Navy Federal Credit Union review (2025): Low-fee military banking

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Summary: Navy Federal Credit Union, commonly referred to arsenic Navy Fed, was established successful 1933 and has since grown to service 14 cardinal members belonging to the Department of Defense, Army, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard, arsenic good arsenic veterans and their families. Navy Fed offers idiosyncratic and concern products and services, including checking and savings accounts, recognition cards, loans, and more.

Navy Fed was ranked among our top 10 recognition unions of the year and 5 champion banks and recognition unions for military.

Navy Fed’s stock savings relationship is required to articulation the recognition national and support membership. A $5.00 minimum opening equilibrium is required. This relationship earns 0.25% APY.

Navy Fed besides offers IRA stock accounts with nary minimum publication required. This includes accepted IRA savings accounts, Roth IRA savings accounts, and SEP IRAs.

Navy Fed offers wealth marketplace savings accounts and jumbo wealth marketplace savings accounts that necessitate a minimum of $2,500 to gain dividends and connection rates arsenic precocious arsenic 1.5% APY and 2.25% APY, respectively.

The SaveFirst Account is simply a customizable savings relationship that customers tin usage to prevention for circumstantial goals similar vacation gifts, travel, and weddings. You tin take a timeline for your relationship to assistance you prevention the desired magnitude wrong a circumstantial clip frame. All you request is $5 to get started.

Standard Certificates: You tin take a word of 3 months to 7 years, and gain up to 4.05% APY, depending connected the term. A minimum deposit of $1,000 is required.
EasyStart Certificate: These accounts connection presumption ranging from 12 months to 24 months and gain up to 3.95% APY, depending connected the term. A minimum deposit of $50 is required.
Special EasyStart Certificate: These certificates lone travel successful a 12-month word and necessitate a minimum deposit of $50 to get started. You tin gain up to 4.3% APY.

Free Active Duty Checking: This relationship is designed for stateside oregon deployed, progressive duty, oregon retired work members. It offers ATM-fee rebates and aboriginal entree to subject pay.
Free Easy Checking: This relationship has nary monthly work interest and nary minimum equilibrium requirement, arsenic good arsenic escaped ATMs and ATM-fee rebates.
Free EveryDay Checking: Navy Fed’s astir basal checking account, the Free EveryDay Checking relationship has nary monthly fee, nary minimum opening deposit, and nary minimum equilibrium requirement. This is an interest-bearing relationship that earns 0.01% APY. Dividends are credited monthly.
Flagship Checking: This is simply a tiered, interest-bearing checking relationship with nary monthly work interest arsenic agelong arsenic you support an mean equilibrium of astatine slightest $1,500 (otherwise the interest is $10). Dividends are credited monthly.
Free Campus Checking: Members ages 18-24 tin instrumentality vantage of Navy Fed’s Free Campus Checking, which offers up to $120 per twelvemonth successful ATM interest rebates and nary monthly work interest oregon minimum equilibrium requirements.

Mortgages and owe refinancing: Navy Fed offers owe loans, refinancing, and preapprovals for members funny successful purchasing a location oregon getting a amended complaint connected their existent location loan.
Home equity loans and lines of credit: Navy Federal offers fixed-rate location equity loans from $10,000 to $500,000 with nary closing costs. APRs are arsenic debased arsenic 7.34% and presumption scope from 5 to 20 years.
Auto loans, refinancing, and car indebtedness services: Navy Fed offers caller and utilized car loans with rates arsenic debased arsenic 4.09%, arsenic good arsenic car indebtedness refinancing, preapproval, car insurance, and registration and titling services.
Personal loans: Navy Fed’s idiosyncratic loans connection rates arsenic debased arsenic 8.99% with fixed monthly payments and same-day backing successful astir cases.
Student loans: Navy Fed offers backstage pupil loans and pupil and genitor refinance loans. Private pupil loans connection fixed APRs arsenic debased arsenic 4.75% with an car wage discount and presumption ranging from 5 to 10 years, and refinance loans with fixed APRs arsenic debased arsenic 4.85% and presumption of 5 to 15 years.
Motorcycle, boat, and RV loans: Navy Fed besides offers financing options for motorcycles and mopeds, idiosyncratic watercrafts, campers and RVs, question trailers, ATVs, and snowmobiles.

Customers tin person tailored proposal from a Navy Fed concern nonrecreational regarding property planning, portfolio management, beingness insurance, and wide fiscal planning.

Business banking products and services

In summation to its idiosyncratic banking products and services, Navy Fed besides offers concern checking and savings accounts, loans, recognition cards, and more.

Here’s a person look astatine immoderate of the fees you whitethorn brushwood arsenic a Navy Federal member:

Here are immoderate of the large perks and drawbacks of banking with Navy Fed.

Pros:

Large ATM network/ATM interest rebates: Navy Federal customers person entree to a web of much than 30,000 escaped ATMs via the CO-OP network, making it easier to retreat wealth without other fees. However, if you bash sojourn a instrumentality extracurricular of that network, Navy Fed besides offers ATM interest rebates up to $10 oregon $20, depending connected your relationship type.
24/7 lawsuit support: Around-the-clock lawsuit enactment is disposable via telephone, chat, unafraid messaging, and societal media.

Cons:

Smaller tract of membership: To go a subordinate of Navy Fed, you’ll request immoderate benignant of subject affiliation — whether you really served oregon person a narration to idiosyncratic successful the military.
Low savings relationship yields: Navy Fed’s savings relationship and wealth marketplace rates are not the astir competitory erstwhile compared to different banks and recognition unions. If you’re looking for the highest imaginable savings rate, it mightiness wage to comparison options offered by different fiscal institutions.

Customer work and mobile banking experience

Navy Federal lawsuit enactment specialists are disposable to chat 24/7 via telephone, chat, unafraid messaging, and societal media. You tin besides talk to a lawsuit work typical successful idiosyncratic astatine a Navy Federal Credit Union branch. Navy Federal besides has a wide mailing address:

Navy Federal
P.O. Box 3000
Merrifield, VA 22119-3000

The recognition national offers a mobile app connected the Apple App Store and Google Play, with a idiosyncratic standing of 4.9 and 2.3 stars, respectively. Customers tin usage the app to cheque relationship balances and transactions, determination wealth betwixt accounts, nonstop wealth via Zelle, find the nearest branch, and more.

Navy Fed is committed to the communities it serves and the situation successful a fig of ways. It fosters fiscal wellness done its Navy Federal Serves programme and MakingCents programme that has conducted implicit 2,750 fiscal literacy and wellness presentations astatine its subdivision communities.

It has besides made a committedness to becoming a much sustainable concern done its Greening Up! Program. In 2024, Navy Fed worked to marque its bureau spaces much environmentally affable by installing star panels, energy-efficient lighting, and more.

Read more: What is sustainable banking?

All branches of the military, veterans, Department of Defense employees, and their contiguous household members are eligible to articulation Navy Fed. To unfastened an account, you’ll request your Social Security number, driver’s licence oregon authorities ID, existent location address, and a recognition paper oregon slope relationship and routing fig to money your account.

A rank savings relationship with a $5 minimum equilibrium is required to found and support membership.

Yes, Navy Federal is an NCUA-insured recognition union, which means your deposits are protected up to $250,000 per relationship holder.

Navy Federal’s routing fig is 256074974.

Yes. As a Navy Federal Credit Union member, you tin easy nonstop and person wealth to friends and household via Zelle.

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