I can call in (sure, but they might not answer or call back), and I can ask if someone can transfer it, see what they say. Oh, come on, if that is the way they operate, I'm not dealing with a place like that. See what they say! I need to know what procedures can be done and what can't before I open anything. Especially since they do a hard credit pull as part of the opening of the membership. Ask after I'm committed?! No, I need to know beforehand, or I will not join in the first place! They don't understand that. Jose was as if from a different world, he was sharp and good, on the ball. He saved them, now they can have my money. Saved by the bell. That was the last contact I was making, I had had it with GTE.
Also, you couldj oin the CU by joining its CU Savers group. It is normally $10 to join, but sometime back they were waiving that. It still is listed as $10 to join, but Jose says they are now charging only $6.
Question:
Do you have any thoughts as to the best day of the week to execute the above?
if i starts out in limbo?
IT appears opening procedures cant afford a wknd off.