How To Keep Credit Union Membership Alive After CD Matures?

kaimen | Jan 6, 2019 | 22 posts since 2014

Being a loyal follower of this site, I have collected memberships and benefited from many credit unions. Once the CDs mature and taken out, the basic share account requires various frequencies of "activities" to remain free and alive, e.g. NASA is 1 full yr and Connexus is 90 days. I wonder - (1) do I have to have an account to keep my membership alive (for future CD deals)?; (2) if yes, is there any better ways than setting up automatic small deposit with necessary intervals call by each CU?

Thanks for the group wisdom!

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Answers

Ally6770 | Jan 7, 2019 | 4,294 posts since 2010

I have a $1 deposit going into the savings account every Jan to keep the account open and to have no closing, escheatment or fees on my account. I have it set up at the credit union where my account that the charging credit union is located. Copy that request and put it in that credit unions file.

Sylvia | Jan 7, 2019 | 389 posts since 2012

Some CUs allow you to satisfy activity requirement by calling service center or logging into account online. They're rare though. Most want to see a transaction you've initiated. The 90 days you mention for Connexus is the most demanding I've seen. For that, I would probably give myself a year to decide if I wanted to keep membership. For those with 1 year requirement, I might allow myself 2-3 years. To answer your 1st question, you must maintain a share account to be considered a member.

newbie1 | Jan 7, 2019 | 24 posts since 2010

I think the 90 day inactivity fee for Connexus is for the checking account, the savings is 12 months and a minimum of $100 if you have no other accounts. Like others advised make an annual deposit or withdrawal and keep note of any account minimums.

kaimen | Jan 10, 2019 | 22 posts since 2014

Thanks to all the prompt answers!

me1004 | Jan 11, 2019 | 1,379 posts since 2010

I have a pile of them sitting there in case they should make a good offer when I need one. Unfortunately, most where I get these good offers seem to never have a good one again, so I have to move my money. :( (But it came in very handy about three years ago when Northwest FCU suddenly came out with a spectacular 3-year CD offer, and I had cash on hand -- I was able to grab that fast -- I was already a a member and so set up to open instantly. That was important, as it could have been pulled in short time as everyone mobbed into it.)

I always want to open the savings and a checking account when I open the CD -- the checking account allows me to close the CD to the checking, and write a check to move it if I want to, making it easy to move, and with shared branching, I can have it in a new CD same day.

But the checking account serves another purpose once I close that CD. I keep the minimum required in the savings plus $1, and $1 in the checking or nothing in it if allowed. I transfer $1 from one account to the other and back again when it is needed for activity under the rules of the institution, most every 12 months, a good amount every six month. I mark my calendar for when to make the transfer, and just go online and do it quickly. I generally mark the calendar for a week before it needs to be done, just for a little safety.

(I also have Connexus, still have my CD there, but I still must make a transaction I am told. Their frequency is ridiculous! To do the transaction, I linked and scheduled a $1 send and take back from my basic account at Alliant -- that scheduling feature keeps the Connexus effort from becoming overwhelming. I have scheduled it for once every two months to cover the three months rule -- every two months so as to be easy to coordinate and not to be too close to the last minute just in case, as I'm not watching it until I get a monthly statement.)

kaimen | Jan 14, 2019 | 22 posts since 2014

Thanks again for everyone's reply in this thread. To double check I call Connexus again today. The rep is very thorough and replied with a new fee schedule for the regular saving account as of 12/1/2018:
a) No requirement if I have other product (e.g. CD) - according to her this condition is new.
b) Without other product, deposit/withdraw every 12-month would avoid fees.
I didn't ask about $100 since I wasn't interested in doing that.

Sylvia | Jan 14, 2019 | 389 posts since 2012

kaimen, 12 months is not bad. Thanks for the update. On a related note, it's important to periodically confirm requirements, as you did. In recent years, a few of my credit unions increased frequency of transactions for account to be considered "active"; that seems to be the trend, and it's not a change they would necessarily call to our attention.

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