Pelican State Credit Union Has Rate-Leading 12-Month and 24-Month CDs
As DA reader, SouthernGirl, noted in a recent Forum post, Louisiana-based Pelican State Credit Union (Pelican State) has again substantially boosted the rates on its 12-month CD (5.64% APY – up by 47 bps) and 24-month CD (5.90% APY – up by 63 bps). Both of these CDs continue to offer the most competitive APYs in the Pelican State CD product line.
The minimum opening deposit is $500, with no stated balance cap. While Jumbo CDs ($10k minimum deposit) are listed separately on the Pelican State website, the APYs for the Jumbo CDs are the same as for the regular CDs.
The 12- and 24-month CDs/Jumbos CDs are available as IRA CDs/Jumbo IRA CDs (Traditional, Roth, CESA), with the same deposit requirements, but the rates are ridiculously lower – 1.56% APY and 1.76% APY, respectively.
As I noted in a July blog post, the Pelican State website now includes a Truth-in-Savings (TIS) disclosure for CDs that includes the Early Withdrawal Penalties (EWP). Unfortunately, the EWP have increased dramatically.
For all accounts, the amount of early withdrawal penalty is based on the term of your account. The penalty schedule is as follows:
1 year or less, 180 days' dividends [was 90 days]
13 to 36 months, 270 days' dividends [was 180 days]
37 months or longer, 270 days' dividends [was 365 days]If the account has not yet earned enough dividends or if the dividends have already been paid, the penalty will be deducted from the principal.
Thanks again to DA reader, SouthernGirl, for yesterday’s Forum post about the latest Pelican State CD rate increases.
Availability
Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Pelican State Credit Union expanded its field of membership (FOM) about ten months ago, with the previous 4-state limited-area easy membership requirement (EMR) becoming a nationwide EMR.
Easy Membership: Any U.S. citizen/resident aliens can qualify for membership by joining one of three partner associations: ARC of Baton Rouge ($5 fee), Parents Association of Northwest Supports & Services ($5 fee), or Pinecrest Parents Association ($20 fee).
Residency: Individuals who live in the Louisiana parishes of Rapides, St. Landry, or St. Tammany are eligible to join.
Employment: Employees and retirees of many SEGs, including Ochsner Health, are eligible for membership.
Relationship: Immediate family members of current Pelican members or anyone who is membership eligible are also welcome to apply.
Account Opening
Joining Pelican State and/or opening a CD can be done online, or at any of 17 full-service Louisiana branches located in Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Covington, Denham Springs, Hammond, Houma, Jackson, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans, Opelousas, Pineville, Prairieville, Slidell, Sulphur, and Zachary.
A Primary Shares account establishes full membership in Pelican State Credit Union.
$10 minimum opening deposit ($5 membership fee + $5 minimum account balance)
Pelican State participates in the CO-OP Shared Branch network.
For your convenience, there are over 160 CO-OP shared branches in Louisiana and over 5,500 nationwide. Louisiana is where our heart is, but Pelican State CU is wherever you are!
Funding and Other Particulars
The following information is from a conversation with CSR.
- Funding – ACH, wire ($10 fee), or internal transfer.
- Ownership – Individual, joint, or trust.
- CO-OP Shared Branch Network – Yes.
- Maturing Funds – Cashier’s check to the address on file or transferred into a Primary Shares account.
- Dividends – Compounded/credited monthly and can be withdrawn throughout the term without penalty.
- Grace Period – 10 calendar days before automatic renewal.
- Beneficiaries – Unlimited with equal shares; Social Security numbers required.
- Credit Check –
Hard pullSoft pull* when joining.
*UPDATED 8/15/2023 following conversation with a Pelican State representative.
Credit Union Overview
Pelican State Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 10.76% (excellent) based on March 31, 2023 data. In the past year, Pelican has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $46.65 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 8.58%. Please refer to our financial overview of Pelican State Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 62710) for more details.
Founded in 1956 as the Department of Hospitals Credit Union, Pelican’s original FOM was comprised of employees of Louisiana charity hospitals, mental health centers, and state office personnel. Pelican State Credit Union name was adopted in 1988 to better reflect the expanding FOM, which included mergers with Lake Charles TELCO Credit Union, Pinekraft Federal Credit Union, Kaiser Federal Credit Union, Chalmette Refinery Credit Union, and Louisiana Farm Bureau Credit Union. Pelican State Credit Union is currently the eighth largest credit union headquartered in Louisiana, with more than 74,000 members and assets in excess of $677 million.
How the 24-Month CD Compares
When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, only no banks or credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the Pelican State Credit Union 24-Month CD. The following table compares the 24-Month CD to the two highest-rate CDs from other credit unions and the two highest-rate CDs from banks.
How the 12-Month CD Compares
When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, no banks or credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the Pelican State Credit Union 12-month CD. The following table compares the 12-month CD 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 8/15/2023.
To search for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state-specific, please refer to our CD rates table page.
Soft Credit Pull updated today by Ken Tumin.
Kudos to those who could get in for a measly $5 membership.
I guess I should've ladder.....Uhhh, never mind.
Hello, I would speak with a Customer Service Manager today and make the request. Inquire about their policy in this situation. Hopefully, it will be approved. If not, I would be curious as to the EWP quoted. Will Pelican State CU really charge you an EWP of 270 days to get the higher rate? Let us know the end result.
Simultaneously, it might be possible to appeal to their management for free upgrading of the first CD, based on the similarity to their policy of granting 10 days grace period upon maturity.
1. Allow people to join and open CD at the Sametime.
2. If you want to transfer outside funds ACH and charge card limits are $1000. I believe what I have read that you must send funds to your base account.
3. I had an issue uploading a required utility bill.
I'll just wait till another institution offers a higher rate CD. Why do banks and CUs make it so hard to open an account.
1. The funds can be ACH-pushed from your external bank as soon as you get your Pelican account number, without any further "Pelican instructions".
2. There is an option to transfer a CD balance upon the maturity to Pelican checking or savings accounts from where the funds can be ACH-pulled back into external banks.
So she recommended sending a wire. Pelican charges $10 for an incoming wire. It didn't sound like they are willing to waive that fee if you put the money into a CD.
Does anyone have experience with sending a substantial amount to Pelican via ACH initiated from an external account? Did it post the next business day? Was it available to put into a CD as soon as it posted?
The holds apply only to ACH initiated from Pelican itself.
Even huge ACH pushed from external banks are available immediately upon arrival and can be used for immediate opening CD online or by phone.
@Robb See https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/pelican-state-credit-union.html#promo54513
According to comments posted on 11/21/22 Pelican State CU, "Just received an email they lowered rates, but will honor who all started the application" and "we will honor the rates advertised at the time you applied". Please contact a CSR and I am sure that the rate will be honored, since you applied between 08/14/23 and 08/16/23. Please post your results!!
First of all, thank you for the original post. As you suggested, I requested CSR to honor my application and the rate. Even though, my wired funds were received by Pelican around 6pm, CSR agreed and opened the 24-month CD for 5.90% APY today. Thank you, SG
Please contact a CSR and I am sure that the rate will be honored, since you applied between 08/14/23 and 08/16/23. Please post your results!!
Sounds like the deadline is EOD Tues Aug22 to get your money deposited to get the rate honored.
I spent considerable time applying for membership and sending them funds. I took Pelican time to process my application and give me an account number so I could even send them my deposit.
Is there some way we can organize to protest this action to regulators? To have a rate in effect for only 3 days while you're accepting applications from new members who are joining because of that rate is just unacceptable business practice.
Please see my comment #39. Please post your results!!
Please see my comment # 42, so you will know when you receive the phone call about your application.
The rate changed on 08/16/2023 around 4pm
UPDATE: I just spoke with Pelican State CU and they will honor the rate of 5.90% APY on 24 month CD for new applications dated 08/14/23 through 08/16/23. Of course, you will need to contact and fund, as soon as possible.
Would it be possible for you to make a deposit tomorrow AM at a CO-OP shared branch in your area? Deposit will post to your account immediately.
Unfortunately the timing just did not work out. Typically my workaround in a time sensitive manner is to do a bank wire in 24 hours but my application did not get approved until this afternoon not leaving enough time for that option this time. Lesson learned. The CO-OP would have been the ticket.
Pelican State CU approved your application on the afternoon of 08/17/23. Unfortunately, Pelican did not allow you the time to send a wire to post on 08/18/23, which is their preferred method of guaranteed funding. How are you supposed to get a wire in and posted the same day, when there are cutoffs in the afternoon for wire transfers? Personally, I would call asap to speak to a CSR Manager to get this approved and the rate honored.
Also, on CO-OP deposits, even though the money is posted to your account, there are holds placed on the funds, depending on the amount, for 7 to 15 days. In most cases, you will not earn interest during those days. I discussed this with Pelican State CU on 08/17/23 and that is when I was told preferred method is a wire transfer.
I think Pelican State CU is incorrect in not allowing you the appropriate time to send a wire and the problem needs to be resolved immediately. There is no one that could have met the deadline for a guaranteed AM wire requested in the afternoon at most financial institutions
Thank you for the heads up on this CU! I started the process 8/14 and the account was opened on 8/17, CD 8/18.
Overall I was pleased with this FI. Considering they were likely overwhelmed by new applications response was reasonable. My call to open cd was answered in under 5 min and the rep was knowlegable and process was efficient.
8/14 application submitted.
8/15 application acknowledged via application messaging.
8/16 Likely wasted a day requesting 3rd POD - only 2 entries were available on form. (Instead of inquiring about a 3rd, I believe adding the POD information in the application comment field would have speeded my application.) Through messaging they asked if I was planning to open checking or other accounts. I indicated the [email protected]%.
8/17pm They messaged new account info and indicated rates had lowered and they may honor rate at start of application if I funded quickly. Wire was suggested. I was ready for a quick transfer. (NorthernTrust ACH is next day.)
8/18am Funds posted. Opened the certificate - it opened at the current rate however they will honor the rate which will be adjusted.
Disappointment is that the rate went away in less than a week - had to hustle to open and fund so quickly.
I did an ACH push from an external FI and the funds were available at Pelican the next day with no hold. I'm glad I didn't do a wire as instructed by Pelican. A wire would have cost me $10 at Pelican for an incoming wire plus $25 at the sending FI. The ACH was free.