Interior Federal Credit Union CD Rates Surge Upward
About a month ago, DA reader, rockies, mentioned in a Forum post that the CD rates offered by Interior Federal Credit Union (Interior FCU) don’t get a lot of attention. After yesterday’s significant rate increases, I think the Jumbo Share Certificates will spark a fair amount of interest (pun intended).
With rate increases ranging between 39-77 bps, Interior FCU Jumbo Share Certificates will be at or near the top of several term-length categories in next week’s CD Rates Summary. More specifically, the 36-month (3.35% APY) and 24-month (3.02% APY) Jumbo Share Certificates, and the 20-month Bump Up Jumbo Certificate (2.92% APY) offer the most competitive rates and are currently rate leaders.
Interior FCU also offers Share Certificates for all terms, which earn APYs a uniform 10 bps lower and can be opened with a $500 minimum deposit.
The Jumbo Share Certificates are also available as IRA Jumbo Certificates (Traditional, Roth, and CESA), earning the same APYs with the same deposit requirements.
As stated in the Membership Agreement (page 31), the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:
Terms of less than 12 months – 30 days’ dividends
Terms of 12 months to less than 24 months – 90 days' dividends
Terms of 24 months to less than 48 months – 180 days' dividends
Terms of 48 months and over – 365 days' dividends
Funding and Accessing Maturing Funds
Funding a Certificate and accessing maturing funds can be by ACH, wire, or check. According to CSR, there is no dollar limit on ACH transfers.
Availability
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Interior Federal Credit Union provides virtually all U.S. residents (with valid Social Security numbers) with a way to join. Interior FCU’s online application lists five different routes to membership:
1. ”I work for or am retired from” (65 named organizations, including several Department of the Interior Bureaus).
2. ”I volunteer for” (45 named organizations).
3. ”I am a family member of” (Interior FCU member’s name). “Family member” is defined spouse, children, siblings, parents, grandparents, and grandchildren, with step- and adoptive relationships included.
4. ”I am an associate/member of” (19 named associations).
And finally, #5:
Need another way to join? If you join our partner association, the New Mexico
Wildlife Federation, you are eligible for Credit Union membership. No cost to join.
Interior FCU’s Eligibility page contains a detailed list of the various organizations and associations that provide membership eligibility.
Joining Interior FCU and/or opening a Jumbo Share Certificate can be done online or at either the Washington, D.C. branch, located in the U.S. Department of the Interior Building, or at the Reston, Virginia branch.
Establish your membership and earn competitive dividends with
a Prime Savings account. Open your account with as little as $25.
Interior FCU is a member of the CO-OP Shared Branching Network, allowing members to do transactions free of charge in more than 5,600 credit union branches throughout the United States.
Credit Union Overview
Interior Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 2.03% (excellent), based on March 31, 2022 data. Interior FCU has an average capitalization level (8.33%), the result of holding $258.42 million in assets with $21.53 million in equity. Please refer to our financial overview of Interior Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 319) for more details.
Originally established in 1935 as the Department of the Interior Federal Credit Union, its doors opened for business during the Great Depression. At that time, many Department of the Interior employees were unable to get credit at local banks, so the credit union was formed to solve that problem. With close to 21,000 members, Interior FCU is currently the eighth largest credit union headquartered in the District of Columbia, with deposits in excess of $226 million.
How the 20-month Bump Up 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 a higher rate than currently offered on the Interior Federal Credit Union 20-month Bump Up Jumbo Share Certificate, regardless of minimum deposit requirements. The following table compares the 20-month Bump Up Jumbo Share Certificate to the two highest-rate CDs from banks and the two highest-rate CDs from other credit unions.
How the 24-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 a higher rate than currently offered on the Interior Federal Credit Union 24-month Jumbo Share Certificate, regardless of minimum deposit requirements. The following table compares the 24-month Jumbo Share Certificate to the two highest-rate CDs from banks and the two highest-rate CDs from other credit unions.
How the 36-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 a higher rate than currently offered on the Interior Federal Credit Union 36-month Jumbo Share Certificate, regardless of minimum deposit requirements. The following table compares the 36-month Jumbo Share Certificate to the two highest-rate CDs from banks and the two highest-rate CDs from other credit unions.
The above information and rates are accurate as of 7/15/2022.
Searching for the best CD rates, both nationwide and in your state? Please refer to CD Rates Table page.
1. There aren't enough ratings to be statistically significant.
2. Ratings are often skewed towards the bad because people are more likely to post a rating for a bad experience than a good one.
3. I often find that my experience differs from the comments in the ratings.
That is not to say that my experience is always different, I sometimes find I am in agreement with the rating. But often I differ after finding out for myself. Sometimes the ratings are given by people who do not understand bank processes well enough to navigate to the correct solution. That can make all the difference.
Regarding the subject Credit Union however, I have a special place in my heart for this place. A manager there went above and beyond for me a year or two ago to help with one of the most complex series of personal banking transactions that I have ever pulled off on a day when I had a complete technology breakdown on my end. After months of planning, I could not believe that the very day of the transactions, I had a total tech meltdown. What should have taken maybe an hour or so ended up taking an entire day and I could never have done it without the patient help of this FI. It went 100% as planned and I am enjoying the fruits of that plan to this day.
However... be aware... they may do a hard pull and if so that's a negative.
On stats…really reliable..especially in medical and employment…the issue is impact on you and family
I can usually tell immediately if I got a good CSR or a bad one. If I know it's a bad one I just get off the line and call back to waste as little time as possible.
For Bump-Up Certificate and Jumbo Bump-up Certificate accounts, the amount of the
early withdrawal penalty for your account is 90 days’ dividends.
I think this is remarkable for a 56 month bump up CD, but I would definitely double check because the EWP for non-bump CD's of 48 months or more is 365 days. So it just doesn't sound right. I know you checked with a supervisor. Why would the EWP be less on a bump-up CD? It doesn't make sense.
Rather than a "Rate Change" this is a MAJOR "Terms Change" -- very important since it concerns one of the promotions going on now (a 56mo "Bump Up" CD @ 3.31%) as well as past Bump-Up Promotions at Interior.
A friend of mine banks with Interior Federal Credit Union (he turned me on to DA in the first place actually) and found out some disappointing news this morning so I thought I'd pass it along since I have an account here.
In a nutshell: Interior FCU can (and will -- in August apparently) CHANGE the Early Withdrawal Penalty for their "Bump Up" CDs, and only the CURRENT EWP policy (at the point in time you want to take your funds out early) will be honored, NOT the EWP that was in place at the time the CD was opened -- at least for the "Bump Up" CDs (since these are the only ones about to be affected, it's unknown if in the future they can change non-Bump-Up CDs as well).
DETAILS: When you apply for the CD (before the CD is created) you download the current "MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT", which has the "Truth in Savings" disclosure for CDs as part of it. The current one is dated 7/14/22. It says that while a 60 month normal CD is 365 days of EWP, the 56 month Bump Up is only 90 days of interest. It also lists the current rates. However my friend opened up another CD (not a bump up one) and in the document for the newly-opened CD it had its own "Truth in Savings" paragraphs -- but there was no language anywhere about the bump up CDs at all. It said only something to the effect that CDs over 48mos would be 365 days EWP -- and even stated that the rate would be fixed for the entire term (since in THAT version of the Truth in Savings they don't even acknowledge Bump Up CDs). So my friend called the credit union, and the first rep insisted it was just a 90 day penalty as it says in the full Membership Agreement/Truth in Savings document. But my buddy wanted something in writing and asked if he could talk to a supervisor to make sure (he says they were all very nice) so a supervisor called him back -- and sadly, told him that the EWP would be whatever it says in the Membership Agreement at the time -- NOT what it said at time of opening. She said other things like the rate and term length wouldn't change but that they can (and are about to) change the EWPs for the Bump Up CDs to more closely match where the other CDs are, and that the change would most likely be made in August. She said the 56mo would be changed to 365 days, and she made very clear that unfortunately as far as the EWP goes, whatever the CURRENT Membership Agreement/Truth in Savings statement says at the time you want to take out the funds early says, goes (NOT what it said when you opened the CD). She apparently acknowledged that people use the terms and penalties in deciding what product to get and such but she said that they're able to make the change in the penalty even in a CD that's been open a while, and that they were just about to do so for August, for the two current Bump Up CDs (20 months and 56 months).
When I asked my friend "did you ask her if they can change NON-Bump Up CDs EWP as well?", he said he didn't ask. (I was only wondering that myself because in the document that you get upon opening a CD that's attached to your personal CD info, it only has the Terms for normal (not Bump Up) CDs listed -- so I was wondering if not having the Bump Up language there was what they considered their "out" to change the terms for Bump-Ups -- or if it's ANY CD they can change the EWP on because of perhaps some language in their Membership Agreement? But he didn't ask.
It makes sense in a way that a 56 month CD should have a penalty closer to a 60 month CD rather than a 12 month CD, but still very disappointing that they apparently won't honor the terms at the time of opening, that people use to determine what kind, and where, to get their CDs. I know there were a few places that have tried this... like "Abound" CU (whatever the old name was) did it a few years ago. Sigh.
Interior is a very small credit union but my friend likes them, he says they're always friendly even if it sometimes takes a while to get stuff done. And he still banks there. But thought you all should know... if you're super concerned about EWP, that Interior is a place where they can (and apparently will next month) change the policy even for existing CDs.
Since I can't edit the initial post anymore...
OK, my buddy got off the phone today with the manager he spoke to yesterday, and there is now some clarification.
In a nutshell: The EWP officially in effect at the time the CD is opened will be honored for the length of the CD. They won't change it mid-stream.
The caveat and details: My friend was told that what happened in this case was that the penalty for the Bump Ups had already been changed internally earlier this month but the terms that everyone sees were not updated. She didn't know the exact date it was updated (but said she could get it if he wanted it) but that it was changed earlier this month -- but they just forgot to change it in the Membership Agreement that everyone sees. So my friend asked "what about those people who opened it up in the short time frame between when it changed internally and when it was changed for the public to see" and the manager kind of said something to the effect of well, those people could call in and discuss it with us, etc. She did say it had been changed internally sometime this month (July). That means if you opened it up before then you're safe at the 90 day EWP. If you opened it up after the change this month (and going forward) it'll be at the new EWP (365 days for the 56mo). And if you opened it up between July 1st to now and aren't sure what EWP you have it sounded like you could call in and discuss it with them. But the manager did state clearly that (using her example) say you opened up a 60mo CD today that currently has an EWP of 365 days... and next year they decide to change that, you will still be locked in at the 365 days because that's what it officially was when you opened it.
Just my own 2c upon hearing all this from my friend is that Interior is indeed doing the right thing, but they're a very small credit union and things sometimes get overlooked, so for anyone opening up a CD with them, I'd probably do it live rather than online to VERIFY that the documents you're shown have indeed been updated, as they don't seem the best in proof reading -- my friend had to point out to them that when they quickly changed the EWP language in their membership agreement, they apparently used an old one to make the changes on, so the rates were then wrong (lower than they actually are). So upon having that pointed out they fixed the rates in the membership agreement too. So yeah it's probably best to open CDs on the phone with a live person so everything can be confirmed, but at least Interior is doing the right thing, and honoring whatever terms (including the EWP) were in place when you opened the account.
Finally, I informed Ken about this yesterday (when it seemed they would change the EWP in the middle of the term). Ken reached out to his contact at Interior, and he received this reply he sent me:
"We have one CD product which is a bump-up CD that has an old penalty amount that we recently discovered. We recently changed the penalty on the 1 product bump-up CD to match all our other CD products. The penalty is not changing on current bump-up CDs. It is only changing on new bump-up CDs or bump-up CDs that matured and the member renewed. We would never change our penalty term for a CD that is currently open."
The reply doesn't mention that Interior forgot to change the terms in all the documents that everyone sees before opening the CD (which have now been changed) but at least they clearly stated that they would never change their penalty term for a CD currently open, which is good to hear.