Rates updated between Sept. 8 and Sept. 14
To find the best rate on a one-year certificate of deposit at a credit union, it pays to shop around and compare yields. It also pays to read about credit unions’ membership policies, to see if you’re eligible to join. Below, we list the most competitive one-year CDs from credit unions that Bankrate reviews. Note that credit unions often call their version of CDs “share certificates.” They’re pretty much the same: both are designed to hold your funds for a set amount of time, and they usually pay a fixed annual percentage yield (APY).
Years experience
Deposit rates tracked
Banks reviewed
Note: Annual percentage yields (APYs) shown are as of July 3. Bankrate's editorial team validates this information regularly, typically biweekly. APYs may have changed since they were last updated and may vary by region for some products. Bankrate includes in its lists only banks that are members of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) or National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) credit unions insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). But only NCUA credit unions are on this page.
America First Credit Union’s one-year certificate of deposit (CD) offers a strong yield that rivals some of the top high-yield one-year CDs at banks and high-yield savings accounts. The credit union also provides competitive yields for terms from three months up to five years and offers individual retirement account (IRA) CDs and bump-rate CDs. Accounts can be opened online or in person.
Alliant Credit Union offers CDs that range from three months to five years, with competitive rates on some of the shorter terms, including its one-year CD. If you’ve got a lot in savings, you can look into the credit unions’ jumbo CD offerings, which pay higher rates on deposits of $75,000 or more. Alliant also has individual retirement account CDs and Roth IRA CDs.
Mountain America Credit Union’s one-year CD offers a competitive yield, as do many of its other terms going up to five years. The minimum deposit to open a certificate is $500, which is lower than many of the accounts on the list. The credit union also offers rate-bump CDs, which could be worthwhile if you think rates will rise during your certificate’s term.
SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union offers a slightly different kind of one-year CD: a tiered-rate CD. The more money you put into your CD, the higher the APY. With a minimum deposit of $500, you’ll earn 4.15 percent APY, which is highly competitive but there are five total balance tiers: $500, $20,000, $50,000, $100,000 or $250,000. The highest APY you can earn on this CD is 4.35 percent APY. The credit union provides a wide variety of CD terms, from as short as 30 days to as long as five years. Most of the rates, even at the lowest deposit tier, are strong.
State Employees’ Credit Union has attractive rates on many of its share certificates, which range from six months to five years. The minimum to open the certificate is pretty low, at $250 dollars. It doesn’t offer any specialty CDs though, and rates on its savings accounts aren’t competitive.
American Airlines Federal Credit Union offers a variety of terms for share certificates, ranging from six months up to five years. Compared to other terms at the credit union, the shorter-term certificates (12 months and 24 months) have the most competitive rates. You’ll earn higher rates if you open one of the credit unions’ pre-built CD ladders (multiple share certificates with different terms) than you do with individual certificates.
Delta Community Credit Union only offers a handful of terms, ranging from six months to 60 months, but its one-year certificate stands out with the most competitive rate of the bunch. And the opening deposit of $1,000 is fairly standard.
Navy Federal offers share certificates ranging from three months to seven years. The standard one-year share certificate from Navy Federal Credit Union features a competitive yield of 4 percent APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. The credit union also offers what it calls “EasyStart” certificates that have lower minimum deposits but pay lower yields, including a one-year CD with a minimum deposit of $500 that pays 3.95 percent APY.
Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union offers a solid yield on its one-year certificate with a $1,000 minimum deposit. The credit union offers different rates for higher deposits, too. You can get 3.95 percent APY on a $20,000 minimum deposit and 4.04 percent on a $75,000 minimum deposit. Its six- to 11-month CDs also pay similar rates, if you want to explore a shorter term.
VyStar has a variety of CDs ranging from three months to five years. The one-year CD offers an attractive yield, and if you deposit $50,000 or more, you’ll earn an even higher one of 3.90 percent.
Suncoast Credit Union offers CD terms ranging from six months to five years, all with good rates. If you have $100,000 to deposit, you can get higher yields on all of the CDs.
Star One Credit Union only offers three CD terms: six months, one year and two years. The rates on all three are all pretty close to each other and the credit union helpfully calculates the interest you’ll earn with each on a $5,000 deposit, in case that number can help you make a decision on which certificate to open.
To open a share certificate, you must be a member of a credit union that offers them. Credit unions often serve a specific community, geographic area, type of employee, or association, so you’ll need to meet membership requirements.
Credit union share certificates are similar to certificates of deposit (CDs) offered by banks. The main difference is that CDs are products offered by for-profit banks, while share certificates are offered by member-owned, not-for-profit credit unions. 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 is 2.03 percent APY, according to Bankrate’s survey of institutions.
The chart below shows how much interest you would earn for different CD terms.
Online-only Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) banks tend to offer higher yields than National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) credit unions for savings accounts – based on the institutions that Bankrate tracks.
But for one-year CDs, the top online bank and the top credit union have similar APYs.
Some of the most competitive APYs available on CDs can be found on share certificates at credit unions so it is important to include them in your search. Credit unions can offer their members the convenience and friendly service of local branch access while earning a competitive return.Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate chief financial analyst
Bankrate researches over 100 banks and credit unions, including some of the largest financial institutions, online-only banks, regional banks and credit unions with both open and restrictive membership policies.
To find the best one-year CD rates at credit unions, we regularly survey one-year CD offerings from all of the credit unions we monitor and review.
The credit unions on this page are selected based on their current APY for a one-year CD and their minimum deposit requirements. Learn more about how we choose the best banking products and our methodology for reviewing banks.
