El Paso TFCU Continues to Offer Top Rates On Jumbo CDs

It’s been less than two months since I wrote about El Paso Area Teachers Federal Credit Union’s (aka TFCU) 60-month Jumbo Share Certificate (JSC). At that time, the 60-month JSC’s rate had been boosted by 61 bps. TFCU has recently raised the rates on all JSCs by more than 20 bps. A JSC can be opened with a $50k minimum deposit and has no stated balance cap. Regular Share Certificates can be opened with a $5k minimum deposit and earn APYs of 10-11 bps lower.

All the Jumbo and Regular Share Certificates are also available as IRA Certificates (Traditional, Roth, CESA), earning the same APYs with the same deposit requirements.

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

Terms of 12 months – 120 days dividends

Terms of 24 months – 240 days dividends

Terms of 36 months – 360 days dividends

Terms of 48 months – 480 days dividends

Terms of 60 months – 600 days dividends

When opening a TFCU Share Certificate, a member has the option to choose between the two following renewal policies.

For all accounts, your account will automatically renew for another term upon maturity. You do have a grace period of seven (7) days after maturity in which to withdraw funds in the account without being charged an early withdrawal penalty.

OR

For all accounts, your account will not automatically renew, but you may renew the account at your option. Dividends will not be paid after maturity. The balance will be transferred to another account of yours.

Availability

Headquartered in El Paso, Texas, TFCU’s field of membership (FOM) is primarily residency-based, with individuals who live, work, worship, or attend school in El Paso County eligible to join.

Although not listed on TCFU’s Become A Member page, employees and students of 14 El Paso area school districts qualify for membership, as do the employees of several SEGs. (Details are available on TFCU’s online application.)

Joining TFCU can be done online, but opening a Share Certificate would normally require a branch visit. The lobbies of TFCU’s eight El Paso and one Horizon City branch locations remain closed, even though the State of Texas announced modifications to COVID mandates in mid-March.

At this time, TFCU’s current policies on preventing COVID will not change. TFCU has established criteria based on state and local data to determine when it will be safe to re-open branches and when it will be safe to modify current procedures around personal safety. We will continue to remain true to our commitment to uphold the health, safety, and well-being of our community and staff as the utmost importance.

Until then, our lobbies will continue to remain closed until further notice. We assure you that all TFCU services are still available to you and our commitment to providing you excellent service remains our number one priority. Our full-service drive-thrus remain open between 9:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Monday – Friday, and 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

According to CSR, opening a Share Certificate currently requires calling 915-843-8328 during normal business hours. The majority of the opening process can be done over the phone and any required signatures can be done at a drive-thru.

The minimum balance required to open a share savings account for membership is $25.00.

Credit Union Overview

El Paso Area Teachers Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 3.46% (excellent), based on December 31, 2020 data. In the past year, TFCU has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $98.65 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 17.2%. Please refer to our financial overview of TFCU (NCUA Charter # 1409) for more details.

Opening its doors for business in 1936, the El Paso Area Teacher Federal Credit Union was founded by a group of teachers who wanted access to quality financial products and services. In addition to a change to a community charter, the membership increased substantially about eleven years ago when Golden Key Credit Union merged into TFCU. TFCU is currently the 42^nd largest credit union headquartered in Texas, with nearly 66,000 members and assets in excess of $769 million.

How the Jumbo Share Certificates Compare

When compared to the similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available within the FOM, all of TFCU’s Jumbo Share Certificate APYs currently ranks first, regardless of deposit requirements.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 4/14/2021.

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