GTE Financial Ups 12-Month CD To Near-Rate Leading Status

As DA reader, calwatch, noted in a recent Forum post, Florida-based GTE Financial is currently offering 4.13% APY on its 12-, 24-, and 36-month Share Certificates, following rate increases of 237 bps, 160 bps, 109 bps, respectively. The minimum opening deposit is $500, with no stated balance cap.

All GTE Financial Share Certificates are also available as IRA Certificates (Traditional, Roth, CESA, SEP), earning the same APYs with the same deposit requirements.

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The penalty applies to the amount withdrawn each time a withdrawal is made, and is based on the dividend rate in effect at the time of the withdrawal.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.

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.

Funding and Other Particulars

A Truth-in-Savings disclosure and a fairly comprehensive FAQ section used to be available on the GTE Financial website. Unfortunately, these are no longer available. The following information is from a Live Chat with CSR.

• Funding – ACH, wire, shared branch transfer, or credit card (up to $5k).
• Maturing Funds – transferred to a GTE Financial Savings Account.
• Dividends – compound monthly and are paid on the last day of the month and can be transfer to a GTE Financial Savings Account without penalty.
• Grace Period – 7 calendar days before automatic renewal.
• Beneficiaries – unlimited, percentages assigned, Social Security numbers required.
• Credit Check – Hard pull.

A Little History

For many long-time DA readers, a mentioning GTE Financial immediately brings one thing to mind: the mini-fiasco in the fall of 2019. At that time, GTE Financial cancelled the add-on features on existing 60-month promotional share certificates (3.30% APY) opened in 2018 and 2019. While GTE Financial quickly reversed its decision after a general outcry by its members, it definitely made the DA readership wary.

There haven’t been any recent reported problems with GTE Financial changing the rules on the 60-month add-on. Now that CD rates are higher than 3.30%, the add-on feature is no longer a concern, but it does serve as a cautionary tale.

Availability

Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, GTE Financial’s field of membership (FOM) has a way for almost 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.

Joining GTE Financial and/or opening a 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 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.

GTE Financial participates in both the CO-OP Share Branch network and the ATM network.

Credit Union Overview

GTE Financial has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 4.48% (excellent), based on June 30, 2022 data. In the past year, GTE Financial has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $126.24 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 5.12%. 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 more than 231,000 members and assets in excess of $2.8 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 12-month Share Certificate Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com which are available nationally and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, two credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the GTE Financial 12-month Share Certificate. The following table compares the 12-month Share Certificate 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 11/1/2022.

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