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Archive for the ‘Credit Union’ Category

Passageways- leading bank and credit union intranet portal provider introduced two new modules that can be select by financial institutes to customize their individual portal framework. These two new products are knowledge management application and learning management application, both applications are very useful for credit unions, banks and other financial institutions to enhance their performance, supervision, knowledge sharing, resource management and inter communication.

The knowledge management application is extremely helpful to those employees working at client sites and need to search the portal in order to get assistance from concern staff back in company or need to access portal for frequently asked questions. Another exciting feature of this knowledge management application is the ability for credit unions, banks and financial institutions to embed a search box in their public Web sites so customers and members visiting their sites can find information for themselves.

Second application is the Learning Management Application, dedicated to the needs of trainer and training managers, provides a Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) compliant system, a collection of standards and specifications for Web-based e-learning. This application enables training managers to create, track, deliver and monitor all training initiatives seamlessly through the portal. The application’s SCORM compliance gives the portal the ability to deliver training materials and feed from content providers such as ABA for compliance testing and other training initiatives.

According to Christopher Beltran, VP and co-founder of Passageways, “The launch of these two customizable products adds further information management capabilities to the Passageways portal”. Launch of these two valuable products not only benefit the current clients of passageways but also attract other credit unions and banks to have customized individual intranet portals from passageways. Christopher Beltran adds “These applications enable our clients to do a lot more on their portal infrastructure—eliminating the need to manage multiple vendors for their business processes.”

The largest credit unions in America, based on the latest credit union ratings available for the first six months of 2009 show that the Navy federal credit union is the largest and with the biggest assets credit union in the US, while the credit union of Arizona State is the one ending the list of the top 100 credit unions in the country. The share growth of these credit unions is very strong and the members consider the credit unions a safe place to keep their money and a beneficial institution to borrow money from. The credit union ratings as published show that since 2004 almost one million new members have been drawn to these institutions – referring only to the top 100. The ratings and statistics also show that the loans and credit cards issued by the largest credit unions have significantly increased during the last 4 years.

According to these ratings, the top 20 credit unions in the US based on their memberships are: Navy Federal Federal Credit Union

Merrifield, VA. 3,194,292 members.

2. State Employees Credit Union

Raleigh, NC. 1,498,062 members.

3. Pentagon Federal Credit Union

Alexandria, VA. 864,803 members.

4. The Golden 1 Credit Union

Sacramento, CA. 694,836 members.

5. Security Service Federal Credit Union

San Antonio, TX. 681,353 members.

6. Boeing Employees Credit Union

Tukwila, WA. 588,755 members.

7. America First Federal Credit Union

Ogden, UT. 484,291 members.

8. Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union

Tampa, FL. 471,441 members.

9. Schoolsfirst Federal Credit Union

Santa Ana, CA. 400,721 members.

10. Digital Federal Credit Union

Marlborough, MA. 370,309 members.

11. Desert Schools Federal Credit Union

Phoenix, AZ. 364,261 members.

12. Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union

Harrisburg, PA. 350,812 members.

13. Alaska USA Federal Credit Union

Anchorage, AK. 348,933 members.

14. Vystar Credit Union

Jacksonville, FL. 347,123 members.

15. Wescom Central Credit Union

Pasadena, CA. 340,620 members.

16. Mountain America Federal Credit Union

West Jordan, UT. 319,361 members.

17. Redstone Federal Credit Union

Huntsville, AL. 304,825 members.

18. Municipal Credit Union

New York, NY. 301,068 members.

19. ESL Federal Credit Union

Rochester, NY. 298,288 members.

20. Patelco Credit Union

San Francisco, CA. 297,626 members.

So far a few banks and credit unions have increased their IRA CD offerings.  One, a small community bank in Texas, had a 2.53% APY for 2-years with a one-time bump option.  The rate didn’t last long so I won’t name them.  However, I might in the future so you may want to stay in touch.   Wink, Wink, nod, nod.  

The big player seems to be Alliant Credit Union.  They actually have CD rate specials quite often.  If you are an existing member the process is much faster than trying to become a member and then get a CD done.  So even if you run out of time, I think it would be a good idea to complete their process.  The hardest thing with them is they don’t guarantee the rate beyond the current day.  So if you put the IRA process into gear and the rate drops, you’re out of luck.  Anyone can become a member by first joining the National PTA.  This is $25,  I believe.  You then can complete the Alliant member application.  Be forewarned that their online process has proven difficult for many in the past.  It asks a series of questions about information it pulls from the credit bureaus and I’ve known several people that claimed the information was erroneous and thus they couldn’t complete it online.  You can always go the route of snail mail if necessary.  Anyway, the current highest IRA CD rates are as follows:

1y — 2.30% APY


2Y — 2.55% APY


3Y — 3.00% APY


5Y — 3.25% APY.

Their NCUA# is 67955 and they are based in the windy city of Chicago, IL.  They are quite large with over $6 Billion in assets.  As of March 2009 data, they have a 4-star rating.

Another big player is Ally Bank, but they don’t offer rates for IRA CDs.  People’s Trust Federal Credit Union has an 18-month IRA for 2.12% APY.  They are based in Houston, TX.  They have a 2-star rating.  People’s NCUA # is 177.  Looks like they have been around for a while.  I did have to make quite a few clicks to get to the rates.  I hate that.  The link below should save you some time.

If you’re wanting to stick with a bank try Nationwide Bank, FDIC# 34710.  Their process isn’t too difficult.  They are about $2.25 Billion in assets, had a nice second quarter profit, and 4.5 stars.  Rates are:

1Y — 2.05% APY


2Y — 2.35% APY


3Y — 2.60% APY


5Y — 3.20% APY.

Finding the Best IRA Certificate of Deposit Rates just takes a little searching.