FAQs: Savings Accounts

Federal guidelines state you can make up to six withdrawals per month without a fee. (You can make additional withdrawals if from an ATM or in-person teller).

There’s no monthly maintenance fee and no minimum balance fee on our Money Market Savings Account. This means there’s no charge if your balance falls below $2,500, though you won’t earn the highest interest rate.

You can see our competitive rates table here. You’ll earn the maximum rate as long as you maintain the minimum balance of $2,500.

Certificate Accounts offer a higher rate than a Money Market Savings but in return, you need to commit your funds to a term of between 3 months and five years. You get higher rates the longer you commit the funds, and you get penalized for withdrawals.

With a Money Market Savings, you can earn a good rate without tying up your funds for a fixed term.

The rate you get for a Money Market Savings Account is higher than for a regular Savings Account because the minimum deposit is $2,500 compared to $5.

You also need to maintain a minimum balance of $2,500 to earn the higher rate and annual percentage yield (APY). Both accounts let you make a certain amount of withdrawals.

Our All-Star Savers account allows you to make four withdrawals per month without penalty. There is a $3 fee per additional withdrawal, which is designed to encourage your child to keep saving.

The Christmas Account funds will be automatically deposited into your child’s savings account on November 1 and there is a $5 fee for early withdrawal.

For Certificates, there is a penalty of three months’ dividends for early withdrawal from certificates of one year or less, and a penalty of six months’ dividends for certificates of two years or more.

Upon your child’s 18th birthday, the All-Star Savers account will be closed and all funds will be transferred into a Regular Share savings account.

Both children and adults may hold a Christmas Club Account so the account can roll over when your child turns 18, and funds will be deposited into their Regular Share savings account on November 1 in time for the holiday season.

Your child’s Certificate accounts may also roll over when they turn 18 and they can access the funds at the planned maturation date.

We offer three accounts so you can get what you need and your child can get what they want!

• Choose our All-Star Savers if your child wants to make regular contributions of any amount, any time, and make up to four fee-free withdrawals per month. Open with just $5.

• Choose a Christmas Account if you want to give your child practice saving up for something special during the holiday season, or something big like a bicycle or electronic device. Open with just $5.

• Choose a Certificate Account if you want to make a single deposit of at least $500 and then your child can watch the money grow over time while resisting making withdrawals.

Your money is safe and secure at Baton Rouge Telco Federal Credit Union with savings federally insured to at least $250,000 and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government through the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

Yes! We also offer a Special Savings account in the event you have a need to keep a separate savings for something…well, special.

The $5 on hold in your savings account is your owner’s share of the credit union. This will be on hold for the life of the account.

Yes, in order to establish membership with Baton Rouge Telco, you must open a savings account with a $5 minimum balance. The $5 will be held for the life of the account.

The best option for minors is our Coverdell Education Savings account. You need to open this account on behalf of your child before they turn 18. Anyone in the family, including the child, may contribute to the account. Unlike an IRA, the contributions don’t need to be from earned income. 

Your child can then make tax-free withdrawals on the account to use for qualified education expenses at K-12 schools, college, vocational schools, and more. Qualified expenses include tuition, books, and other supplies.

With an IRA CD, you choose the CD terms you want to invest in. The certificates mature when you reach the end of your term. At that time, your CDs will automatically renew for the same term at the new APY if we are not notified in advance that you wish to withdraw your funds and/or close your IRA. 

At the maturation date, you have a 10-day grace period to close your IRA, withdraw funds, or transfer to a new CD IRA. This can be done by calling or texting us, or visiting a branch.

We no longer offer the option for members to receive a paper check for dividend payments. All dividends will be electronically deposited into your designated account.

Dividends are paid monthly to your IRA account on the last day of the month, when they are compounded. Compounded dividends mean you earn interest on your deposited funds – and then you also earn interest on that interest. So your savings grow faster!

With an IRA CD, you have more flexibility to withdraw funds before retirement compared to other IRAs. But you will likely be penalized if you withdraw funds before the maturity date when your chosen certificate term is complete. For example, three months to five years.

Penalties for early withdrawal will be waived if you are over 72 and your withdrawal is part of a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), or upon death.

With an IRA CD, you can still choose a Traditional or Roth account but the difference is that your funds are invested in Certificates of Deposit (CDs) instead of stocks or bonds. This means your funds are safeguarded from stock market volatility. 

At Baton Rouge Telco, you can choose whether you invest your IRA funds in CDs with terms of three months to five years. Longer terms earn higher yields.

An IRA is a type of retirement account you can open as an individual. You need to be employed to contribute to an IRA, but the account can be held separately from your employer. In most cases, you can open an IRA in addition to a 401(k) though your contributions may be limited. 

IRA contributions typically max out at $6,000 per year for people under age 50 and $7,000 per year if you’re over age 50. 

There are two common types of IRAs that offer different tax advantages:

• Traditional IRAs offer tax deductions on your contributions and then you pay taxes on your future withdrawals. 

• Roth IRAs mean you contribute from your post-tax earned income, and then you can make future withdrawals tax-free.

Certificates that have matured will automatically renew for the same term at the new APY if we are not notified in advance. However, you have a 10-day grace period to close, withdraw funds, or transfer to a new certificate after maturity. This can be done by calling or texting us, or visiting a branch.

We no longer offer the option for members to receive a paper check for dividend payments. All dividends will be electronically deposited into your designated account.

Dividends are paid monthly to your certificate account on the last day of the month, when compounded, or transferred monthly to other share accounts of your choosing.

The optional limits are a $300 daily spending limit and $100 daily ATM limit.

Upon (or shortly thereafter) the Primary Owner (Minor)’s 24th birthday, the Student Checking account will be converted to the Premier Interest Checking account product type.

Upon the Minor’s 18th birthday, the All-Star Savers account will be closed and all funds will be transferred into the Regular Share savings account.

The optional limits are a $300 daily spending limit and $100 daily ATM limit.

Upon (or shortly thereafter) the Primary Owner (Minor)’s 24th birthday, the Student Checking account will be converted to the Premier Interest Checking account product type.

Upon the Minor’s 18th birthday, the All-Star Savers account will be closed and all funds will be transferred into the Regular Share savings account.

Yes! We also offer a Special Savings account in the event you have a need to keep a separate savings for something…well, special.

The $5 on hold in your savings account is your owner’s share of the credit union. This will be on hold for the life of the account.

Yes, in order to establish membership with Baton Rouge Telco, you must open a savings account with a $5 minimum balance. The $5 will be held for the life of the account.

In order to qualify for monthly dividends from the Premier Interest Checking Account, be sure you’ve met the following criteria: 1) You’ve signed up for eStatements, 2) You’ve set up direct deposit in any amount into any account within your membership, and 3) You’ve made at least 15 debit card (non-ATM) transactions that have posted and settled to your account within the calendar month.

If you don’t meet the criteria one month don’t worry! You’ll still earn 0.05% APY on your average daily balance over $2,500. The following month you’ll be eligible again to qualify for the 4.00% APY. With the Premier Interest Checking Account, there are never any penalty fees or minimum balances to maintain for not meeting account dividend requirements.

Overdraft Protection: If funds are unavailable in your checking account, we will transfer money from your savings (if available) to your checking account to cover the transaction. This service is available at $5 charge per item.

Overdraft Privilege: By opting into this service, we will authorize your checking account to accept charges, even if the funds are not available, up to $500. There is a $30 transaction fee for each charge submitted to your overdrawn account. Opt in now by logging into Online Banking and selecting “Opt In” from the Secure Forms menu.

Log in to Online Banking and access Order Checks from the Additional Services menu.

It’s super easy! In our Mobile App, tap on More in the bottom menu, then tap eStatements. Or from Online Banking, select eStatements in the top menu and follow the prompts.

Online Banking, Mobile App (with Quick Access widget options), text banking, MANDI, and more! Checking your balance is quick and easy with all of our digital banking tools. Standard text message and data rates may apply from your wireless carrier.

Baton Rouge Telco Federal Credit Union’s routing number is 265473320.

The best option for minors is our Coverdell Education Savings account. You need to open this account on behalf of your child before they turn 18. Anyone in the family, including the child, may contribute to the account. Unlike an IRA, the contributions don’t need to be from earned income. 

Your child can then make tax-free withdrawals on the account to use for qualified education expenses at K-12 schools, college, vocational schools, and more. Qualified expenses include tuition, books, and other supplies.

With an IRA CD, you choose the CD terms you want to invest in. The certificates mature when you reach the end of your term. At that time, your CDs will automatically renew for the same term at the new APY if we are not notified in advance that you wish to withdraw your funds and/or close your IRA. 

At the maturation date, you have a 10-day grace period to close your IRA, withdraw funds, or transfer to a new CD IRA. This can be done by calling or texting us, or visiting a branch.

We no longer offer the option for members to receive a paper check for dividend payments. All dividends will be electronically deposited into your designated account.

Dividends are paid monthly to your IRA account on the last day of the month, when they are compounded. Compounded dividends mean you earn interest on your deposited funds – and then you also earn interest on that interest. So your savings grow faster!

With an IRA CD, you have more flexibility to withdraw funds before retirement compared to other IRAs. But you will likely be penalized if you withdraw funds before the maturity date when your chosen certificate term is complete. For example, three months to five years.

Penalties for early withdrawal will be waived if you are over 72 and your withdrawal is part of a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), or upon death.

With an IRA CD, you can still choose a Traditional or Roth account but the difference is that your funds are invested in Certificates of Deposit (CDs) instead of stocks or bonds. This means your funds are safeguarded from stock market volatility. 

At Baton Rouge Telco, you can choose whether you invest your IRA funds in CDs with terms of three months to five years. Longer terms earn higher yields.

An IRA is a type of retirement account you can open as an individual. You need to be employed to contribute to an IRA, but the account can be held separately from your employer. In most cases, you can open an IRA in addition to a 401(k) though your contributions may be limited. 

IRA contributions typically max out at $6,000 per year for people under age 50 and $7,000 per year if you’re over age 50. 

There are two common types of IRAs that offer different tax advantages:

• Traditional IRAs offer tax deductions on your contributions and then you pay taxes on your future withdrawals. 

• Roth IRAs mean you contribute from your post-tax earned income, and then you can make future withdrawals tax-free.