California Coast Credit Union: 9.5% APY 5 Month CD

Update 5/6/24: There’s also a $95 referral bonus for each party if you sign up via referral. Do not leave your referrals in the comments below, you can share them in this dedicated post.

Update 4/18/24: Available again.

Looks like this is also available for people outside of CA, more information here.

Offer at a glance

The Offer

Direct link to offer

  • California Coast Credit Union is offering a 9% APY 5 month celebration CD. Minimum balance is $500 and maximum is $3,000. You also need a checking account with eStatements and at least one transaction per month to be qualified

The Fine Print

  • Offer excludes business and individual retirement accounts. New Money only.
  • A primary member is allowed to open one (1) Celebration Certificate Account under the same member name and related tax identification number.
  • The minimum deposit required to open the Celebration Certificate is $500.
  • Certificate opening deposit balance cannot exceed $3,000.
  • The following conditions also apply: A qualifying checking account with eStatements is required, and must remain active with at least 1 transaction per month, during the certificate term.
  • Eligible transactions include, but are not limited to, Direct Deposit, Preauthorized Payments, Checks, ATM, POS, Debit Card, and Bill Pay.
  • As an alternative, the following products existing or opened within 30 days of the Certificate Account date can be substituted for the checking account requirement: a consumer loan (excluding share secured loans and Mastercard credit card account), or a minimum balance of $5,000 in a money market account, a regular certificate account, or an IRA certificate account. The stated alternative deposit account must remain open for the certificate term period. You will have a 30-day grace period to meet the requirements. If the conditions are not met, the stated APY may be reduced to the APY in effect for a 3-Month Certificate Account for the remainder of the term.
  • Serving anyone who lives or works in San Diego or Riverside counties.
  • New members – a one-time $5 membership fee and savings account required.
  • All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them

Avoiding Fees

Monthly Fees

The CD has no monthly fees. A checking account is also required, they offer a free checking account with no monthly fees as well.

Early Account Termination Fee

I wasn’t able to find a fee schedule so I’m unsure if there is any early account termination fee or not.

Our Verdict

Update: Not worth doing due to the hard pull

If you fund the full $3,000 then you’ll earn $112.5. I basically just see this as a saving bonus for that amount, although a checking account does need to be opened and one transaction per month needs to be completed as well. The upside is the credit card funding which some people will find useful. If we can confirm this is a soft pull then I do think it’s worth doing. If anybody goes for this deal, please share your experiences in the comments below.

Hat tip to reader Matt K

Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
    William Charles
  • On April 18, 2024, 18:55

View Comments (484)

  • What's the latest situation going on? Will I be required to go into the branch to finish the application? And CC funding is dead (mark as cash advance)? I am OOS. Wondering if I am too late to the game, but the rate for CD is still temptingly high.

  • Funded through my Wyndham Business Earner credit card - was coded as a cash advance :(

  • I applied online with a referral and used Chase Ink for the funding. I was required to visit a branch for ID verification. I was required to unfreeze Experian in the branch and they did a soft pull. There was a Chex pull on the application date.

    While in the branch they explained they have a new system on the backend and there was an issue with the CC funding I had set up. They were unable to get it resolved during my visit and I was asked to call in. When I called, they said my charge was rejected and they would try again but to call the card issuer. When I called Chase, they said that the charge was declined because it went over my cash advance limit. It seems that the system has changed and cards are now being run as cash advances.

    If you are in the area and the lower $50 referral and the CD are worthwhile for you then go for it. If you're out of the area or interested in CC funding then it seems you should not bother.

    I was also told in branch there is an additional $6 fee ($11 fees in total) but that they would try to waive it.

    • Thanks for the DP. I was holding off applying for this one hoping to use it to meet the sign up bonus requirement for my next credit card. But it looks like it won't work anymore.

      • Yeah, sadly, it seems their system has changed and now things code as cash advance. There is a $50 referral and the CD. If I hadn't already applied or gone to the branch I probably would not have followed through. If you are near a branch it's not too difficult to set up.

    • I called in and they 100% said you MUST apply in branch for all their cards. Bummer!

  • Just want to check: the monthly dividends/interest in the CD also earn the 9.5% APY right? It's not limited to just the initial $3,000? This is my first CD and this bank is terrible with documents/terms

    • might depend on how the cd is structured (sometimes they give you the option to have the dividend deposited into the cd or deposited to another account, you'd want to make sure deposit to cd is the option selected)- that's assuming they compound/credit any dividends prior to maturity

  • Whenever I try to push a transfer from Cal Coast, it says the amount is over the transfer limit no matter what amount I put ($1). Anyone else having this problem?

  • @2,

    I just pulled all 3 of my reports. I confirmed that there was no hard pull from CCCU on any of them.

  • Has anyone used US Bank card or PNC card for cc funding for this CU recently? Was it coded as purchase or cash advance?

  • Question if anybody knows:

    If I were to open the checking and savings account first (with the $2100 total CC funding).

    Would I be able to do the $3000 CC funding for the CD account if I were to open that at a later date?

    • I am wondering the same thing. I'd like to open the CD but am not sure whether the cc funding would code as purchase or CA on my credit card so I am hoping to be able to open the savings first

    • You probably would but why take the chance that the promo ends or something else would go wrong?

      • Thanks. Just trying to optimize the credit card spending.
        Although I would need to be able to get the account open first without having to go to their branch.

  • Can confirm Apple Card works as a purchase (no cash advances allowed anyways). Took 6 days (including weekend) for deposit to show on Cal Coast, but did show on my CC same day. No SUB to churn with Apple Card but 1% cashback is better than nothing.

    Anyone know if the delay of the deposit going through costs us the interest from those days? Or will the CD end date be pushed back to compensate?

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