Digital Federal Credit Union (or DCU) is based out of Marlborough, Massachusetts and is the 14th largest credit union in the country by asset size with just over $10 billion. Despite having a small regional footprint with only 19 branches in Massachusetts and 4 in New Hampshire, they have members in all 50 states totaling just over 1 million.
Although DCU is a full service credit union, for the purpose of this review we will just focus on their CD (certificate of deposit) rates. Their CD accounts can be opened online by consumers in all 50 states.
If you don’t live near a local branch you can still join by becoming a member with one of their partner organizations or by employment if your employer is a participant of their network. You can see all the available paths to membership here, or take a look at some of the quickest and cheapest routes below:
- Join Reach Out For Schools (one-time $10 fee)
- Join the not-for-profit organization Sholan Farms (one-time $25 fee)
- Join SOLF, the Southborough Open Land Foundation (on-time $25 fee)
All of these organizations can be joined while you’re applying for membership.
To see if DCU’s CD rates are right for you, continue reading our review below.
DCU CD Rates + Account Details
Digital Federal Credit Union is a member of the NCUA (FDIC equivalent for credit unions) and all deposits held with them are federally insured up to $250,000 per depositor.
DCU offers 4 types of CD accounts to choose from. These are:
- Regular CDs with terms ranging from 3 to 60 months and minimum deposit requirements of $500.
- Jumbo CDs with terms ranging from 3 to 60 months and a minimum deposit requirement of at least $25,000.
- Jump-Up CDs with terms of 15 and 27 months that allow you to raise your rate once during the CDs duration.
- Quick Start CDs with terms ranging from 3 to 60 months, a minimum deposit requirement of just $100 and a maximum age of 23 years old.
Regular CD Rates
| CD Term | APY |
| 3 – 5 months | 1.51% |
| 6 – 11 months | 1.51% |
| 12 – 23 months | 1.51% |
| 24 – 35 months | 2.02% |
| 36 – 47 months | 2.02% |
| 48 – 59 months | 2.02% |
| 60 months | 2.53% |
To put these yields into perspective, the current national average for a 12 month and a 60 month CD sit at just 1.28% and 1.21% APY, respectively, according to FDIC data.
That said, there are a number of online banks and nationally available credit unions offering 5.00% and 4.50% APY on those same terms following the Fed’s most recent rate hike.
Jumbo CD Rates
| CD Term | APY |
| 3 – 5 months | 1.51% |
| 6 – 11 months | 1.51% |
| 12 – 23 months | 1.51% |
| 24 – 35 months | 2.02% |
| 36 – 47 months | 2.02% |
| 48 – 59 months | 2.02% |
| 60 months | 2.53% |
As noted, these require a minimum deposit of $25,000, however, per the time of this writing they provide the same yields as their standard CDs.
Jump-Up CD Rates
| CD Term | APY |
| 15 months | 1.51% |
| 27 months | 2.02% |
If these Jump-Up CD rates rise after you open one of them, you may notify DCU that you’d like your CD to ‘jump up’ to the new rate. You can do this once during the CD’s term.
Quick Start CD Rates
These products are only available to members under the age of 23 and come with a minimum deposit requirement of just $100.
| CD Term | APY |
| 3 – 5 months | 1.51% |
| 6 – 11 months | 1.51% |
| 12 – 23 months | 1.51% |
| 24 – 35 months | 2.02% |
| 36 – 47 months | 2.02% |
| 48 – 59 months | 2.02% |
| 60 months | 2.53% |
These rates are also the same as their Regular and Jumbo CD rates per the time of this writing.
Compounding and Crediting Interest
All DCU CDs come with daily compounding interest that is credited back to your account monthly.
Grace Period and Early Withdrawal Penalty
DCU CDs will automatically renew with the same term and the going APY if nothing is done at maturity during your grace period. Typically these grace periods are 7 or 10 day windows of time in which you may modify your CD or close it out before it automatically renews, however, when contacted DCU to find out this information after searching through their disclosure forms the representative stated that you’d need to contact them prior to its maturity to prevent it from auto-renewing (as in there is no grace period). If anyone has had a different experience with a DCU CD, please share in the comment section.
If you need access to the funds in your DCU CD prior to its maturity, you will face an early withdrawal penalty fee. The fee structure is as follows:
| CD Term | Early Withdrawal Penalty |
| 3 – 11 months | 60 days’ simple interest |
| 12 – 35 months | 90 days’ simple interest |
| 36 – 60 months | 180 days’ simple interest |
How to Open and Fund your CD
If you’re not currently a member, you’ll need to start here to proceed with the application. This should take about 5 minutes to complete.
To expedite the process, you’ll need to following personal information:
- phone
- home address
- social security number
- driver’s license
Once you’ve joined DCU, you’ll need to fund your account. To complete this you’ll need:
- Your current bank or credit union’s routing number.
- Your current bank account number. This should be the account you’re using to fund your new Digital Federal Credit Union CD.
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