USALLIANCE Financial Increases Rate of 12-Month CD Special

At the start of March, New-York based USALLIANCE Financial (USALLIANCE) increased the rate of the 12-month Certificate Special to 5.40% APY. Following the addition of 20 bps, the 12-month Certificate Special currently has the highest and most competitive rate in the USALLIANCE CD product line. The last noteworthy Certificate Special was in November when USALLIANCE offered an 18-month Special with a 5.75% APY. That lasted less than a month. The 12-month Certificate Special can be opened with a $500 minimum deposit, and there is no stated balance cap.

USALLIANCE’s other featured Certificate, the 11-month No Penalty Certificate, still has the same rate that it had in July (5.00% APY). With other no-penalty CD rates falling in the last couple of months, this has become more competitive. Please refer to my review of USALLIANCE’s No Penalty Certificate for more details.

USALLIANCE’s product line has included Certificate Specials (CS) for several years. Different term-length CS with limited-time competitive rates, cycle in and out of the product line, with no one individual CS consistently offering the most competitive rate.

The 12-month Certificate Special is also available as IRA Certificate Specials (Traditional, Roth, and CESA), earning the same APYs with the same funding requirements. The 11-month No Penalty Certificate is not available as an IRA Certificate.

DA reader, SYC, noted in a previous Forum post that there are two fees associated with an IRA Certificate Special: a $3 monthly maintenance fee and a $30 fee to transfer the IRA to another financial institution. (These fees can be found in the USALLIANCE Fee Schedule in the “General” section.)

Early Withdrawal Penalty

As stated in the USALLIANCE Certificate Accounts Disclosure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

If your Certificate Account has an original maturity date of less than 18 months,
the penalty amount will equal 180 days of dividends on the amount withdrawn.

If your Certificate Account has an original maturity date of 18 months or longer,
the penalty amount will equal 360 days of dividends on the amount withdrawn.

If earned dividends are not sufficient to cover the penalty,
the early withdrawal penalty may affect principal.

According to the Certificate Accounts Disclosure, the ability to withdraw any of the principal before maturity is not necessarily guaranteed.

You may make withdrawals of principal on a Certificate
Account at the discretion and approval of USALLIANCE Financial.

Savings/Checking Relationship

The default for the Certificate Special online application for new members has the MyLife Savings (MLS) account automatically selected. If the MLS is unchecked, the following notification pops up:

In addition to your Certificate account, please select either a checking or savings account.

USALLIANCE has two savings accounts (MyLife Savings and High Dividend Savings) and a checking account (MyLife Checking) from which to choose.

The MyLife Savings account continues to earn 2.00% APY on the first $500 and 0.02% APY on any amounts over $500. The MLS can be opened with as little as $1.

High Dividend Savings

USALLIANCE unveiled its High Dividend Savings (HDS) account in January 2019, with an initial 2.30% APY. Its rate remained competitive until four rate decreases occurred in January and March 2020, lowering the HDS rate to a less-than-mediocre 0.33% APY. Starting in January 2021, there have been 15 rate increases adding a total of 432 bps. The HDS currently earns 4.65% APY on balances of $500 and above; balances below $500 do not earn any dividends.

Right To Call

In the currently rates environment, it’s important to mention USALLIANCE’s “right to call” any of its Certificates before maturity. While that may sound slightly unsettling, USALLIANCE states that option has never been exercised. Nonetheless, the “right to call” is spelled out in the Certificate Accounts Disclosure, and reads as follows:

The Credit Union has the right to call or redeem Certificate Accounts early. To call or redeem your Certificate Account early, the Credit Union will provide 60 days written notice to you. Should the Credit Union exercise this option, your Certificate Account will be redeemed without penalty on the day specified in the notice, and the entire balance, including earned dividends, will be automatically transferred to your Share Management Checking, Share Management Savings, STAR Account or MyLife Account (Checking or Savings) for easy access.

Availability

Headquartered in Rye (Westchester County), New York, USALLIANCE Financial's field of membership (FOM) provides a path to membership for almost any U.S. citizen or resident alien (18 years of older) with a valid Social Security number.

USALLIANCE provides a membership eligibility synopsis on the “About USALLIANCE Financial” page, with detailed information listed in the Membership Acknowledgement and Certification document.

Easy Membership Requirement: Joining any of five partner associations/charitable organizations qualifies for USALLIANCE membership.

I want to become a member of one of the following USALLIANCE partner
associations and authorize USALLIANCE to submit my membership request to:

• Tread Lightly!
• Council of Community Service
• WARC
• New-York Historical Society
• SullivanArc

Residency: Individuals who live, work, worship, or regularly conduct business in the Massachusetts counties of Barnstable, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, or Worcester are eligible for membership. In addition, individuals who live, work, worship, or regularly conduct business in the city of West Haven, Connecticut, and qualifying districts in Manhattan, Mount Vernon, and The Bronx, are welcome to join. Following the 2018 assumption of First Jersey Credit Union, individuals who live, work, worship, or regularly conduct in the New Jersey counties of Bergan and Passaic qualify for membership.

Individuals who live, work, worship, or regularly conduct business in select under-served areas of New York City (map included on the Membership Acknowledgement and Certification document) are eligible to join.

Employment: Employees of more than 175 companies are eligible to join, including employees or retirees of the state or local government in the New York counties of Columbia, Dutchess, Green, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, or Westchester.

Education: Registered students, staff, and faculty members of Columbia University and Manhattanville College (both in NYC) qualify for membership, as do members of Columbia University’s Alumni Association.

Religious Affiliation: Members of ten named houses of worship in the New York counties of Bronx, Sullivan, and Westchester are eligible to join.

Account Opening

Joining USALLIANCE and/or opening a Certificate Special can be done online or at any of seven full-service branch locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York (4). The branch locations in the VA Hospital in West Haven (CT) and the PESICO facility in Purchase (NY) have restricted access.

Unlike the vast majority of credit unions, USALLIANCE does not have a Share Account that must be opened with a small deposit to establish membership. The only deposit requirement is a minimum $1 deposit in the account you wish to open, but having either a checking or savings account is required for membership.

USALLIANCE participates in the CO-OP Shared Branching network, providing members access to more than 5,600 branches throughout the country.

Funding and Other Details

The following information is from the USALLIANCE website and a conversation with CSR.

• Funding – ACH, wire, internal transfer, or check (in-branch opening).
• Ownership – Individual, joint, or trust.
• CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – Yes.
• Interest – Compounded daily/credited monthly and can transferred into USALLIANCE checking or savings account.
• Maturing Funds – Transferred to a USALLIANCE checking or savings account.
• Beneficiaries – Unlimited, percentages can be assigned, and Social Security numbers are required for all POD beneficiaries.
• Grace Period – 7 calendar days before automatic renewal.
• Credit Check – Soft pull.

Credit Union Overview

USALLIANCE Financial has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 8.32% (excellent) based on September 30, 2023 data. In the past year, USALLIANCE has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $271.52 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 15.85%. Please refer to our financial overview of USALLIANCE Financial (NCUA Charter # 17587) for more details.

Chartered in 1966 as USAlliance Federal Credit Union, the original FOM was exclusive to IBM employees. The USALLIANCE Financial rebrand occurred in September 2015 to "help drive home all that we have to offer to potential members." From humble beginnings in the IBM basement cafeteria, USALLIANCE has grown to be the eleventh largest credit union headquartered in New York State, with more than 168,000 members and assets in excess of $3 billion.

According to a recent press release,

USAlliance Federal Credit Union (dba USALLIANCE Financial) has awarded the Small Business Recovery Grant (SBRG) to four local businesses in partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (FHLBNY). The SBRG program, designed to aid small businesses and non-profits, distributed grants to FHLBNY member banks in support of enterprises encountering economic challenges. As a cooperative credit union, USALLIANCE is proud to support the small businesses and non-profit organizations that continue to help drive our communities in the face of inflation, supply chain constraints, rising costs, and other economic obstacles.

How the 12-Month Certificate Special Compares

When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationally and have minimum deposit requirements of $10k or less, one bank has a higher rate than currently offered on the USALLIANCE Financial 12-Month Certificate Special. The following table compares the 12-Month Certificate Special to the four highest-rate similar length-of-term CDs from banks/credit unions with nationwide market areas.

The above information and rates are accurate as of 3/4/2024.

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