NWFCU 18 month CD 6.00% APY - no longer open to all?

It's really not clear on the National Wildlife Federation site what the minimum donation is to become a member ($30 is the lowest pre-filled option, but there is also an "other" option). I noticed that you can buy a gift membership for $15, so that may be the minimum for membership. Otherwise, you can have someone else buy your membership for $15.

Thanks lhendricks!

Looks like one can join the National Wildlife Federation for $15 here.

evanm said: I called and confirmed that just joining the NWF makes one eligible.

Also, you can fund with a credit card, but they said it was up to the card issuer as to whether it was treated as a cash advanceYou can fund with cc/debit card but only up to $1000. The minimum for this certificate is $10,000, so choose the ach option to fund. I tried with cc/debit and the application craps out when you try to change the $ amount at the end (for funding).

goldsheet said: online application asks for term in days, so how many days is 18 months ?
18 months = 540 days

Anyone knows what is the maximum deposit?

I opened the accounts online last night and spoke with a CSR this morning.

According to the CSR, there is no maximum deposit amount. They can send you forms to add PODs.

The number to call for the POD forms or to follow up on an application is 703.709.8900 ext.70035 or
800.336.3384 ext.70035.

I opened the CD at their branch yesterday. It required $5 min deposit on a saving account.
The process took about 10 min. They will inform you 1/2 month prior the maturity. I selected
an option to transfer fun to the saving account when the CD matures. After that i can do
ACH (pull) to my other bank.

glxpass said: Looks like YMMV on National Wildlife Membership qualifying for eligibility in the CU. I've a feeling it depends on the CSR you talk to. From Banking Guy's post about this deal, which includes that and other information:

"Update 11/10/07: National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is listed as a qualifying organization. According to this FW post membership into NWF qualifies you for credit union membership. I just spoke with a credit union service rep and he stated that only employees and volunteers of NWF qualify. At the NWF website, there is a separate registration page for volunteers that's different than the membership page. Some additional details I received from the CSR include: 1) possible hard credit pull (CSR wasn't exactly sure), and 2) special CD cannot be opened online. It can be opened by mail or by phone. If opened by phone, funds must be available in a credit union account (such as the savings account) where it can be transfered into the CD."

For further information on the 5-day grace period and other CD terms, see the Certificate Disclosure Form

Can you provide a link to Banking Guy's post? I can't find it in this topic. Apparently mh83 was able to open the promotional CD online. Don't know how mh83 joined, though.

Link for u

Onenote said: glxpass said: Looks like YMMV on National Wildlife Membership qualifying for eligibility in the CU. I've a feeling it depends on the CSR you talk to. From Banking Guy's post about this deal, which includes that and other information:

"Update 11/10/07: National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is listed as a qualifying organization. According to this FW post membership into NWF qualifies you for credit union membership. I just spoke with a credit union service rep and he stated that only employees and volunteers of NWF qualify. At the NWF website, there is a separate registration page for volunteers that's different than the membership page. Some additional details I received from the CSR include: 1) possible hard credit pull (CSR wasn't exactly sure), and 2) special CD cannot be opened online. It can be opened by mail or by phone. If opened by phone, funds must be available in a credit union account (such as the savings account) where it can be transfered into the CD."

For further information on the 5-day grace period and other CD terms, see the Certificate Disclosure Form

Can you provide a link to Banking Guy's post, I can't find it on this topic.

Onenote said: ENTbb said: Link for u


Thanks. It will be interesting to learn more about how mh83 was able to apply online.

I agree. Also would like to learn how he/she qualified for entry into NWFCU (NWF membership or whatever).

Hope he/she posts.

Does anyone know if they do a hard pull while joining the CU?

If you are currently employed by one of these companies, you're invited to join NWFCU today!

If your company belongs to either the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Vienna-Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce, or the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), you are eligible to join Northwest Federal Credit Union.

This seems to imply that it's for employees of the enrolled companies, or for members of the chambers of commerce listed above. OTOH, Northern Virginia Radio Control Club, Inc. is one of the companies, and I would be surprised if they have any employees.

mnsweeps said: Tata Consultancy Services

Even offshore companies are eligible for membership . Looks like this CU has a global view of things
Given that TCS has a few thousand US employees, I would hardly call them offshore.

so has anyone successfully signed up and funded a CD?

bedrocked said: so has anyone successfully signed up and funded a CD?

Looks like the only people who have opened one did so by calling.

I just called and the CU and call center are closed today (11/12/07).

calisoldier83 said: How much do you guys recommend putting in a CD of the money that is currentely sitting in a high interest savings account? What point is the CD FDIC insured?

It's a tough question because the correct answer depends to such a great extent on your personal circumstances, which we do not know.

This CD has a term short enough to be fairly safe from incipient inflation. You should leave enough in your savings for current needs and for needs you can foresee in the next 540 days. This is the best CD out there right now, from the standpoint of return and term, so you should jump on it if you believe a CD is right for you, i.e., if you have money you can lock up for 540 days. Be careful and thoughtful, though. If you have to break this CD you will be charged up to six months' interest, as a penalty for early withdrawal.

This CD, because it is with a credit union, is insured by the NCUA and not the FDIC. Still, the insurance has the backing of the federal government, as is the case with the FDIC. If you go in alone you will have insurance up to $100,000.00.

I hope this is helpful, at least a little bit. Good luck to you and thank you.

Membership in the National Wildlife Federation DID meet the membership requirements for the credit union. I was able to open a share account as well as open the 18 month certificate over the phone this morning and Funded both via an ACH.

Furthermore, if you are an employee or retiree of (almost) any federal agency ( Treasury Dept, FBI, Secret Service, US Department of Defense etc) you're eligible.

If I had known that I'd have saved $15 & not joined the NWF, but what the heck, I like animals anyway.

Their new accounts rep was very friendly & helpful, so I'm well satisfied with them so far!

Thanks mh83 for that detailed report.

If you wanted to deposit more money, couldn't you open up a second CD? Or was that not allowed?

Excellent Post, questions from a newbie:

What's a POD account? I have more than 100K to out into an account, how would you recommend I deposit this?

Thanks!

mh83 said: To answer the questions posed to me on this thread:

- Yes, I applied for membership to NWFCU and the promo CD completely online last Friday night.
- I listed membership in the National Wildlife Federation for qualification to the CU - screenshot. (click on the image to enlarge).
- I funded both accounts by ACH.
- I called NWFCU Saturday morning and was told my accounts were opened but I would not have online access until after the holiday – screenshot.

I applied for the accounts based solely on the information given on NWFCU’s website. According to the website, and pointed out by OP, “If you are an employee or member of any of the more than 400 Member Companies… you are eligible to join NWFCU”. Since the National Wildlife Federation did not have a ‘staff only’ designation next to it like some of the other Member Companies, I assumed membership in NWF alone would meet the criteria for eligibility to the credit union. I did call NWFCU the following morning and the CSR confirmed that that indeed was the case.

I didn’t risk opening the CD for more than 100K because at the time of my application, I didn’t know if there was a maximum deposit limit. I found out the next morning that there were no limits but the CSR indicated that since my account was already opened, I couldn’t add any additional amounts to it. I then inquired about opening a POD account to maximize NCUA coverage. She wasn't sure how to do this so I didn’t pursue the matter with her. She did offer to send me the POD forms. I've subsequently learned that the forms can also be downloaded from the website.

This CD is obviously a fantastic deal given the current rate environment. Thanks again lhendricks92 for posting and calling attention to the promo!