Hope Credit Union Review: Savings, Checking and CDs
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Overall institution rating
3.8
Hope Credit Union is a Black-owned financial institution. It is Green America Certified and a Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI. (See more about these common designations for socially responsible banks.)
The credit union is based in the South. Its membership, branches and services focus on residents in five states: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Free rewards checking and rewards savings accounts are available to residents in these states, though there are qualifications to get rewards.
Membership to the credit union is available nationwide for its basic savings accounts to anyone who joins the nonprofit Hope Enterprise Corporation and pays a $10 fee. The rewards checking and rewards savings accounts are not available nationwide.
- No monthly fees on some checking or savings accounts.
- Competitive rewards checking account.
- Participates in shared branching with other credit unions.
- ATM fee rebates.
- Expensive overdraft fee.
- Low rates on some savings accounts and share certificates.
- High savings rates not available in all states.
- Requirements must be met to earn strong checking rate.
- Limited membership (for most account options).
Full review
Full review
Hope Credit Union
Savings

HOPE Rewards Saving Plus
3.9
/53.9
/5APY
1.01%
With $15 min. balance for APY
Bonus
N/A
APY
1.01%
With $15 min. balance for APY
Bonus
N/A
The HOPE Rewards Savings Plus account is a free account with no minimum balance requirements. It must be connected to a HOPE Rewards Checking Plus account and gives an interest rate of 1.01% APY on balances up to $10,000. The HOPE Rewards Savings Plus account is available to residents in five states: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
To qualify for the 1.01% APY rate, customers must meet the same qualifying criteria that are required for the checking account rate: They must make 12 debit card transactions per month, log in to their online banking account once per month, register for e-statements and make at least one automatic payment or direct deposit per month. If they have a balance over $10,000 and meet the qualifications, they will earn an additional 0.50% APY on the balance over $10,000, for a total of up to 1.51% APY. When qualifications are not met, customers earn 0.10% APY.
» See more options with NerdWallet’s list of the best high-yield savings accounts
Checking

HOPE Rewards Checking
4.7
/54.7
/5Monthly fee
$0
APY
5.12%
With $0 min. balance for APY
Monthly fee
$0
APY
5.12%
With $0 min. balance for APY
Bonus
N/A
Show details
Hope Credit Union’s HOPE Rewards Checking account offers a noteworthy free checking account with no minimum balance requirements and earns a strong interest rate of 5.12% APY when certain basic qualifications are met. To earn the rate, customers must have 12 debit card transactions per month, log in to their online banking account once per month, sign up for e-statements and have at least one direct deposit or automatic payment clear their account. When qualifications are not met, customers will earn 0.10%. This account is available to residents in five states: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Customers have access to numerous ATMs through Hope Credit Union and the Co-op ATM network, but they also receive up to a $20 monthly reimbursement for out-of-network ATM fees.
» Check out more rewards checking accounts
Certificates of deposit

Hope Credit Union CD
2.6
/52.6
/51-year APY
3.05%
3-year APY
2.03%
1-year APY
3.05%
3-year APY
2.03%
5-year APY
2.09%
Minimum deposit
$1,000
Show details
Hope Credit Union’s share certificates — the credit union equivalent of certificates of deposit — are available for a variety of term lengths and require a minimum opening deposit of $1,000. Its one-year share certificate earns 3.05% APY, its three-year certificates earn 2.03% APY and five-year certificates earn 2.09% APY.
» COMPARE: See our list of best CD rates
Customer experience
Hope Credit Union has 23 branches across Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. It’s also part of the Co-op network, which gives customers access to more than 5,000 shared branches nationwide.
The credit union’s customer service call centers are available 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central time Monday through Friday, and customers can also reach out via email and through chat when logged into the mobile app. Hope Credit Union’s mobile banking app has high ratings in both the Google Play store and the App Store.
Overdraft fees
Customers who overdraft are charged $25 per occurrence, with a cap of up to $125 in fees per day for debit card transactions. Nonsufficient funds fees can be charged for electronic ACH transactions and checks. Hope Credit Union doesn’t offer an overdraft line of credit, but customers can make overdraft protection transfers from a linked account for $1 per transfer.
» See our list of the best banks for overdrafts
Hope Credit Union also offers a courtesy pay service called Overdraft Guardian for $25 per instance, which means that when a customer is in good standing, they can overdraw up to $300, depending on the account type. Hope Credit Union will temporarily cover it and charge a $25 fee for that service. Customers will then need to return their account to a positive balance as soon as possible. If a customer does overdraft, however, they won’t be charged a continuous negative balance fee.
How does Hope Credit Union compare?
3.80%
$300
4.30%
N/A
Methodology
NerdWallet’s overall ratings for banks and credit unions are weighted averages of several categories: checking, savings, certificates of deposit or credit union share certificates, banking experience and overdraft fees. Factors we consider, depending on the category, include rates and fees, ATM and branch access, account features and limits, user-facing technology, customer service and innovation. The stars represent ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). The ratings are incremented in tenths of a star.