Alliant Credit Union CDs Expired

Cash back up to 10000 spend, then 1.5

I did the same thing. I've been a member for many years with the belief it would be a consistent leader. It was my go-to "bank." I took a lot of savings acct cash out after it stopped being competitive. Cuurently, it's 3.1%. I now connect the higher 5+% interest banks to my Alliant saving/checking accounts thinking it will get back to the "good ol' days." Truthfully, I might have closed my accounts if it weren't for: a) me having to re-adjust my auto bill pay set-ups; and 2) Alliant being one of the few offering interest on checking with no minimum and no fees (now it's .25%).

I may bite on the CD since it will be an easy transfer. (Also, to those who have the Alliant credit card, it pays 2.5% cash back on everything? My Citi Double Cash only pays 2%. Should i get this as my new :go-to" card?)

Not suspicious. Many online banks and credit unions have rates like these. There are some even higher. Money is covered anyway regardless

My 2cents:
For high state/local tax states, having Treasuries be state/local tax free is HUGE. I'm from CA and the state tax rate is ~10%, so that's an automatic bump of 0.5% on rates (rough calculation). I'm doing taxes now, and the savings is very apparent. I'm a total Treasuries convert now. Treasuries come in all durations, but currently the longer you go out, the interest rate decreases. Sweet spot is the shorter ranges, 4wk to maybe 26wk.

Treasuries are backed by the full faith of the US Gov (not FDIC limits). So I am not concerned about Treasuries going bankrupt and not getting all money back. I use the Treasury Direct website. They are not sticky about money like brokerage firms are when buying/paying out (ie they pay out right away when matures to your bank acct on file -- in my case, a day EARLY!) and they take money from your bank acct ON THE ISSUE DAY, NOT THE AUCTION DAY LIKE ALL BROKERAGES to buy near the end of the issue day. You can set up autorenewal up to a year (so like 25 times for the 4wk bills) and you can change that up anytime before auction.

From the Treasury website of last 20 auctions for Bills (took lastest sampling of ea):

Date CUSIP Issue Date Maturity Date Investment Rate
13-Week 912797FS1 03/14/2024 06/13/2024 5.395%
26-Week 912797KK2 03/14/2024 09/12/2024 5.308%
4-Week 912797JM0 03/12/2024 04/09/2024 5.375%
8-Week 912797JV0 03/12/2024 05/07/2024 5.398%
17-Week 912797KN6 03/12/2024 07/09/2024 5.370%
52-Week 912797KA4 02/22/2024 02/20/2025 4.950%

I also sort of use Alliant Credit Union (ACU) as a HUB for transfers in and out based on my review of savings and checking rates about 2 years ago. The problem with all these high rate leaders is they always "bait & switch" at some point. I know/knew ACU was no longer the leader in Savings & Checking Act rates, but I haven't worried much since the bulk has been transferred to Vanguard. I also maintain some memberships in other credit unions (maintain minimum act balances) in case they become the "Rate Leader of the Day".

WHAT I DON"T LIKE: Alliant is NOT a member of the Credit Unions (CU) "Shared Branching Network" (SBN). For those unfamiliar with it, if you want to do an "in person" / walk in transaction with Alliant CU (no branches in your town), you can walk in to any member CU Network such as your local Teachers CU, and this Teachers CU will act as an agent for Alliant and process your transactions. I have used this service at other CUs and it has come in handy!

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/banking/shared-branching-credit-unions [sharedbranching.org]

Regarding your Q about "Should I get this as my new go-to card?
My Reaction: Maybe? People have different spending habits and their different CC strategies differ to reap the most rewards. For instance, some folks pay the annual fee for higher cash back rewards & I am guessing they did a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and the annual rewards received were greater than the annual fee paid. And, the "Net" rewards received were more than alternative "No Annual Fee" CC cash back alternatives.

I on the other hand, currently, use a strategy where I use the free 5% rotating 3 month rewards CCs and and I use this 2.5% Alliant Visa CC for everything else not covered by 5%.

Caution: To be safe, you need to watch these CC's to confirm you are still using the leader, because CC leaders change. ACU was the 2.5% leader although I am not sure they are still the leader today. I originally came to ACU because of the rates, and the CC was icing on the cake.

Like I said earlier, I like that Alliant still offers the extended warranty coverage that basically every other CC has dropped. It seems like a lot of "stuff" is built with planned obsolescence and it is nice to have a free year. When you buy something with a manufacturer warranty, you log into a "Square Trade" clone like website, upload your receipt, S/N, & warranty (I believe). Haven't used the ACU warranty, but may be soon. I bought a pair of Shokz headphones and the battery is failing.

Hope this helps!

UPDATE: HERE IS A REDDIT THREAD THAT TRACKS & COMPARES CASH BACK CCS:

https://www.reddit.com/r/CreditCa...d_in_2024/

Rates over the past month, was my reference. You are correct about the last six months in general. I purchase mine through Schwab and track new issues almost every day.

Rates over the past month, was my reference. You are correct about the last six months in general. I purchase mine through Schwab and track new issues almost every day.

I don't agree at all. I have also been watching rates every day for a while now. Best rates have been between for maturities of 10 - 12 months and been sitting at around 5.4% for quite some time now. Today was the first time in a while I saw the rate move to 5.45%. I have multiple CDs using the ladder method. The best CD I have rate now was purchased in Oct. 2023. That rate was 5.8%. Overall the market has gone down since then and hasn't moved much in the past couple of months.

i currently get 5.25 with my savings account, not sure its worth move all the money over for .25 difference

What bank is your savings account with?

From their Website:

We're 100% digital and we're not-for-profit.

I can't imagine a not-for-profit financial institution.. but everyone here likes them. It's a pass for me but thought this was interesting. Also, may not be FDIC, but insured by NCUA

i currently get 5.25 with my savings account, not sure its worth move all the money over for .25 difference

They're known to be the best credit Union across the whole country

Not sure who told you that but that is certainly not true. Navy Federal for sure is higher on the list than these guys and I don't think Navy is even in the top 3 anymore. As for these guys they used to be a great credit union top 5 for sure. Nowadays the credit offers and customer service is horrible, credit unions are still the best over big banks but these guys are not even top 5.

Not sure who told you that but that is certainly not true. Navy Federal for sure is higher on the list than these guys and I don't think Navy is even in the top 3 anymore. As for these guys they used to be a great credit union top 5 for sure. Nowadays the credit offers and customer service is horrible, credit unions are still the best over big banks but these guys are not even top 5.