Pros and cons
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
0.20% to 0.80% APY
Pros
- $500 minimum opening deposit
- Competitive APY
Cons
- Must contact the bank for early withdrawal penalties
- Only compounds interest every 6 months
- Black-owned bank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Terms range from 3 months to 5 years
- Interest compounds every 6 months
- FDIC insured
Columbia Savings and Loan pays competitive rates on CDs, and the $500 minimum deposit is relatively low. The main downside is that it only compounds interest once every six months, while many banks compound monthly or even daily.
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
0.20% to 0.80% APY
Pros
- $500 minimum opening deposit
- Competitive APY
Cons
- Must contact the bank for early withdrawal penalties
- Only compounds interest every 6 months
- Black-owned bank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Choose from a Roth or traditional IRA
- Terms range from 3 months to 5 years
- Interest compounds every 6 months
- FDIC insured
An IRA CD locks in your APY for a set amount of time and saves your money specifically for retirement. It can be an option worth considering for people who are getting close to retirement and are looking for a safe way to invest their money.
If you’re looking for a safe investment strategy, the Columbia Savings and Loan IRA CD is a decent choice. You can choose between a Roth or traditional IRA CD.
How Columbia Savings and Loan Association works
Columbia Savings and Loan Association is a Black-owned institution with one location in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It offers CDs, Roth IRA CDs, and traditional IRA CDs. It also gives home loans, church loans, and personal loans.
Columbia Savings and Loan doesn’t have a mobile app or online banking capabilities. You’ll need to work directly with the branch.
Contact customer service or visit the branch Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT, or Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. CT.
Your CD deposits are FDIC insured for up to $250,000, or $500,000 for joint accounts. Columbia Savings and Loan is an Equal Housing Lender.
Is Columbia Savings and Loan Association trustworthy?
Usually, we include the Better Business Bureau’s grade when assessing a bank’s trustworthiness. But the BBB hasn’t issued Columbia Savings and Loan Association a grade yet.
In late 2018, the FDIC and Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions ordered Columbia Loan and Savings to improve leadership and lending practices, because the institution had lost money eight of the previous 10 years. The bank’s assets have increased from $23.6 million to around $25.2 million since this regulation.
How Columbia Savings and Loan Association compares to similar institutions
Columbia Savings and Loan Association is the only Black-owned bank in Wisconsin. But we’ve compared it to two Black-owned banks you can access online: OneUnited Bank and Liberty Bank and Trust.
Columbia Savings and Loan Association vs. OneUnited Bank
You may like OneUnited Bank if you’re comfortable banking digitally. It has a well-rounded group of banking products, including savings and checking accounts.
But Columbia Savings and Loan pays higher interest rates on CDs than OneUnited, and OneUnited doesn’t have any investment products.
Columbia Savings and Loan Association vs. Liberty Bank and Trust
Liberty Bank and Trust has more types of banking products than Columbia Savings and Loan, including traditional and Roth IRAs. It doesn’t have IRA CDs, though, so you may prefer Columbia if you’re looking for a conservative investment account.
Liberty also pays high interest rates on savings and CDs.
About the author
Laura Grace Tarpley is an editor at Personal Finance Insider, covering bank reviews and guides. She is also a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF). Over her five years of covering personal finance, she has written extensively about ways to save.