Alliant Credit Union's Competitive CD Rates - Available Nationwide

Alliant Credit Union has kept its CD rates unchanged since March 25th. These rates have now become quite competitive as other banks and credit unions have been lowering their rates over the last two months. Unlike Alliant's savings and checking account rates which are only changed at the start of each month, Alliant's CD rates can change at anytime during a month. I was told by an Alliant CSR that the CD rates are usually changed in the morning, and the rates listed now should last through today at the very least. The CSR couldn't guarantee any more. Hopefully, these current rates will last for a while. Below is the list of Alliant Jumbo CD rates as shown at Alliant's rates page as of 6/09/2010:

• 1.75% APY 12 to 17 months
• 2.00% APY 18 to 23 months
• 2.25% APY 24 to 35 months
• 2.50% APY 36 to 47 months
• 3.00% APY 48 to 60 months

Alliant calls these their Jumbo certificate rates, but it only requires a $25,000 minimum deposit. Many other institutions require a $100K minimum for their Jumbo CDs. Rates are 10 basis points lower for the regular CDs with a $1,000 minimum deposit. These CDs are also available in IRAs (Roth, Traditional and SEP) and Coverdell ESAs.

If you open these CDs online, I was told they limit the ACH transfer used to fund the CD from an external bank to $10,000 (this may be increased after you've been a member for a while). One way to fund the CD with a larger deposit is to first transfer the money into your Alliant savings account. Then you can call Alliant and open the CD using the Alliant savings account as the funding source. Alliant Savings Account also has the $10K ACH transfer limit. One easy way to transfer money into the savings account is by using the ACH transfer service of another bank, like Ally Bank. This way you won't have the $10K limit.

For more details about Alliant CDs, please refer to my September 2009 Alliant CD review.

Alliant Credit Union's savings account and High Rate Checking account continue to have competitive rates (currently 1.50% APY). Please refer to my Alliant Credit Union review for more details about Alliant and the savings account. I also have the savings account rate history at the bottom of the review.

Credit Union Membership

You can now qualify for Alliant Credit Union membership by becoming a member of Orphan Foundation of America (OFA). Alliant now has a special page that explains this:

Members of the OFA are eligible to join Alliant Credit Union and experience the Alliant Advantage [...] By making a $10 or greater donation to the Orphan Foundation of America, you will become a member of OFA, receive literature and other information from OFA, and qualify to join Alliant.

For the last several years, one could qualify for membership through the PTA (either national or local). Alliant lists other qualifying organizations here.

Alliant Credit Union Overview

Branches are located in Chicago, Des Plaines, and Elk Grove Township, Illinois. There are also branches in Virginia, Colorado and California.

Alliant Credit Union continues to have the highest rating (5 stars) for safety and soundness at BauerFinancial based on 3/31/10 data. However, it continues to have only has a 3-star rating (performing) at Bankrate.com (based on 12/31/09 data). At DepositAccounts.com we give Alliant an overall health score of 4 out of 5 based on 3/01/10 data (see our Alliant Credit Union rates and reviews page). Alliant is a large credit union with over $7.2 billion in assets. The credit union is federally insured by the NCUA (Charter # 67955).