At a glance

4.0

Bankrate Score

CDs

Checking

Savings

Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.

Overview

First Tech Federal Credit Union is likely best for customers on the west coast, where most of its branches are located. It’s easy to open an account since there are no monthly fees and minimum deposits are relatively low. Moreover, the credit union offers competitive yields on its share certificates.

Highlights

24/7 Customer Service
Low Min Deposit
No Monthly Fees

Overall

First Tech Federal Credit Union offers a large swath of financial services, ranging from traditional deposit products like savings and checking accounts to credit cards and home loans. Though the APYs for the credit union’s share certificates are competitive, the yields for most of its savings and checking accounts leave much to be desired.

Pros

There’s free access to over 30,000 CO-OP ATMs across the country.
Share certificates offer competitive APYs.
There are no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements.
There’s nearly 6,000 CO-OP shared branch locations you can visit for help.

Cons

Higher yields for checking and savings accounts can be found elsewhere.
There aren’t fee rebates for ATMs outside of the CO-OP network for most deposit accounts.

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First Tech Federal Credit Union banking products

3.0

/5

See methodology Compare savings rates

SCORE BREAKDOWN

APY offering:

0.05%

1/5

APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account. APY includes the effects of compounding interest.

Minimum balance for APY:

$5.00

5/5

The lowest deposit amount an account must have before it can earn interest.

Monthly service fee:

$0.00

5/5

A monthly charge a financial institution deducts from an account if certain requirements are not met.

Minimum balance to avoid fee:

$0.00

5/5

The lowest balance an account must maintain in order to avoid a fee.

Access to funds:

Great

5/5

A procedure that allows an individual or organization to access and manage the funds of another account holder.

FEATURES

0.01% APY

APY last updated between 12/14 and 12/20.

$5 minimum balance for APY

$5 minimum deposit to open

First Tech Federal Credit Union savings overview

First Tech offers a variety of savings accounts. The account scored for this section is called Instant Access Savings, which you can open with a minimum of $25. The yield for this account is higher than the national average, but higher APYs can generally be found elsewhere. This account is also tiered, meaning the more money you have in the account, the more you’ll earn in interest.

Three other savings accounts are available; two of them require much smaller opening deposits, but they also come with lower yields. The last account, called First Tech Rewards Savings, comes with a sizable APY for balances up to $25,000.

All accounts come with free online and mobile banking, and there’s no monthly fee. You can link your savings account with your checking to avoid overdraft fees.

Pros

None of the savings accounts charge monthly fees.
There is overdraft protection available.
Instant Access Savings is a tiered account.
A high-yield account option is available.

Cons

Higher yields can be found elsewhere.

Rate history for First Tech Federal Credit Union's Savings account

See how rates for this account have changed over time. Interact with the trend lines to view APY by date.

First Tech Federal Credit Union

APY

APY last updated between 12/14 and 12/20.

National average APY

How do we get this data?

Bankrate independently tracks hundreds of APYs and product details for banking institutions nationwide. We retain the historical data of every rate we track in our database. If there are any gaps where we weren’t actively tracking a rate at the time, the graph will reflect the missing data.

See how rates for this account have changed over time. Interact with the trend lines to view APY by date.

First Tech Federal Credit Union

APY

APY last updated between 12/14 and 12/20.

National average APY

How do we get this data?

Bankrate independently tracks hundreds of APYs and product details for banking institutions nationwide. We retain the historical data of every rate we track in our database. If there are any gaps where we weren’t actively tracking a rate at the time, the graph will reflect the missing data.

4.1

/5

See methodology Compare CD rates

SCORE BREAKDOWN

APY offering:

3.60%

4/5

APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account. APY includes the effects of compounding interest. APYs are selected based on Bankrate reviews of the highest rates a bank offers between the term ranges of 7 and 17 months. This excludes jumbo CDs and applies when the minimum deposit is $25k or less.

Minimum deposit:

$500.00

5/5

The minimum deposit amount a financial institution requires in order to open a CD.

Range of term lengths:

6 mos – 5 yrs

3/5

A designated amount of time that funds must be held within a CD.

Early withdrawal penalty:

Average

3/5

A penalty incurred when funds have been withdrawn from a CD before its maturity date.

Offer no-penalty or bump-up CDs:

Yes

5/5

A CD that doesn’t incur a penalty if funds are withdrawn before its maturity date.

Offer IRA CDs:

No

0/5

An IRA account which consists of CDs that typically earns fixed interest over a specified period of time.

FEATURES

1.80% – 3.75% APY

APY last updated between 12/14 and 12/20.

$500 minimum balance for APY

$500 minimum deposit to open

6 months – 5 years

First Tech Federal Credit Union CD overview

Credit unions offer share certificates, which are the same in function as a certificate of deposit. First Tech offers five standard share certificates with a wide variety of terms, ranging from six months to five years. The APYs for these certificates, in addition to the bump-up certificates, are competitive. Bump-up certificates come with different terms: 13 months, 24 months or 36 months. It’s just $500 to open both standard and bump-up certificates, but the latter will let you “bump up” your APY if rates increase.

Pros

All certificates are available to open for just $500.
There’s a large range of terms to choose from.
The APYs are competitive.
Bump-up certificates are available.

Cons

There are hefty withdrawal penalties on share certificates with terms of more than 2 years.

Rate history for First Tech Federal Credit Union's CD accounts

See how rates for this account have changed over time. Select the CD term length from the dropdown and interact with the trend lines to view APY by date.

First Tech Federal Credit Union

APY

APY last updated between 12/14 and 12/20.

National average APY

Term length

How do we get this data?

Bankrate independently tracks hundreds of APYs and product details for banking institutions nationwide. We retain the historical data of every rate we track in our database. If there are any gaps where we weren’t actively tracking a rate at the time, the graph will reflect the missing data.

See how rates for this account have changed over time. Select the CD term length from the dropdown and interact with the trend lines to view APY by date.

First Tech Federal Credit Union

APY

APY last updated between 12/14 and 12/20.

National average APY

Term length

How do we get this data?

Bankrate independently tracks hundreds of APYs and product details for banking institutions nationwide. We retain the historical data of every rate we track in our database. If there are any gaps where we weren’t actively tracking a rate at the time, the graph will reflect the missing data.

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First Tech Federal Credit Union checking overview

First Tech offers a variety of checking accounts that will fit various needs. The account scored for this section is called First Checking Plus, which offers an extremely low APY but has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. The checking account comes with a debit card, free online banking with bill pay and e-deposits along with fee-free access to over 30,000 Co-op ATMs.

A couple of other accounts are available, including a base account that doesn’t earn interest and an HSA checking account that does. The last account, called First Tech Rewards Checking, offers a very competitive APY, and it comes with ATM fee rebates.

There are hefty overdraft fees at $33 per overdrawn transaction. However, you can sign up for overdraft protection, which will pull from a line of credit or savings account if you overdraw your account at no charge.

Pros

None of the checking accounts charge monthly fees or have minimum balance requirements.
There’s free access to over 30,000 CO-OP ATMs.
Checking accounts feature free mobile banking with BillPay and e-deposits.
A high-yield account is available.

Cons

Most of First Tech’s checking accounts don’t offer ATM fee rebates.
Higher yields can be found elsewhere.

Bank fees

Fee	Charged?
Overdraft fee	$33
Non-sufficient funds fee	None
Monthly maintenance fee	None
Out-of-network ATM fee	$2
Excessive transaction fee	$2

Customer experience

Customer service. Customer service by phone is available 24/7, but you can also reach a representative through secure online messages or in-person and virtual appointments.

Digital experience. Person-to-person payments can be made using Zelle, and the debit card works with Apple Pay and Google Pay. You can also use your First Tech debit card to freely access over 30,000 CO-OP ATMs across the U.S. First Tech’s mobile app is highly rated by reviewers on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

About First Tech Federal Credit Union Bank

Founded in 1952, First Tech Federal Credit Union is an NCUA-insured institution with its main address in San Jose, California. The credit union has more than $16 billion dollars in assets and more than 30 branches mainly concentrated in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. The credit union offers many personal banking products, including share certificates, checking accounts and savings accounts.

Review methodology

With so many financial institutions to choose from, it can be hard to know who to trust. Bankrate’s ever-growing list of bank and credit union reviews is updated regularly. Our editorial team analyzes and reviews each institution across deposit products such as savings accounts, checking accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs) and money market accounts (MMAs). Banks are rated by important factors such as offered interest rates, fees, minimum balance requirements, access to funds and more.

We assign a score to each type of account and its features, weigh them carefully based on importance to account holders and determine an overall score. Read our full review methodology.

Date Bankrate gathers rate data either directly from our partners, or through our proprietary rate surveying service. The rate change date is based on when Bankrate received or captured the rate change and may differ from the actual date the rate changed.	First Tech Federal Credit Union APY APY last updated between 12/14 and 12/20. APY last updated between 12/14 and 12/20	National average APY The “national average” is determined by Bankrate’s comprehensive national survey of savings accounts and CDs and reflects the monthly average APY for each product.
10/01/2024	0.01%	0.57%
09/03/2024	0.01%	0.61%
07/23/2024	0.01%	0.59%
05/07/2024	0.05%	0.59%
04/02/2024	0.05%	0.58%
03/05/2024	0.05%	0.57%
01/02/2024	0.05%	0.58%
12/26/2023	0.05%	0.56%

Date Bankrate gathers rate data either directly from our partners, or through our proprietary rate surveying service. The rate change date is based on when Bankrate received or captured the rate change and may differ from the actual date the rate changed.	First Tech Federal Credit Union APY APY last updated between 12/14 and 12/20. APY last updated between 12/14 and 12/20	National average APY The “national average” is determined by Bankrate’s comprehensive national survey of savings accounts and CDs and reflects the monthly average APY for each product.
12/03/2024	3.00%	1.41%
10/01/2024	3.00%	1.42%
09/03/2024	3.00%	1.43%
08/06/2024	3.00%	1.44%
07/02/2024	3.00%	1.42%
06/04/2024	3.00%	1.43%
05/14/2024	3.00%	1.42%
04/09/2024	3.05%	1.42%
04/02/2024	3.10%	1.42%
03/12/2024	3.10%	1.43%
02/13/2024	3.25%	1.42%
02/06/2024	3.55%	1.42%
01/02/2024	3.55%	1.43%
12/26/2023	3.55%	1.41%

First Tech Federal Credit Union Review 2024

The Bankrate promise

At a glance

Overview

Highlights

Overall

Pros

Cons

We want to know what you think about First Tech Federal Credit Union

First Tech Federal Credit Union banking products

First Tech Federal Credit Union savings overview

Pros

Cons

Rate history for First Tech Federal Credit Union's Savings account

First Tech Federal Credit Union CD overview

Pros

Cons

Rate history for First Tech Federal Credit Union's CD accounts

First Tech Federal Credit Union checking overview

Pros

Cons

Bank fees

Customer experience

About First Tech Federal Credit Union Bank

Review methodology

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