Wescom Credit Union (CA) 60-Month CD Rate Gains 100 bps

Wescom Credit Union (Wescom) recently increased the rates on its 60-month CD. Following a significant increase of 100 bps, the 60-month CD currently earns 4.90% APY (Member), 4.95% APY (Signature Member), 5.00% APY (Platinum Signature Member). The minimum opening deposit is $500, with no stated balance cap.

The 60-month CD is also available as an IRA CD (Traditional and Roth), earning the same tiered APYs with the same deposit requirements.

Signature Membership

The Signature Membership program gives members the opportunity to earn,

Relationship Points for managing, borrowing, saving, and investing money with Wescom – meaning the more you bank with us, the more rewards you’ll get.

I fully expected an explanation of how to earn Relationship Points to be on the Signature Membership page. Instead, I found this:

Log in to Online Banking or Wescom Mobile Application to see if you qualify for Signature Membership.

After a fair amount of searching, I found a PDF of Signature Membership Scorecard. You can earn Relationship Points for services and products including Checking, Electronic Services, Insurance Services, Loans or Credit Card, Savings, Investments Services, and Length of Membership. A Signature Membership requires between 5-7 relationship points and a Signature Platinum Membership requires 8 or more relationship points.

Early Withdrawal Penalty

According to the Certificate Account Disclosure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

Certificate Terms of 2 years – 5 years, 90 days of dividends

In the event an early withdrawal lowers the Certificate balance below the required minimum, the Certificate must be canceled or closed, and the forfeiture amount will be calculated using the full balance of the Certificate.

Application of this penalty may result in forfeiture of some principal, as well as dividends.

Availability

Headquartered in Pasadena, California, Wescom Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) is community-based, with individuals who live, work, worship, or attend school in the Southern California counties of Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, or Ventura eligible for membership.

UCLA alumni qualify for Wescom membership, regardless of where they live.

Family members (spouse, domestic partner, sibling, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew) of Wescom members in good standing are also welcome to apply.

Joining Wescom and/or opening a CD can be done online or at any of 23 California branches located in Anaheim (2), Corona, Costa Mesa, Culver City, Hawthorne, Irvine, La Habra, Laguna Niguel, Los Angeles, Ontario, Orange, Oxnard, Pasadena, Redlands, Riverside, Sherman Oaks, Signal Hill, Simi Valley, Stevenson Ranch, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Tustin, and West Covina. Appointments are available and can be scheduled online.

Open a Regular Savings Account with a $1.00 minimum deposit. This makes you a member-owner and unlocks all the benefits of Wescom membership.

Funding and Other Details

The following information is from the Wescom Certificate Account Disclosure and a conversation with CSR.

• Funding – ACH, wire, check, or internal transfer.
• Ownership – Individual, joint, or trust.
• CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – No.
• Dividends – Compounded daily/credited monthly; “paid dividends may be withdrawn without penalty only if this dividend disposition election was made at the time of issuance.”
• Maturing Funds – Internal transfer to Regular Share Savings account.
• Beneficiaries – Unlimited and percentages can be assigned; Social Security numbers required.
• Grace Period – 7 calendar days before automatic renewal.
• Credit Check – ChexSystems.

Credit Union Overview

Wescom Credit Union has an overall health grade of "B" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 1.94% (excellent) based on June 30, 2023 data. In the past year, Wescom’s total non-brokered deposits have decreased by -$111.45 million, a below average annual growth rate of -2.55%. Please refer to our financial overview of Wescom Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 66703) for more details.

Wescom Credit Union is currently the eleventh largest credit union headquartered in California, with more than 244,000 members and assets in excess of $6 billion. Established in 1934, the original Telephone Employees Credit Union was founded by 13 Pacific Telephone employees with $65 in pooled funds. The FOM remained exclusive to Pacific Telephone until the mid-1980s when additional SEGs were added. The Wescom rebrand occurred in 1996 to “better reflect the more diverse companies and communities it was serving.”

According to a recent CUTimes article, Wescom has become,

Official Banking Partner of the Buena Vista, Calif., theme park Knotts Berry Farm, which also operates Knott’s Soak City Water Park, Knott’s Berry Farm Marketplace and the Knott’s Hotel.

“We are so thrilled to enter this eight-year partnership with Knott’s as both of our organizations are recognized as bedrocks of the local community and have fostered deep and enduring relationships with generations of Southern Californian families,” Ashley White, SVP, chief marketing officer for Wescom, stated. “This partnership with Knott’s allows us to expand our membership growth initiatives into the consumer experience space with a brand that, like ours, is so deeply rooted in California.”

How the 60-Month Member 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, one bank and two credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the Wescom Credit Union 60-month Member CD. The following table compare the 60-month CD 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 11/13/2023.

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