Parsons Federal Credit Union 2-Year CD Is New Rate-Leader

Following a 95-bps rate increase, Parsons Federal Credit Union (PFCU) is offering a rate-leading 5.25% APY on its 24-month Fixed Share Certificate. The minimum opening deposit is $1k, with no stated balance cap.

The 24-month Fixed Share Certificate is also available as an IRA Certificate (Traditional, Roth), earning the same APY with the same deposit requirements.

As stated in the Truth-in-Savings disclosure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

We may impose a penalty if you withdraw the principal from your Certificate Account before the maturity date. The penalty imposed shall be based on the amount withdrawn and as follows:

• 90 days’ interest if the qualifying period is one year or less.
• 180 days’ interest if the qualifying period is greater than one year.

If the amount withdrawn reduces the principal balance below the stated minimum, you will be assessed a penalty on the entire principal balance, we will cancel the Certificate and transfer any remaining balance to your regular savings account.

Excess Share Insurance

As stated on the Insured Funds page,

Your deposits at Skyla Federal Credit Union* (operating Parsons Federal Credit Union after the January 1, 2023 merger), are safe and secure. Every Parsons FCU member’s funds are insured up to $500,000 through the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and Excess Share Insurance Corporation (ESI) at no additional cost to you! If you’re not super familiar with credit unions, here’s some bonus info on how your money is protected!

*The Skyla FCU and Parsons FCU merger is discussed in the Credit Union Overview section below.

Availability

Headquartered in Pasadena, California, Parsons Federal Credit Union expanded its field of membership (FOM) about eight months ago: all U.S. citizens/resident aliens with a valid Social Security number are now eligible to join through membership in the American Consumer Council (ACC).

Joining PFCU and ACC can be done simultaneously using the PFCU membership application. The last option on the Eligibility section of the online application reads,

I'd like to qualify by joining the American Consumer Council (ACC). There is no cost to join.

Employees, retirees, and pensioners of Parsons Corporation, Worley Corporation, of Parsons Complex Tenants who work in Pasadena qualify for membership.

Immediate family or household members, including spouses and domestic partners, of any of the above are welcome to apply.

Joining PFCU can be done either online or in person at either of two full-service branches, located in Centreville, Virginia and Pasadena, California.

Opening a 2-Year Fixed Share Certificate cannot be done online, but can be opened over the phone once your membership application has been approved. Certificates can also be opened at either branch location.

A $5 minimum deposit into a Share Savings account establishes a PFCU membership.

Funding and Other Details

The following information is from the Parsons FCU website and a conversation with CSR.

• Funding – ACH, wire ($10 fee), check, internal transfer, shared branch transaction.
• Ownership – Individual or joint.
• CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – Yes.
• Dividends – Compounded/credited monthly and can be withdrawn penalty-free at any time.
• Maturing Funds – Disposition of maturing funds can be designated at account opening to avoid an automatic renewal. Funds will be distributed by cashier’s check to the address on file or an internal transfer to a Share Savings account.
• Beneficiaries – Unlimited beneficiaries with equal shares can be designated and Social Security numbers are required.
• Grace Period – 7 calendar days before automatic renewal.
• Credit Check – ChexSystems.

Credit Union Overview

Parsons Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 1.52% (excellent), based on December 31, 2022 data. In the past year, PFCU increased its total non-brokered deposits by $29.64 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 13.44%. Please refer to our financial overview of Parsons Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 22141) for more details.

Founded in 1975, Parsons Federal Credit Union’s original FOM was exclusive to the employees of the Parsons Corporation, a technology-focused defense, intelligence, security, and infrastructure engineering firm. Before 2023, PFCU had been a small credit union (10,200 members and assets of $284 million), but a big change occurred on January 1, 2023. According to a December 2022 CUTimes article,

Skyla Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., announced that members of the Pasadena, Calif.-based Parsons Federal Credit Union agreed to merge with Skyla – a move that appeared to solidify Skyla’s expansion plans.

“This marks Skyla’s move to become a nationally recognized credit union,” a statement announcing the merger read.

Officials with Skyla ($1.1. billion in assets, 93,870 members) said in a statement Dec. 6 that the merger of Parsons ($264.6 million in assets, 9,604 members) with Skyla will be the first expansion of “its footprint beyond the Carolinas region to service members nationally.”

According to Skyla, the Parsons merger will be effective Jan. 1, 2023 and a complete conversion of Parsons’ member data will finish in August 2023.

According to this PFCU page, the merger has finalized:

Since January 1, 2023, the two entities have joined to become a single legal entity, operating under the Skyla Credit Union name.

Consequently, the 24-month Certificate with the same rate is available from Skyla Credit Union's website and from its branch offices.

How the 2-Year Fixed Share Certificate Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationally and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, no banks or credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the Parsons Federal Credit Union 2-Year Fixed Share Certificate, regardless of minimum deposit requirements. The following table compares the 2-Year Fixed 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 5/4/2023.

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