PSECU (PA) Offers Competitive 36-Month CD (3.25% APY)
For a limited time, PSECU is offering special rates on its 24-month CD (3.00% APY) and 36-month CD (3.25% APY). The minimum opening deposit is $500, with no stated balance cap.
PSECU CDs are available as IRAs (Traditional, Roth, CESA), earning the same APYs with the same funding requirements and options.
48- and 60-month CDs
Two weeks ago, I wrote about PSECU’s competitive long-term CDs, which offered an add-on component. While the rates for the 48-month CD (2.75%) and 60-month CD (3.00% APY) are still in effect, the add-on feature is no longer available.
As stated in the Truth-In-Savings disclosure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:
For 3-24 month certificates, any early withdrawal will cause a forfeiture of 90 days’ worth of dividends on the principal amount withdrawn, whether or not the certificate has earned an initial dividend.
For 36-60 month certificates, any early withdrawal will cause a forfeiture of 180 days’ worth of dividends on the principal amount withdrawn, whether or not the certificate has earned an initial dividend.
Funding and Accessing Maturing Funds
CDs can be funding online through ACH, wire transfer, or by check. Maturing funds can be distributed through a cashier’s check or transferred to a PSECU checking or savings account. There is a 10-day grace period before a CD automatically renews.
Availability
Headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, PSECU’s field of membership (FOM) provides a way to join for almost any Pennsylvania resident. When I wrote about PSECU earlier this month, I had been told by CSR that anyone, regardless of where they lived, could join PSECU. This morning, I was told that information was wrong: membership is limited to Pennsylvania residents.
Easy Membership: Joining the Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society (PRPS) qualifies for membership. “PRPS membership costs $20 per year, but we will cover $10 of that when you join.” This is a one-time fee, as it is not necessary to renew the PRPS membership to maintain your PSECU membership.
Employment: Employees of Pennsylvania government agencies (both state and local), municipalities, or school districts are eligible to join, as are employees of more than 1,800 Pennsylvania companies.
Educational Relationship: Employees, students, and alumni of a number of Pennsylvania colleges and universities also qualify for membership.
Family Relationship: Household and immediate family members of current PSECU members are welcome to apply. “Immediate family” is defined as spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, and grandchild, including step and adoptive relationships.
Joining PSECU and/or opening a CD can be done online, or at either of two full-service Pennsylvania branches, both located in Harrisburg.
PSECU also has 21 eBranches throughout the state, where “members can ask staff about our products and services and how to use them.” While no teller-assisted transactions are available, the eBranches do have an ATM and computers available for members to use. The eBranches are located in Bethlehem, Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Elizabethtown, Indiana, Kutztown, Lancaster (2), Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Philadelphia, Reading, Selinsgrove, Shippensburg, State College, West Chester, and York.
Each member must maintain at least one share ($5 par value) in Regular shares.
PSECU participates in the CO-OP ATM network, with access to nearly 30,000 surcharge-free ATMs.
Getting cash, making deposits, and checking your balance just got easier. With our network of ATMs around the globe, we give you the access to manage your money easily. You’ll get an added benefit, too: Free ATMs (that is, ATMs with no surcharge).
PSECU also offers rebates on surcharge fees from non-network ATMS:
- For members with direct deposit – rebates up to $20 per month.
- Without direct deposit – rebates up to $8 per month.
Credit Union Overview
PSECU has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 3.26% (excellent) based on March 31, 2019 data. In the past year, the Credit Union has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $200.91 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 4.27%. Please refer to our financial overview of PSECU (NCUA Charter # 64131) for more details.
Originally known as the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union, PSECU was established in 1934 and was “born out necessity.”
Our 22 founders were state workers, struggling against low wages and a high cost of living. They were living paycheck to paycheck. Banks didn’t want to lend them money, and loan sharks were charging as much as 40% interest.
As Pennsylvania’s largest credit union, PSECU currently has nearly 456,000 members and assets in excess of $5.5 billion.
How the CDs Compare
When compared to 410 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit and are available within the FOM, PSECU's 36-month CD APY currently ranks first.
| Interest Rate | CD Length of Term | Credit Union/Bank |
|---|---|---|
| 3.25% APY | 36-Month CD | PSECU |
| 3.00% APY | 36-Month CD | MAC Federal Credit Union |
| 2.89% APY | 36-Month CD | Hughes Federal Credit Union |
When compared to 422 similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum deposit and are available within the FOM, PSECU's 24-month CD APY currently ranks first.
| Interest Rate | CD Length of Term | Credit Union/Bank |
|---|---|---|
| 3.00% APY | 24-Month CD | PSECU |
| 2.85% APY | 21-Month Promotional CD | First Peoples Community Federal Credit Union |
| 2.80% APY | 24-Month CD | MAC Federal Credit Union |
The above rates are accurate as of 8/20/2019.
To look for the best CD rates, either nationwide or state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.
I would pay the fee in a heartbeat if I was in the market. But l unfortunately my next big cash roll over won't be until December. The outlook for for the economy is good but the outlook for interest rates for depositors by then isn't looking good. Nothing I can do about. I may consider putting some of it in the stock market and reducing my cash portfolio.
And at GTE, even tomorrow, you can open without funding and receive a 30 day grace period for actual funding. So in effect the GTE add-on will remain available for an additional 30 days, provided the account is opened, though not necessarily funded, before Friday.
could someone post the link to the usps fcu offers?
It's past time to apply using 30 day scenario,
but was your CD for an IRA account
Do you need to have external bank/cu put the cd$ in psecu sav acct first & call to have it moved to the cd, or does psecu pull the cd funds?
Does the cd rate lock when you apply or when psecu gets the funds?
Any known psecu ach amount limits in or out, when initiated by external bank/cu?
They did a hard inquiry on Experian.
It's a gamble you have to take that you can have the following completed before any CD rate change
1) membership applied
2) membership approved -- you should get your account number at this point
3) initiate your funds transfer into the savings account
4) open the CD and transfer the money in the savings account to the CD
After waiting for the whole day (applied early in the morning), I am still at step 1. :-(
Then there was no obvious way to ACH transfer money on the website. I called and was told I had to open a checking account if I wanted to ACH push in any money (savings account would not do per the rep). I then had to wait another few days for microdeposits to link my outside account. However, once my checking account was linked, it looks like you can only ACH push in $1,500 at a time with a limit of only a total of $6,000 ACH transfers a month. I wish I had known that small limit up front and that is why I am commenting to help others who may still be applying.
If you don't want to snail mail a check, you will have to send a wire to open a CD. Per PSECU's website it is $10 for them to receive the wire. If anyone has a Marcus Bank account, it is free to receive/send wires which is a great benefit. However, I won't be able to take advantage of Marcus's free wire policy as it will take too long to transfer the money in/be available, so I will have to bite the bullet and pay a $30 wire outgoing wire fee with my main bank. I have never wired money before, but I am planning on doing that tomorrow hopefully before the 3.25% 36 month changes. This is not a simple application process, but this credit unions' reviews are good and I like the ability to add on a fixed amount if set up within the first 30 days only.
The funding happened quickly. It took less than an hour from the moment I submitted the online wire request at Fidelity to the time the money hit the savings account. Once the money was in savings, I was able to purchase the CD online. On the CD purchase page, it does indicate that the rates are valid until 9/8/19 Sun.
The electronic funding department told me that they process wires as they come in M to F, until 4pm ET. So make sure to submit your wire way before the cutoff time to allow time for your local bank to process the wire.
However, the customer service rep gave me an alternative (that I did not pursue) to deposit funds. Per the rep, would first need to sign up for PSECU mobile deposit on your cell phone. Then write a check payable to yourself. Then sign back of the check with For Mobile Deposit Only with your signature underneath. Then take pictures of the front and back of the check with the app to deposit. Finally call customer service to raise the limit to accept the check (if the amount is large). The rep told me that you could then fund the CD the same day although the CD would be on hold until the funds cleared. I did not want to risk a rate decrease if there was a delay, so I did not take her up on this way to transfer funds, but this is something to consider. The rep said you could also deposit funds with a check at a participating ATM, which I also did not want to risk.
Some additional info I gathered from CD dept: (1) Funds must be in a liquid account w/in CU before you can open CD, (2) Any check deposits over $1K is subject to a hold that can be transferred to CD but would entail speaking with a CSR who are not available on Sundays, (3) Their ACH limits for pulling money into account is very low ($500).
I’m waiting to get my account verified with external FI so I can push in funds by ACH. I thought it would have happened today. Now will have to wait until Tuesday to initiate transfer, after I can confirm rates. I’m gambling they won’t go down. Should that happen, I’ll plop funds elsewhere.
I'm not sure what you mean about rates likely ending soon. The CD rate table gives only an effective day ("valid as of 8/19/2019”), https://www.psecu.com/rates. There's no expiration date that I can find.
24mo @ 3.00% APY
36mo @ 3.25% APY
“These rates are valid from Monday, September 09, 2019 to Sunday, September 15, 2019. A minimum balance of $500 is required to open a certificate account.”
If you are not a resident of PA, you can qualify through a one time $20 PRPS membership (you pay $10, PSECU pays the other $10).
Remember, you need only $500 to open one. Additional deposits are allowed, provided they're done through automatic transfers on a recurring basis. After opening CD, you have 30 days to begin scheduling of add-on deposits.