Alliant Credit Union Boosts 12-17 Month CD Rate

Following a recent 25 bps rate increase, the Alliant Credit Union (Alliant CU) 18-month CD now offers competitive tiered rates: 5.30% APY and 5.35% APY for minimum deposits of $1k and $75k, respectively. A more modest increase of 15 bps upped the 12-month rates to 5.45% APY ($75k min) and 5.40% APY ($1k min).

The Share CDs are available as IRA Share CDs (Traditional, Roth, and SEP) earning the same tiered APYs with the same deposit requirements, but with the following constraint.

Please note: In order to open a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or SEP IRA certificate, you must open the respective account type first. Call an Alliant investments expert at 800-328-1935 to open an IRA certificate.

Flexible Term Lengths

DA readers might remember that Alliant previously labeled its Share CDs with multiple term lengths (e.g., 18-23 month), allowing you to choose the term-length within the permitted range. While Alliant has changed the Share CD names, the maturity date flexibility is still in effect. As DA reader, 6prendalane, noted in a recent Forum post, looking at the 12-month as a 17-month and the 18-month as a 23-month makes the APYs more competitive.

DA reader, Kaight, described her experience opening an Alliant CD in a comment made in response to the Alliant April 2023 blog post:

I opened this account early today, online. The process went smoothly. Was able to select my maturity option (i.e., disposition of funds upon maturity) and my dividends option; no BS about waiting until account is closer to maturity to select these options.

Was able to select my maturity day. Anything greater than equal to 18 months and south of 24 months was permitted. I wanted a longish maturity so ended up on a Monday only several days less than two years. It was good to be able to avoid weekends and holidays. Funding was also straightforward; the opening deposit was deducted from my Alliant checking straightaway, funds having arrived there via ACH during the overnight.

I cannot recall last time I opened a CD at Alliant, if I even ever did. But they have the process down to a science. I would say their online CD application mechanism is as good as the one at NFCU.

Finally, and this really goes without saying: There were no telephone calls involved in the above CD account opening process. Everything was done online.

Early Withdrawal Penalty

As stated in the Alliant CU FAQs, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:

17 months or less: number of days the certificate is open, up to 90 days

18-23 months: number of days the certificate is open, up to 120 days

The FAQs also provides this illustration:

Examples of early withdrawal penalties for 18-month certificate:

• If you close your certificate after 100 days, the penalty would be equivalent to all the interest you earned.
• If you closed your certificate after 150 days, the penalty would be equivalent to 120 days of dividends, and you would keep all your principal plus 30 days of dividends.

NOTE: If an 18-month Share CD is opened with a $75k+ deposit and subsequent withdrawal brings the balance below $75k, the 5.35% APY will convert to the 5.30% APY offered on a $1k deposit.

Availability

Headquartered in Chicago, Alliant Credit Union’s field of membership (FOM) provides a way to join for almost any U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien with a valid Social Security number or an unexpired ITIN.

Easy Membership: Any member of Foster Care to Success (FCS), regardless of residency or employment status, is eligible for membership. According to an Alliant representative, “Alliant will make a $5 support payment to FCS on the applicant’s behalf,” with Alliant's website providing a link to FCS to facilitate joining.

Residency: Individuals who live or work in 20 Chicagoland communities are eligible to join.

Employment: Employees and retirees of hundreds of Qualifying Companies also qualify.

Affiliation: Members of 37 different organizations are also eligible for membership.

Relationship: Anyone related by blood or law, or a domestic partner of a current Alliant member are welcome to apply.

Complete details about joining Alliant can be found on the Become a Member page.

Account Opening

Joining Alliant and/or opening a Share CD can be done online, via mail (application available for download,), or by phone (800.328.1935). Note: while it is highly unlikely many people would use the application download to join Alliant or open a Share CD, the download provides a lot of useful information.

If your application is approved, you will become a member of Alliant Credit Union and must maintain a minimum $5 balance in your Alliant savings account.

Just a $25 initial deposit required to open your account (plus, we'll make a complimentary $5 deposit for you!)

As part of Alliant’s “evolution to digital banking,” all its limited-access branches located in airports in California, Illinois, Texas, and Virginia have been closed, as have the last two full-service branches in Chicago.

We are a digital credit union. If you need to talk to a human, give us a call at 800-328-1935 or send us a secure message in our mobile app or online banking.

Alliant participates in the CO-OP ATM network, but not the Shared Branch network.

Funding and Other Details

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

• Funding – ACH*, check (paper application only), or internal transfer, or shared branch transaction.
• Ownership – Individual, joint, and trust.
• CO-OP Shared Branch Participant – No.
• Maturing Funds – Cashier’s check to address on file or transferred to an Alliant CU deposit account.
• Dividends – Compound/credited monthly and can be paid out by check to the address on file or transferred to an Alliant CU savings account without penalty.
• Grace Period – 10 calendar days before automatic renewal.
• Beneficiaries – Unlimited, percentages can be assigned, Social Security number or ITIN required. Individuals and trusts can be designated as a beneficiary.
• Credit Check – Soft pull.

*More than seven years ago, Alliant began offering same-day funds availability for incoming ACH transfer that have been initiated from other financial institutions. According to Alliant’s Money Transfer FAQs,

With same-day ACH, all ACH transfers sent from your originating financial institution by 1:45pm CT will post by 5:00pm the same day!

The limit for same-day ACH transfers is $25,000 per day. This is the same limit that Alliant has for all ACH transfers.

Credit Union Overview

Alliant Credit Union has an overall health grade of "A+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 2.30% (excellent), based on September 30, 2023 data. In the past year, Alliant has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $764.68 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 5.74%. Please refer to our financial overview of Alliant Credit Union (NCUA Charter # 67955) for more details.

Ten years after United Airlines was founded, a small group of the company’s employees came together to organize a credit union in October 1935. At the end of the first year, the newly established United Airlines Employees’ Credit Union had 146 members and $5,088 in assets. The FOM was opened to organizations outside the airline industry in 2003, and since that time, Alliant has grown to become the seventh largest credit union in the country, with more than 1.4 million members and assets in excess of $19 billion.

How the 18-Month Share CD Compares to 2-Year CDs

Given Alliant’s flexible term-lengths (18-23 months), comparing the 18-month Share CD to 2-years CDs is appropriate. When compared to 2-year CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are nationally available and have minimum deposit requirements of $75k or less, one credit union has a higher rate than currently offered on the Alliant Credit Union 18-month Share CD. The following table compares the 18-month Share CD to the two highest-rate 2-year CDs from other credit unions and the two highest-rate 2-year CDs from banks.

How the 12-Month Share CD Compares to 18-Month CDs

Given Alliant’s flexible term-lengths (12-17 months), comparing the 12-month Share CD to 18-month CDs is apt. When compared to 18-month CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are nationally available and have minimum deposit requirements of $75k or less, two banks and two credit unions have higher rates than currently offered on the Alliant Credit Union 12-month Share CD. The following table compares the 12-month Share CD to the two highest-rate 18-month CDs from other credit unions and the two highest-rate 18-month CDs from banks.