While Feds Hold Steady on Interest Rates, Top Certificate Rates Soar Says Alliant Credit Union
Outpacing the rate of inflation, some certificate rates of return are on the rise – offering Americans a way to get their savings back on track
With the recent announcement of an unchanged interest rate by the Federal Reserve coupled with a rate of inflation holding steady at 3.7%, economic stress continues to grip American households. Rising costs, a weak stock market, soaring home prices and mortgage rates to match and a personal savings rate at its lowest this year (just 3.4%) paint a bleak picture, but one often unheard-of financial tool is seeing record rate increases and may offer some relief: certificates.
Certificates offer people the ability to set money aside for a set amount of time at a high fixed rate and allow them to keep their money safe during uncertain economic times.
Top certificates have stayed steady in their trajectory of continuing to beat the inflation rate. Today, Alliant Credit Union announced its highest certificate rates to date, increasing 18-month regular certificates from 5.05% annual percentage yield (APY) to 5.30% APY and 18-month jumbo certificates from 5.10% APY to 5.35% APY, among the top rates currently on the market.
"In this economic climate, we are seeing many people struggling to get their savings back on track," said Sumeet Grover, Chief Digital Officer for Alliant Credit Union, who also leads product strategy. "Not much of the public knows about certificates when it comes to their everyday financial practices. But certificates offer a rate of return that can help American families safely improve their financial wellbeing."
According to a mid-September survey by Primerica, 51% of respondents earning between $30,000 and $130,000 said they have negative views about their finances, the largest share since this survey began in 2020.
"As the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates steady, we at Alliant wanted to go further to help members who are looking to get ahead financially by increasing our certificate rates of return," added Grover.
Alliant Credit Union is a member-based financial institution, joinable through numerous partner organizations. However, anyone can join by becoming a member of Foster Care to Success (FC2S) when opening an account, Alliant will pay the one-time $5 membership fee to FC2S on the member's behalf.