Searching through the best CD rates, we found several credit unions offering CD rates above 4% and up to 7.5% APY. That's incredible in today's rate environment where even 3% APY sounds good. The catch - small minimum balances. The benefit, relatively short terms. If you want to put money in for a child or grandchild, or are savings for a new piece of furniture or some other moderately priced item, these accounts might be worth a look. As with all credit unions, you must also be eligible for membership. Here's a sampling of what we have found so far.

MidAmerican Credit Union

Mid American is offering a 7.5% APY 7.5 month CD to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Credit Union's founding. Congratulations. That's currently the top bank of credit union rate on BestCashCow. The maximum amount that can be invested in this CD is $750. You can become a member if you live or work in one of the Kansas counties that the credit union serves. See a complete list of MidAmerican branches. Mid American has $161 million in assets and a Texas Ratio of 27.65 versus a credit union average of 9.60% according to BestCashCow data.

A+ Federal Credit Union

A+ is offering a 1 year CD paying 5% APYwith a maximum balance of $1,000. You must be a Texas resident to join the credit union and you can apply online or via one of its branches. A+ has $817 million in assets and a Texas Ratio of 3.97% verus the credit union average of 9.60% (lower ratios are better).

Patelco Credit Union

Patelco is offering a 1 Year CD paying 5% APY with a maximum balance of $1,000 to new members. Patelco membership is relatively open and chances are if you want to join you can find a way to do it no matter where you live in the United States. Patelco is one of the larger credit unions in the United States (26th largest according to BestCashCow data) with over $3.5 billion in assets. It's Texas Ratio of 11.06% is just slightly higher than the national CU average of 9.60%.

View a comprehensive table of credit union cd rates in your state by clicking through on the CD tab above.

With average five year CD rates down to 1.60% APY according to BestCashCow's database, we went searching for yields that smashed the average. What we found was the highest bank rate in the land. First Choice Bank, headquartered in New Jersey is offering a 60-month CD paying 2.80% APY with a $1,000 minimum balance.

The CD must be opened in person at one of their five branches located in the Trenton, NY area. First Choice Bank is a relatively young bank, having been founded in 2007. The bank has $500 million in assets and has grown almost 10X since openening (2007 assets were $50 million). Like many banks opened after the worst of the financial crisis, it looks relatively healthy with a Texas Ratio of 10.45% versus the national average of 21%. Most banks found after the financial crisis escaped the lending binge leading up to 2007-2008 and thus seem to have cleaner balance sheets.

Unlike banks that are shrinking and offering lower rates, First Choice is cleary hungry for deposit dollars and willing to pay for them.

First Choice Bank is headquartered in Lancerville, NJ, a small town eight miles south of Princetown and 8 miles North of Trenton.

If you don't live near a First Choice Bank branch, look for the highest CD rates in your local area by clicking through to our table on the tab above. BestCashCow has the Inernet's largest database of bank rate information.

Previous Weekly Rate Deals

• October 24, 2011 - First National Bank of St. Ignace Offering 12-Month Flex CD at 1.51% APY
• Oct 17, 2011 - Weekly Rate Deal - Navy Federal Credit Union Offering 3% APY 12-Month CD
• Oct 7, 2011 - Farmers & Traders Bank Takes Weekly Rate Deal for 3% APY 60-Month CD

Check back next Monday for a new bank deal. Email any deals you know about to ratedeal (at) bestcashcow.com. Feel free to also share them below. If you're a bank and have a great deal not listed on BestCashCow, register for access and add the deal to the site.

Have a good week!

Community Bank, with branches primarily in Mississippi is offering a 3.00% APY 15-month IRA CD. That's a terrific rate. The top 5-year CD at the moment pays only 2.75% and the top 12-month CD pays 2.01%. Average CD rates are even lower. The 3.00% APY is a relationship rate and a depositor must have another account at the bank to that rate. That's as easy as opening a checking or savings account. Without a companion account, the rate drops to 2.00% APY for the FIRA, still very competitive. The rate is also only available for new contributions to the bank. The account must also be opened in a branch, so this is a local offer only.

This is not a standard CD, but rather a retirement CD. Please visit our Fixed IRA Guide for more information on how these investments work.

Community Bank has an interesting structure. It consists of eight separately chartered banks that are tied together at the holding company level via a corporation called Community Bancshares, Inc. The company as a whole has $2.2 billion in assets. We found at least two of the eight banks that are offering the competitive rate: Community Bank, North Mississippi and Community Bank, Coast.

Community Bank, North Mississippi has $485 million in assets, up from $183 in 2006. The bank has a Texas Ratio of 46% versus the national average of 19.96%. It has eight branches scattered around North Mississippi, including Memphis.

Community Bank, Coast has $390 million in assets, up from $310 million in 2006. It has a Texas Ratio of 20.94% versus the national average of 19.96%. The bank has eight branches primarily on the gulf and southern parts of the state.

It's very likely that the other six banks also offer the IRA rate. If anyone is able to confirm that, please let us know.

Find the best FIRA CD rates in your local area. Don't settle for average rates on your money.

Previous Weekly Rate Spotlights

• March 21, 2012- First Choice Bank Offering Competitive CD Rates in New Jersey
• March 13, 2012 - The City National Bank of Metropolis Offering 1.26% APY Money Market Account
• March 6, 2012 - North Country FCU Offering 2.80% APY 60-Month CD - Northern Vermont
• February 27, 2012- El Paso Area Teachers FCU Offering 2.98% APY Five Year CD
• February 21, 2012 - Cardinal Bank Offering 2.01% APY First Choice Checking
• February 13, 2012 - Citizens State Bank Offering 4.00% APY Variable IRA
• February 6, 2012 - Liberty Bank & Trust Offering 1.31% APY Savings Account Rate
• January 30, 2012 - WYMAR Federal Credit Union Offering 2.27% APY 24-Month CD
• January 23- 2012 - Frederica Credit Union Offering 1.65% APY 12-Month CD - Open to All
• January 17, 2012 - Western Heritage Bank Offering 2-Year CD Paying 1.75% APY
• January 9, 2012 - Navy Federal Credit Union Offering 3.00% APY 20-Month IRA CD
• January 5, 2012 - Consumers Credit Union Offers 4.09% APY Rewards Checking Account - Nationally Available

Check back next week for a new bank deal. Email any deals you know about to ratedeal (at) bestcashcow.com. Feel free to also share them below. If you're a bank and have a great deal not listed on BestCashCow, register for access and add the deal to the site.

Email Rate Updates for BestCashCow Readers

Users can now register to receive the best bank rates via email every Monday. You can choose to either receive the best rates for banks across the country, or you can receive the best rates for your state. You can cancel delivery at any time and also login to change which product rates you receive for which state. This email service is free. You can register for the service here.

Investing in An IRA CD

Investing in an IRA CD is a bit different from a regular certificate of deposit.

As I wrote in the BestCashCow Fixed Rate IRA Guide:

Fixed Rate Individual Retirement Accounts (also called CD IRAs) are certificates of deposit held within a traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or a Roth IRA. As a result, any interest on the certificate of deposit accumulates according to the tax advantages of the IRA. In a traditional IRA, pre-tax income is deposited into the account where it accumulates until retirement age. At that point, when the money is withdrawn, the user is taxed at their prevailing tax rate.