Some credit unions are known for offering competitive rates for their members. You might not be eligible to join any credit union you want to, while some have membership requirements nearly anyone can satisfy.

It’s smart to compare credit unions with FDIC-insured banks to see which one is a better fit for you.

Top yielding FDIC-insured banks (these are usually online banks) do tend to have higher annual percentage yields (APYs) on their savings accounts, compared with the top-yielding credit unions.

Today’s top credit union savings account for a bank or credit union pays 3.1 percent APY.

Bankrate’s top picks for the top credit union savings rates

Note: Annual percentage yields (APYs) shown are as of May 8, 2023. Bankrate’s editorial team updates this information regularly. APYs may have changed since they were last updated and may vary by region for some products.

*6.17 percent APY for the first $500.

A closer look at the top credit union savings rates

Alliant: 3.10% APY; $5 minimum deposit to open ($100 daily average minimum balance to earn APY)

Alliant offers competitive APYs with low minimum balance requirements for CDs. It also has traditional individual retirement account CDs, Roth IRA CDs and SEP IRA CDs.

Membership restrictions: Current or retired employees from a business that partners with Alliant Credit Union may be eligible to join. You may also be able to join by belonging to an organization that Alliant Credit Union partners with. You can also qualify to join Alliant Credit Union if you live or are employed in a community near its Chicago headquarters. If those circumstances don’t apply to you, you can make a one-time $5 payment and Alliant Credit Union will donate that money to Foster Care to Success so you can become an Alliant Credit Union member.

Read Bankrate’s Expert Alliant Credit Union Review

Pentagon Federal Credit Union: 2.70% APY; $5 minimum deposit to open

Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed) was established in 1935. It has more than 2.8 million members and has its main office in McLean, Virginia.

PenFed has nine terms of CDs. They range from a six-month CD to a seven-year CD.

Membership restrictions: Anyone is eligible to apply for PenFed membership. All that is needed is to open and maintain a savings account with at least $5. Some products may require military affiliation to receive certain benefits of the product.

Read Bankrate’ Expert Pentagon Federal Credit Union Review

Boeing Employees’ Credit Union: 0.50% APY; $5 minimum deposit to open may be required online

Boeing Employees’ Credit Union (BECU) is one of the nation’s largest credit unions, with nearly 1.4 million members.

Among the credit union’s offerings are savings, checking and money market accounts, as well as CDs that range from three months to five years. Specialty CDs include a bump-up CD and another that allows you to add funds during the term.

Member Advantage Savings customers earn 6.17 percent APY on the first $500 of their savings balance. You’ll need both a BECU Member Advantage checking and savings account, to be enrolled in monthly electronic statements and to make at least one transaction every month. Member Advantage customers get up to $3 refunded of out-of-network ATM fees each month. In 2022, Bankrate found that the average fee that a bank charges for using an out-of-network ATM was $3.14. So this might cover all or most of one ATM transaction.

Membership restrictions: Membership is open to Boeing employees as well as residents, employees and business owners in Washington and parts of Idaho and Oregon.

Read Bankrate’s Expert Boeing Employees’ Credit Union Review 

Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union: 0.30% APY; $1 minimum deposit to open

Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union is headquartered in Live Oak, Texas, and operates more than 60 branches serving four major markets in the state: Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio. It has more than 1 million members.

In addition to its savings account, Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union has CDs with terms ranging from six months to seven years. It also offers a Really Free Checking account that requires no minimum balance and charges no monthly fee.

Membership restrictions: Where you live, attend school, work or worship are some of the more than 4,000 ways to become a member at Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union.

Read Bankrate’s Expert Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union Review

Navy Federal Credit Union is the world’s largest credit union with over 11 million members. In addition to CDs, Navy Federal Credit Union also offers checking and savings accounts, loans and credit cards.

Membership restrictions: Membership at Navy Federal Credit Union is open to all Department of Defense employees, contractors and civilian retirees as well as veterans and active-duty service members in any branch of the armed forces.

Read Bankrate’s Expert Navy Federal Credit Union Review

Suncoast Credit Union: 0.25% APY; $5 minimum deposit to open

Suncoast Credit Union was started in 1934 as Hillsborough County Teachers Credit Union. Suncoast Credit Union is the largest credit union in Florida, and in early 2022 it surpassed 1 million members.

Membership restrictions: People who attend school, live, work or worship in a county in Florida that Suncoast Credit Union serves are welcome to join.

Read Bankrate’s Expert Suncoast Credit Union Review

Finding the best credit union savings rates

It’s worth finding out if your local credit union is available to you and seeing whether it offers competitive rates.

It can also be worth looking at credit union money market accounts, another type of savings deposit account, instead of savings accounts.

For instance, Navy Federal Credit Union’s savings account only yields 0.25 percent APY. But its money market account offers a 0.95 percent APY on balances of at least $2,500 and 2.25 percent APY on balances of at least $1 million.

Credit union savings FAQs

  • Credit unions are nonprofit organizations. Meanwhile, banks are for-profit organizations, and many banks are publicly traded and owned.
  • Each credit union has different membership requirements. You might be able to qualify for credit union membership based on where you live, work or worship.

Methodology for Bankrate’s Best Rates

At Bankrate, we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is unbiased and not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy.

Bankrate regularly surveys some 70 widely available financial institutions, made up of the biggest banks and credit unions, as well as a number of popular online banks.

To find the best savings accounts, our editorial team analyzes various factors, such as: annual percentage yield (APY), the minimum needed to earn that APY (or to open the savings account) and whether or not it is broadly available. All of the accounts on this page are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) or by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF).

When selecting the best savings account for you, consider the purpose of the money.

Banks we monitor

These financial institutions are featured in our CD rate research: Alliant Credit Union, Ally Bank, Amerant Bank, America First Credit Union, American Express National Bank, Axos Bank, Bank5 Connect, Bank of America, Bank of the West, Barclays, Bask Bank, BB&T, BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union), Bethpage Federal Credit Union, BMO Harris Bank, Bread Financial (formerly Comenity Direct), BrioDirect, Capital One Bank, Chase Bank, CIBC USA, CIT Bank, Citibank, Citizens, Citizens Bank (Rhode Island), Comerica Bank, Customers Bank, Delta Community Credit Union, Discover Bank, Emigrant Direct, Fifth Third Bank, First Citizens Bank, First Internet Bank, First Technology Federal Credit Union, FNBO Direct, Golden 1 Credit Union, Marcus by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Private Bank, Huntington National Bank, Investors Bank, Investors eAccess, KeyBank, Limelight Bank, Live Oak Bank, M&T Bank, MySavingsDirect, Navy Federal Credit Union, NBKC Bank, PenFed Credit Union, PNC Bank, Popular Direct, PurePoint Financial, Quontic Bank, Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, Regions Bank, Salem Five Direct, Sallie Mae Bank, Santander Bank, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, Security Service Federal Credit Union, State Employees’ Credit Union, Suncoast Credit Union, Suntrust Bank, Synchrony Bank, TD Bank, TIAA Bank, Truist Bank, UFB Direct, Union Bank (California), U.S. Bank, USAA Bank, Vio Bank, VyStar Credit Union, Wells Fargo and Zions Bank.