INOVA Federal Credit Union 8-Month CD Has Market-Leading Rate

Early Withdrawal Penalty

As stated on the Certificates landing page, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

The penalty schedule is as follows:

Terms of less than 90 days, 30 days’ dividends

Terms of 90 days to 1 year, 90 days’ dividends

Terms of longer than 1 year, 180 days’ dividends

The penalty imposed will equal the lesser of all dividends earned or terms above. However, the penalty will not be less than 7 days’ dividends.

Availability

Headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana, INOVA Federal Credit Union’s field of membership has had an “on-again, off-again” relationship with an early membership requirement (EMR). It has been difficult (basically impossible) to determine exactly when the INOVA FOM has changed, primarily because the INOVA Membership Eligibility page isn’t highly detailed.

LSS, INOVA has alternated between a limited EMR for anyone who lived within a 50-mile radius of any branch and a nationwide EMR. Sometime between July and September 2023, INOVA began offering the nationwide EMR option through the Tru Direction Financial Literacy Program (one-time $5 membership fee).

Tru Direction is a 501 (c)(3) foundation that promotes financial fitness, including the sponsorship of “Banzai,” an on-line financial literacy program available at no cost to schools. INOVA's online membership application facilitates joining Tru Direction.

I elect to join Tru Direction Financial Literacy Program.

INOVA membership is also available through affiliation with more than 1,600 member companies. The member companies range from large national companies (Bayer, Papa’s Pizza, Inc.) and colleges (University of Notre Dame), to local businesses and organizations, including churches and public schools. A complete list of the member companies can be found on the INOVA Company Eligibility page.

Immediate family members (spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, and grandchild, including step- and adoptive relationships) and household members of a current INOVA member are also eligible for membership.

Account Opening

Joining INOVA and/or opening any kind of account can be done online, or at the Berkeley, California branch or at any of six Indiana branches located in Elkhart (3), Granger, Michigan City, and Mishawaka.

You will be asked to make your initial minimum membership share deposit of $5.00 and pay the $10.00 Membership Fee. The $5.00 share must remain on deposit to maintain your member/owner status and cannot be used for overdraft protection.

Funding and Other Details

There is no CD Truth-in-Savings (TIS) disclosure listed on INOVA’s website or attached to the online application. According to CSR, the TIS is provided when a CD is opened – not exactly the best time to provide documentation if you’re doing due diligence. The following information was provided by CSR.

Funding – ACH, wire ($10 fee), internal transfer, or Shared Branch transfer. The easiest way to fund a Certificate is through a transfer from an INOVA Membership Savings account.
CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – Yes.
Dividends – Compounded/credited monthly and can be distributed by cashier’s check or transferred to an INOVA Membership Savings account.
Maturing Funds – Cashier’s check to address on file or internal transfer to an INOVA Membership Savings account.
Beneficiaries – Unlimited with equal shares, Social Security numbers required.
Grace Period* – None, per se.
Credit Check – Soft pull.

*INOVA’s policy on maturing Certificates differs from most financial institutions. The following is from the FAQs (emphasis mine).

For accounts that have been set up to automatically renew for another term, you will not have a grace period after maturity to withdraw funds without being charged an early withdrawal penalty. To avoid a withdrawal penalty, all withdrawals must be made on the maturity date.

If you opt out of automatic term renewal, the account balance will be transferred to an existing INOVA savings account on the maturity date.

Credit Union Overview

INOVA Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+ at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 6.36% (excellent) based on June 30, 2023 data. In the past year, INOVA has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $67.95 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 15.56%. Please refer to our financial overview of INOVA Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 4968) for more details.

INOVA Federal Credit Union was established in 1942 to serve the employees of Miles Laboratories, an Elkhart, Indiana based pharmaceutical company. When Miles Laboratories was purchased by Bayer AG in 1979, the Credit Union’s scope and field of membership began to expand. As the 19^th largest credit union headquartered in Indiana, INOVA currently has more than 44,000 members and assets in excess of $675 million.

How the 8-Month CD Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available within the FOM, have fixed rates, and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, no bank or credit union has a higher rate than currently offered on the INOVA Federal Credit Union 8-Month CD. The following table compares the 8-Month CD 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 12/16/2023.

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