US Senate Federal Credit Union Adds Rate-Leading 20-Month CD Special - EXPIRED

As DA reader, Rickny, noted in a recent Forum post, Virginia-based United States Senate Federal Credit Union (USSFCU) has a new 20-month Share Certificate Special and IRA Share Certificate Special (Traditional, Roth, SEP) earning an eye-catching 4.60% APY. CSR stressed that USSFCU may “end or modify the offer at any time, without notice.”

This limited-time offer can be opened with a $1k minimum deposit of new money. The fine print on the Certificate Special landing page gives a rather detailed explanation of what new money is.

“New Money” is defined as money not currently deposited with United States Senate Federal Credit Union within the last 12 months. Money withdrawn from the United States Senate Federal Credit Union, then redeposited within a 12-month period from the date of withdrawal, does not qualify as “New Money.”

I’m not exactly sure how to identify funds deposited to open the Certificate Special as having been previously on deposit at USSFCU within the last year.

The 20-month Share Certificate Special is the only Certificate in the USSFCU product line that does not have tiered APYs based on minimum deposit levels of $1k, $100k, and $200k. That unique feature explains the following sentences from the landing page fine print.

The minimum balance required to open a 20-month share certificate special is $1,000.
A 20-month term share certificate special with a minimum balance of less than $99,999 will earn 4.60% APY.
A 20-month term special share certificate with a balance of $200,000 plus will earn 4.60%.

As stated in the Fees and Charges page, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

120 days of dividends paid and accrued on the withdrawal for
terms of greater than 1 year and up to and including 2 years.

Opening, Funding, and Other Particulars

• Opening – funds must be on deposit in a USSFCU Primary Savings Account before opening a Certificate Special in-branch or by phone – no online opening possible.
• Funding – new funds can be deposited by ACH, wire, or Shared Branch transfer.
• Maturing Funds – distributed by check to address on file, wire ($25 fee) or through internal transfer to Primary Savings Account.
• Grace Period – ten days to “make changes with no penalty.”
• Beneficiaries – unlimited, percentages, Social Security number “appreciated, but not required.”
• Dividends – compounded and credited monthly; can be transferred to a Primary Savings Account.
• Credit Check – hard pull when applying for membership.

Many thanks to Rickny for the Forum post and to all the other DA readers for their comments.

Availability

Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, United States Senate Federal Credit Union offers membership “via sponsorship or contribution.”

Easy Membership Requirement – Members of the United States Capitol Historical Society (minimum $65 contribution) are eligible to join USSFCU. Membership in the American Consumer Council, Virginia Chapter (VACC) was been added to the field of membership more than two years ago. Using the Promo Code “USSFCU” waives the $8 VACC Membership Fee. More details are available on USSFCU’s website.

NOTE: Joining either organization must be done prior to completing the USSFCU application.

Employment Sponsorship - Current employees and retirees of more than 140 SEGs, including The United States Senate, The United States Supreme Court, The Government Accountability Office, Democratic National Committee, qualify for membership.

Family Sponsorship - Immediate family members (spouse, child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or grandchild) of an existing USSFCU member or current employee of an SEG are eligible to join, as are household members of the same.

Joining USSFCU can be done online or at either of two District of Columbia branches or the Bowman branch at Braddock Station in Alexandria, Virginia. While the lobby of Eisenhower branch in Alexandria is permanently closed, the drive-thru remains open. The two DC branches (Hart Senate Office Building and US General Accounting Office) both have restricted access, with “accepted ID” required for admittance.

A secure application can also be requested by calling 800.374.2758 or sending an email to [email protected]

Opening a Primary Savings account with a minimum $5 deposit and paying the one-time membership $1 fee establishes a new USSFCU membership.

USSFCU participates in both the CO-OP Shared Branch network and the ATM network.

Thanks to our partnerships with Allpoint, CO-OP, CULIANCE, and our most recent addition, the NYCE® Network, you can get access to your funds at thousands of ATMs and shared branches throughout the United States and the rest of the world.

Credit Union Overview

United States Senate Federal Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas ratio of 3.27% (excellent), based on June 30, 2022 data. In the past year, USSFCU increased its total non-brokered deposits by $25.03 million, an above average annual growth rate of 2.38%. Please refer to our financial overview of United States Senate Federal Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 624) for more details.

In 1935, seven individuals pooled their resources and obtained a charter for the United States Senate Employees Federal Credit Union. The original FOM was exclusive to U.S. Senate employees, but was expanded through mergers with the General Accountability Office Federal Credit Union, the DC Unemployment Federal Credit Union, and the American Trucking Association Federal Credit Union. The United States Senate Federal Credit Union rebrand occurred in 1990 in an effort to reflect the changing membership. USSFCU is currently the 14^th largest credit union in Virginia, with more than 46,000 members and assets in excess of $1.1 billion.

How the 20-Month Certificate Special 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, no banks or credit unions currently have higher rates than offered on the USSFCU 20-Month Certificate Special. The following table compares the 20-Month Certificate Special 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 10/22/2022.

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