New 7-Year CD Rate Leader at Northrop Grumman FCU - Easy Membership
With the recent rate cut of Patelco Credit Union's special 7-year CD, we have a new 7-year CD rate leader for CDs available nationwide. It's Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union which has a 2.19% APY 7-year CD for a minimum deposit of $40,000. The yield is 2.04% APY for a $2,500 minimum deposit. Its 5-year CD rate isn't quite a rate leader, but it's near the top with a 1.88% APY for a $40,000 minimum (1.72% APY for a $2,500 minimum). These rates are listed in the credit union's term savings rates page as of 8/15/2012.
NGFCU typically makes small rate changes on early Tuesday mornings. Please keep that in mind if you decide to open an account.
It's common for CDs with terms over 5 years to have early withdrawal penalties of one year of interest. PenFed and Navy Federal are two examples. This doesn't appear to be the case with NGFCU. According to the NGFCU's terms and conditions, the EWP for terms over 12 months is "182 days dividend on the amount withdrawn".
Credit Union Membership
In addition to employees of Northrop Grumman and other companies, the credit union's field of membership includes members of the Southern California Historical Aircraft Foundation. The credit union allows you to join this foundation concurrently with your membership to the credit union.
The credit union has an online application (for both membership into the aircraft foundation and into the credit union). The link to the online application is at the top left of the home page. I noticed the following in that application:
Members of the Southern California Historical Aircraft Foundation (SCHAF). When you join using this method, you will receive a free one-year membership in SCHAF concurrent with your lifetime Credit Union membership.
There's an online membership application, but it doesn't allow you to open a CD at the same time as applying for membership. You'll have to join first. I have more details in my old Northrop Grumman FCU CD review.
Credit Union Branch Locations
Most of Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union branches are located in the Los Angeles and San Diego metro areas. There are also branches in Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland and Virginia.
Some of these branches are located inside Northrop Grumman facilities. A reader commented about the problems he experienced when visiting an Illinois branch that was in a Northrop Grumman facility.
Credit Union Overview
The credit union has an overall health score at DepositAccounts.com of 5 stars (out of 5) with a Texas Ratio of 2.49% (excellent) based on December 2011 data. Please refer to our financial overview of Northrop Grumman FCU for more details. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 24292).
How These CD Rates Compare
The best nationally available 7-year CD rate used to be at Patelco Credit Union, but its yield just fell from 2.50% to 2.00%. Navy Federal Credit Union has a 2.35% APY 7-year CD for a $100K minimum deposit. However, to qualify for membership requires you to have some military connection. So I don't consider this to be nationally available. These rates are accurate as of 8/15/2012.
Searching for Top CD Rates
To search for nationwide CD rates and CD rates in your state, please refer to the best CD rates section of DepositAccounts.com.
Great article. I just wanted to ask a question to your comment about Navy Federal being a niche market and not nationally available. Would this be the case for all credit unions being that they tend to have a niche market or specific terms for membership?