UNIFY Financial Credit Union Adds Competitive 15-Month No Penalty CD
California-based UNIFY Financial Credit Union (UNIFY) wants you to “Grow Your Savings” with a new 15-month Share Certificate that earns 2.00% APY. In addition to the competitive rate, the 15-month Share Certificate also offers a one-time penalty-free withdrawal, although there are two conditions: the withdrawal may not exceed 50% of the opening balance and cannot be withdrawn within the first six months after opening. The minimum opening deposit is $500 of new money, which is defined as funds “not on deposit with UNIFY currently or within the past 15 days.” This limited-time offer is “subject to change without notice and may end at any time."
As stated in the Truth-in-Savings disclosure, if a withdrawal is made beyond the one penalty-free withdrawal, the following Early Withdrawal Penalty applies.
For Share Certificate accounts, the amount of the early withdrawal penalty for your account is up to 90 days’ dividends.
In other words, if the account has been open for more than 90 days, you will forfeit 90 days of dividends. If the account has been opened 90 days or less, you would forfeit any dividends earned since account opening. Penalty will not reduce your principal.
Thanks to DA reader, MikeG, for his Forum post about UNIFY's latest CD Special.
Availability
Headquartered in Torrance, California, UNIFY Financial Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) is varied, with residency, employment and organization membership serving as qualifying criteria.
Easy Membership: Individuals who join either the Surfrider Foundation or Friends of Hobbs qualify for credit union membership. According to UNIFY’s online application, “there will be no ongoing commitment or charge to you if we open your account through either of our affiliate partners.”
Employment: Hundreds of companies throughout the US offer membership in UNIFY as part of their employee benefits package, including Toyota and Northrop Grumman.
Residency: Individuals who live, work, worship, or attend school in select areas of 16 states are also eligible for membership. UNIFY’s website used to have a "Search for your Zip Code" page to help determine eligibility, but that page no longer exists. UNIFY does, however, offer "Live Chat" on their website to assist in clarifying eligibility status.
Relationship: Immediate family members of current UNIFY members are automatically eligible for membership.
Joining UNIFY can be done online, or at any of 44 full-service branches located in Alabama, Arkansas (6), Arizona, California (18), Florida, Georgia (2), Indiana, Kentucky (2), Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas (5), Virginia, and West Virginia.
The promotional page states,
Open Your Share Certificate Today!
BRANCH: Find your nearest branch location
PHONE: 877.254.9327, available 24/7
CSR confirmed in a Live Chat that 15-month Share Certificate cannot be opened online.
As a condition of membership, a Regular Savings Account ($5 minimum) must be opened and maintained. A $200 minimum average daily balance is required to earn dividends. Should the monthly balance fall below $200, a $1 fee will assessed and all dividends will be forfeited.
In addition to participating in the CO-OP Shared Branch and ATM networks,
members can find an ATM just about anywhere. Just look for the Alliance One,
Allpoint, CO-OP or CUHere logos, and you’re good to go … surcharge-free.
Credit Union Overview
UNIFY Financial Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 6.27% (excellent) based on December 31, 2021 data. In the past year, UNIFY has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $182.85 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 6.34%. Please refer to our financial overview of UNIFY Financial Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 15732) for more details.
Established in the late 1940s as the Western Air Credit Union, UNIFY Financial Credit Union is currently the ninth largest credit union headquartered in California and the 111th largest credit union in the country. When Western Airlines merged into Delta Airline in the 1980s, the credit union became known as simply Western Credit Union and rebranded as UNIFY in 2016. As a result of several mergers (including TRW Systems FCU in 2003 and Toyota FCU in 2007) over the past 18 years, UNIFY has grown to more than 268,000 members and assets in excess of $3.5 billion.
How the 15-Month Share Certificate Compares as a No-Penalty CD
As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, the number of no-penalty CDs are few, and the longer the term, the more competitive the CD. When compared to other nationally available no-penalty CDs, UNIFY Financial Credit Union's 15-month Share Certificate currently offers the highest APY with a somewhat restricted penalty-free withdrawal option.
How the 15-Month Share Certificate Compares
When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available within the FOM and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, only one bank has a higher rate than currently offered on the UNIFY Financial Credit Union 15-month Share Certificate. The following table compares the 15-month 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 5/21/2022.
To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.
