Louisiana money market accounts: Who offers the best rates?

Below are the highest yielding money market account rates serving citizens of the state of Louisiana.

If you are strictly after the best interest rate then you have a variety of options that will provide you with similar yields. The question you need to ask yourself is, “what type of minimum balance can I keep?” Most money market accounts provide a given interest rate based on a certain account balance. The more money you are able to keep in these accounts, the higher the interest rate you will generally receive.

After sorting through dozens of interest rate tables belonging to banks and credit unions serving the state of Louisiana, we have found that in most instances you will be able to lock in more competitive rates with national institutions rather than local ones. Before committing to one of the banks/credit unions listed below, you may want to browse through our archive of money market accounts.

Keep in mind, money market rates are time-sensitive in nature, therefor you may want to refer to the date of this article for accuracy. As with all money market accounts, the interest rates are variable and are subject to change without notice.

Top 2 MMA (money market account) rates in Louisiana:

(click on the institution for more information)

• Total Choice Federal Credit Union: LA Place, LA. Money market account yielding 2.02% APY with a minimum balance of $10,000. The account rates are set up in two tiers based on minimum balance. The first tier provides an interest rate of only 0.75% APY for all balances up to $9,999. The second tier contains all balances above $10,000 and yields the 2.02% APY.  Total Choice Federal Credit Union is open to all persons who live, work, or worship, in Saint Charles, Saint John, and Saint James Parishes. Family members and co-workers can also take advantage of credit union benefits. Members can enjoy credit union services with a savings account deposit of just $5.00 and one-time membership fee of $5.00. Contact (985) 783-2905
• Investar Bank: Baton Rouge, LA. Money market account yielding 1.95% APY with a minimum balance of $2,500. If your balance falls below $2,500 at anytime during the month you will incur a $10 fee. You are entitled to 6 withdrawals per month, 3 of which can be made by check (each additional withdrawal will cost $10). Investar Bank is a locally-owned, full service community bank headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The bank offers a full array of banking products and services for individuals, professionals and small and medium-sized businesses, including mortgage loans and construction loans. They offer a number of services that used to be reserved only for the large banks, such as bill paying services, cash management and real time balances. They have one location in Baton Rouge and one in Port Allen, Louisiana. Contact: (225) 757-7117

Both of the above institutions are federally insured by either the FDIC or NCUA. If you live in Louisiana and know of a better money market rate offered through your local institution, please share by leaving a comment.

Louisiana certificate of deposit rates - Who offers the best?

Below are the top 3 certificate of deposit rates available to the residents of Louisiana. After researching several banks and credit unions in the region (and their accompanying CD rates) I noticed that in most cases local community-oriented banks will generally provide better interest rates than the large national banks. However, this is not a common trend throughout the country. Many states in the northeast encounter much lower savings rates offered locally than those offered by large national banks.

Here are the highest yielding CD rates for Louisiana residents. These come in the form of 12 month, 24 month and 36 month CD’s. You will almost always find higher rates packaged together with longer maturities, therefor I listed the rates that beat the national average by the highest margins for their given maturities.

Best CD Rates (Louisiana)

clicking on the institution will bring you to their rates page (except for WYMAR Federal CU)

WYMAR Federal Credit Union: Geismar, Louisiana. 12 month CD yielding 3.30% APY with a minimum deposit of $5,000. WYMAR Federal Credit Union is very exclusive as far as memberships are concerned. They occupy most of the state of Louisiana, however only allow members that fall within their selected group of employers. Their savings rates were last updated in April of ‘09, therefor may be slightly outdated. You my need to contact this institution directly for current rates (rather than referring to their website’s rate page).

Riverland Credit Union: New Orleans, Louisiana. 24 month CD yielding 3.50% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. Riverland Financial CU is a not-for-profit credit union whose earnings are returned to it’s members in the form of higher savings rates and lower loan rates. Like WYMAR, Riverland CU has fairly exclusive membership requirements in which you must work for, or be a family member of, a select group of employers in the greater Louisiana area. Visit their website for further eligibility requirements.

Advancial Federal Credit Union: Lafayette, Louisiana. 36 month CD yielding 3.80% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. Advancial Fed CU is another not-for-profit credit union serving a select group of people whom qualify for membership based on their employers. You may also qualify for membership if you are a in any way related to a current member or to someone who works for one of the selected companies. Visit their website to view a full list of eligible employers.

All of the institutions mentioned above are insured by the NCUA. Your deposits are federally insured by the US government (up to $250,000).

WYMAR Federal Credit Union certificate of deposit rates

WYMAR Federal Credit Union currently offers some of the highest CD rates in the country (Thanks to BankVibe reader John for forwarding a link to their CD rates page). At first glance these rates look like a glimpse back in time to about 6 months ago when 3% CD rates were commonplace for short-term maturities. However…

Before I list their unbelievable rates I would just like to point out that, according to their rates page, these rates were last updated in April ‘09, so there is a slight chance that they could be out of date and the employees at the credit union simply forgot to update this page. Hopefully that is not the case.

WYMAR Federal Credit Union CD Rates:

(as seen on their rates page)

Regular CDs	Term	Rate	APY*
$5,000.00 - $74,999.99	3 Months	2.75%	2.79%
	6 Months	3.00%	3.04%
	12 Months	3.25%	3.30%
	24 Months	3.50%	3.56%
	36 Months	3.50%	3.56%
	48 Months	3.50%	3.56%
	60 Months	3.50%	3.56%
$75,000.00 - $100,000.00	3 Months	3.00%	3.04%
	6 Months	3.25%	3.30%
	12 Months	3.50%	3.56%
	24 Months	3.75%	3.82%
	36 Months	3.75%	3.82%
	48 Months	3.75%	3.82%
	60 Months	3.75%	3.82%

Compare these rates to some of the larger national banks’ CD rates and you will see why we have a hunch they could be outdated.

Who can join WYMAR Federal Credit Union?

Field of membership is limited to the following individuals:

• Employees of BASF Corporation who work in Geismar, Louisiana and members of their immediate family
• Employees of this credit union and members of their immediate family
• Un-remarried spouses of persons who died while within the field of membership of this credit union
• Persons retired as pensioners or annuitants from BASF Corporation
• Organizations of such persons

Immediate family member eligibility is limited to:

• Spouse
• Children
• Grandchildren
• Relatives by blood or marriage living under the same roof in the same household
• Daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and grandchildren living under the same roof in the same household with children who are eligible members of this credit union.

Contact WYMAR Federal Credit Union for further details.

6 month CD with savings rate of 3.04% APY!

As you may know, finding certificates of deposit yielding 3% (plus) has been a challenge lately for shorter term maturities. However, thanks to BankVibe reader Christie I have two outstanding CD rates to report on which are being offered through the same credit union. Both of these outstanding rates became effective as of March 12, 2009 and may be subject to change. [WYMAR has an exclusive membership. Scroll further down this post to see who can join. If you are looking for the best CD rates available nationwide you will have to search by state using the search bar to the upper-right.]

The first is a 6 month CD yielding 3.04% APY through WYMAR Federal Credit Union out of Louisiana. This carries a minimum deposit of $5,000 and a maximum deposit of $75,000. WYMAR Federal Credit Union’s CD’s are federally insured by the NCUA (National Credit Union Administration), which is the FDIC equivelant for credit unions.

The second rate is equally impressive. It is a 12 month CD with an interest rate of 3.25% or 3.30% APY. The 1 year CD carries the same requirements as the six month CD as far as minimum and maximum deposits are concerned.

WYMAR Federal Credit Union is based out of Geismar, Louisiana and was established in 1958. Like alot of local credit unions, Wymar is a not-for-profit financial institution, democratically-controlled, and organized in a cooperative spirit where all members are equal shareholders.

Unfortunately WYMAR Federal Credit Union has some very strict membership requirements which most of us probably can’t hack. For starters you must work for their very limited number of designated companies which are all based out of Louisiana. If you dont fall into that category than you must be a family member of someone working for those companies or a family member of an employee at the credit union. See Details on who can become a member.