Mobility Credit Union (TX) Long-Term CDs Offer Excellent Rates
Many thanks to DA reader, MAKNYC, for the Forum post about these “hidden” CDs at Mobility Credit Union (Mobility CU). In addition to MAKNYC’s detailed description about the 48-month and 60-month CDs, the comments from other DA readers make for a great read. Check it out.
For whatever reason, the Mobility CU Rates page does not list either the 48-month CD (5.06% APY) (5.43% APY) or 60-month (5.12% APY)(5.59% APY), which is why these CDs are missing from DA. The minimum opening deposit for either CD is $500, with no stated balance cap. While the Rates page does list three balance tiers ($500, $100k, $250k), CSR said the stated APYs apply to all balances ($500+).
The 48-month and 60-month CDs are also available as IRA CDs (Traditional, Roth, CESA), earning the same APYs with the same deposit requirement.
Availability
Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Mobility Credit Union's field of membership (FOM) includes an easy membership option for all Texas residents through the Texas Consumer Council (TXCC).
Mobility Credit Union will handle everything, including your fee to join. Your name, address, email and phone number will be shared with TXCC as part of the enrollment process.
Individuals who live, work, worship, or attend school in the Texas counties of Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant or Wise, are also eligible to join.
Regardless of where they live, direct family members of a current Mobility CU member also qualify for membership. Mobility CU defines “direct family members” as spouse, significant other, parent, child/step-child, sibling, niece, nephew, and grandparent.
Account Opening
Joining Mobility CU can be done online or at any of three Texas branches located in Celina, Hurst, and Irving. Appointments are available and can be scheduled online.
Opening a Regular Share Savings account with a minimum $5 deposit establishes a Mobility CU membership.
According to CSR, opening a CD can be done in-person at any of the above-mentioned branch locations or over the phone (800.388.7889 or 214.574.2000).
N.B. – CSR stated that funds must be on deposit before opening a CD, with a transfer from a Mobility savings account being the easiest way to fund a CD. Mobility CU participates in the CO-OP Shared Branch network, which makes depositing funds relatively easy.
Funding and Other Details
The following information is from a conversation with a very helpful CSR.
- Early Withdrawal Penalty – Six months of interest, with partial withdrawals permitted.
- Funding – Internal transfer. Funds must be on deposit at Mobility CU before a CD can be opened.
- CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – Yes.
- Dividends – Compounded/credited monthly and can be withdrawn penalty-free by check or internal transfer to savings account.
- Maturing Funds – Cashier's check to address on file, or deposited in a Mobility CU savings account.
- Beneficiaries – Up to three with equal shares; Social Security numbers required.
- Grace Period – 10 calendar days before automatic renewal as a traditional 12-month CD.
- Credit Check – Soft pull when joining.
Credit Union Overview
Mobility Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 6.09% (excellent) based on September 30, 2022 data. In the past year, Mobility CU has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $42.63 million, resulting in an excellent annual growth rate of 16.68%. Please refer to our financial overview of Mobility Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 68606) for more details.
In 1965, fourteen employees met in the Dallas IBM facility’s lunchroom, collected $150, and founded the IBM Southwest Employees Federal Credit Union. As the FOM grew and diversified, the name was changed to YOUR Credit Union, as a “better reflection of the Credit Union’s strategic vision.”
With the advances in technology, which redefined banking convenience, along with a growing and younger mobile society, we determined that a new name was needed to convey our capability to meet the dynamic changes taking place in the market place. In 2014, we changed our name to MOBILITY Credit Union. The name depicts our ability to enable members to conduct banking transactions from anywhere and at any time, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.
Mobility Credit Union is currently the 74th largest credit union headquartered in Texas, with more than 21,000 members and assets in excess of $351 million.
How the 48-Month and 60-Month CDs Compare
UPDATE 1/27/2023: The comp tables have been updated to reflect the new Mobility CU rates.
When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available within the FOM and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, no banks or credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the Mobility Credit Union 48-month and 60-month CDs. The following table compares the 48-month and 60-month CDs to the two highest-rate CDs from other banks and the two highest-rate CDs from credit unions.
The above information and rates are accurate as of 1/26/2023.
To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.
"CSR said the stated APYs apply to all balances ($500+)"
That's really unusual. Looks like they need a lot of cash in a hurry and are looking for big depositors.
A note:
Since you are limited to no more than 3 beneficiaries, don't fund the account with more than $750k less the interest that you plan to let stay on deposit or some of your account will not be covered by NCUA (for an individual account).
I'll grant that the treasury markets and retail deposit markets are apple and orangeish. But at 5%, that's approximately 120 bps higher than 5-year treasuries on a typical investor's tax equivalent basis. That's clearly well above the justifiable risk premium.
I always avoid such FIs.
There's always been talk about Texas becoming it's own country lol
Let's say you have a herd of healthy, well-cared-for cows, and your neighbor has a herd of scrawny, mangy cows. You already give your neighbor some of your cows' milk every day, but your neighbor wants more. So some of your neighbor's kids sneak over the property line at night, hide in your bushes and milk some of your cows, while your neighbor looks the other way. They consume some of the milk, but also send quite a bit back over the property line. Now logically, would your neighbor prefer to (if given the chance) start owning some of your cows, with all the attendant expenses involved (feeding, housing, veterinary, waste cleanup, etc.)? Of course not! They'd greatly prefer the current situation.
And later, some of the kids from your neighbor's neighbor on the other side - where the cows are even more scrawny and mangy - start sneaking onto your neighbor's property, and thence onto yours! Rinse and repeat...
All true, except if your neighbor's land is overflowing with oil and you are laughing at his lunatic obsession with climate change.
I feel like I am pretty good at math. I began saving a long time ago, with the expectation that I increase my net worth each year that passes. 2021 and 2022, were my best years yet. Each month gets better and better, more than any month to month difference since 2005.
What if I told you that the new Iphone was the only thing in the world that is increasing in price in 2023? You would avoid a new phone until they go down, or look to an android phone. I apply that to almost everything. Things will drop very soon...cars, houses, gadgets, etc. Be ready for DEflation, coming soon! And when that happens at the end of 2023 or beginning of 2024, you will still have a solid 4 years left on your 5 year CD.
Now THAT is a horrible friend!! Luckily, I chose my friends wisely, and they have given me more than 20% over the past year.
it's not possible to do online reg. to get a CD, and it requires a manual workflow from a banker (only savings account is enrolled for online signup). They've changed the terms on their public site overnight and are doing call-outs of all sign-ups to tell them they are only eligible for the (now) lower rate @ 5% APY or whatever the % is when you fund the account.
This is not a good sign for longevity of their checking account interest promo, which is expected to yield 5.0x% APY with a variety of steps. These overnight rate changes suggest they will be extremely quick to go back to insignificant % yields.
This is always a concern when you're trying to catch a deal. Between the time of first contact and the time it is funded there is always the chance that the terms will change. The best FIs will honor the arrangement that was initially made as long as the funds are received in a reasonable amount of time. But very few of them will guarantee that. And you can't expect them to hold the deal open forever. They can't be responsible for funding delays that are not their fault.
And I think you're also right to point out that this is often a process related factor. If you first have to fund a savings account, for example, before you can fund the CD there is nothing about the process that indicates that you are entitled to a CD at some particular rate. But if you start off the process to directly fund a CD then at least your intent is built into the process. Different FIs handle this differently. I much prefer the latter process because it's clear that you are making this arrangement with the intent of receiving a specific set of terms and rate. But unfortunately you usually don't have a choice.