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Best 1-year credit union CD rates - June 2023

Best available rates across different account types for Tuesday, June 06, 2023

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Bankrate’s picks for the top 1-year credit union CD rates

Bethpage Federal Credit Union: 5.00% APY, $50 minimum deposit

Bethpage offers nine terms of CDs, ranging from three months to five years, and a 39-month bump-up CD. Anyone who opens a $5 savings account can become a member.

  • Membership restrictions: Bethpage FCU membership is open to anyone who opens a savings account with $5.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: 180 days of dividends

America First Credit Union: 5.00% APY, $500 minimum deposit

America First Credit Union offers regular CDs, individual retirement account (IRA) CDs and bump-rate CDs.

  • Membership restrictions: America First serves people who live, work, worship, volunteer or attend school in select counties in Utah, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Oregon and New Mexico.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: 60 days of dividends, with a minimum fee of $5

Alliant Credit Union: 5.00% APY, $1,000 minimum deposit

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.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: Dividends on the number of days the CD is open, up to 90 days. (For example, if funds are withdrawn after 180 days, the penalty is 90 days of dividends; if funds are withdrawn after 20 days, the penalty is 20 days of dividends.)

Delta Community Credit Union: 4.75% APY, $1,000 minimum deposit

Delta Community Credit Union began as the Delta Employees Credit Union in 1940. It was started by eight Delta Air Lines employees. Delta Community Credit Union has more than 400,000 members and has 26 branches in metro Atlanta and three branches outside of Georgia.

  • Membership restrictions: Anyone living or working in metro Atlanta and employees of more than 150 businesses are welcome at Delta Community Credit Union. Delta Air Lines, Chick-fil-A and UPS are some of the eligible businesses.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: 90 days of interest

Pentagon Federal Credit Union: 4.60% APY, $1,000 minimum deposit

PenFed has nine terms of CDs, ranging from six months to seven years.

  • 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.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: All dividends

Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union: 4.50% APY, $1,000 minimum deposit

In addition to CDs, Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union 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 3,000 ways to become a member at Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: 60 days

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 and Coast Guard Active Duty, civilian, contract personnel, veterans and their families.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: The lesser of all dividends for 90 days on the amount that you withdraw or all of the dividends withdrawn since the certificate was issued or renewed.

State Employees’ Credit Union: 4.10% APY, $250 minimum deposit

State Employees’ Credit Union serves approximately 2.7 million members and has 273 branch offices. It has been around since 1937 and has its main office in Raleigh, North Carolina.

  • Membership restrictions: You’ll need to meet one of the State Employees’ Credit Union eligibility requirements to become a member. Some ways to become a member are by being an employee of the state of North Carolina, being a federal employee assigned to North Carolina state agencies, being an employee of public boards of education or by being a county employee of social services, health, mental health or civil defenses. Immediate family, which includes a spouse, children, parents or siblings, of a current member also may be eligible for membership.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: You’ll lose 90 days’ worth of interest or all interest accrued, whichever is less.

SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union: 3.75% APY, $20,000 minimum deposit

SchoolsFirst offers low minimum balances and CD terms from as short as 30 days to as long as five years. The more money you put into your CD, the higher the APY. CDs at this credit union have four balance tiers: $500, $20,000, $50,000 or $100,000.

  • Membership restrictions: SchoolsFirst FCU serves the California educational community. Certain school employees, certain retired school employees and immediate family members of existing SchoolsFirst FCU members may be able to join.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: 90 days of dividends

Golden 1 Credit Union: 3.05% APY, $500 minimum deposit

Golden 1 Credit Union was founded in Sacramento, California, in 1933. It has more than 1 million members and over 70 branches in California. Its CD terms range from three months to 60 months.

  • Membership restrictions: Membership is open to those who live or work in California. Non-Californians can also join if they are a registered domestic partner or family member of a current member or if they’re a member of one of the nearly 1,000 Select Employee Groups.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: 90 days of dividends for terms of three months through 11 months, 180 days of dividends for terms of 12 months through 23 months, 365 days of dividends for terms of 24 months or greater.

Suncoast Credit Union: 3.05% APY, $500 minimum deposit

Suncoast Credit Union was started in 1934 as Hillsborough County Teachers Credit Union, and it surpassed one million members in early 2022. Suncoast offers both standard and jumbo certificates of deposit, as well as a “Smart Start Certificate” that’s set up to receive monthly electronic deposits.

  • Membership restrictions: Membership is open to people who attend school, live, work or worship in a county in Florida that Suncoast Credit Union serves are welcome to join.
  • Early withdrawal penalty: 90 days of dividends on terms of 12 months or less and 180 days of dividends on terms longer than 12 months.

What is a 1-year credit union CD?

Credit union share certificates are similar to certificates of deposit (CDs) offered by banks. For that reason, “share certificate” and “credit union CD” are often used interchangeably. Also, whereas CDs earn interest, share certificates earn dividends, but the effect for the saver is the same. By looking at annual percentage yields (APYs), consumers can compare interest and dividends on an apples-to-apples basis.

The average one-year CD yield was 1.70 percent APY, according to Bankrate’s weekly survey of institutions on May 24, 2023.

How to find the best 1-year credit union CD rates

Brick-and-mortar banks can be pretty stingy when it comes to paying interest on deposit accounts. But finding a credit union offering competitive rates on CDs is fairly easy. As member-owned institutions, credit unions operate for the benefit of their customers.

The drawback? You may not have access to a credit union share certificate if you cannot qualify for membership. Many credit unions are easy to join, but there are still institutions that have restrictions based on where you live or work or the groups you’re affiliated with.

Like certificates of deposit at banks, credit union share certificates may also automatically renew after the term expires. For that reason, it’s important to keep track of your investments. Should the need arise to use the funds before the certificate has matured, the result would likely be an early withdrawal penalty.

When choosing a one-year credit union CD, consider the interest rate you’re getting, how often the interest compounds, the minimum deposit, and your eligibility to join the credit union.

1-year credit union CD FAQs

Bankrate’s methodology for choosing the best CD 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 around 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 CDs, our editorial team analyzes various factors, such as annual percentage yield (APY), the minimum needed to earn that APY (or to open the CD) and whether or not it is broadly available. All of the accounts on this page are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. or the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund.

When selecting the best CD for you, consider the purpose of the money and when you’ll need access to these funds to help you avoid early withdrawal penalties.

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, 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, 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.