Best CD Rates: Top Returns

Quorum Federal Credit Union 18 Month Term Savings4.40% (on balances of $1,000 - $99,999) to 4.50% (on balances of $100,000 or more)$100Elements Financial 18 Month Share Certificate4.35%$500 or $1,000

Discover® CD2.00% to 4.00%$0

Best Rates for Other CD Terms

Types of Certificates of Deposit

Locking your money into an account in exchange for a higher interest rate can be a big decision. Here's what you need to know about common CD terms.

No-Penalty CDs

Most CDs charge you a fee if you need to withdraw money from your account before the term ends. But with a no-penalty CD, you won't have to pay an early withdrawal penalty. The best no-penalty CDs will offer rates slightly higher than the jumbo CD is a type of CD with a much higher minimum opening deposit than the average traditional CD. In exchange, jumbo CDs usually offer better rates than you would find with traditional CDs. If you have a lot of money to put in a CD, jumbo CDs might be a good choice for you.

Bump-Up CDs

no-penalty CD. No-penalty CDs let you withdraw your money without penalty in exchange for generally slightly lower interest rates.

Account Fees

Some bank accounts come with monthly service fees, which will automatically deduct a small fee from your account each month. Luckily, you generally don't have to worry about these for CDs; they're more commonly found on checking accounts, treasury bonds, are tax-advantaged.

How Banks Come Up With CD Rates

Banks and credit unions base their CD rates on several different economic factors. One of the biggest economic factors is the Federal Reserve.

Since CDs have a fixed rate of return, CD rates are based on both the current brokerage account or other investment strategy.

Why You Should Trust Us: Experts' Advice on Choosing the Best CD

We consulted banking and financial planning experts to inform these picks and provide their advice on finding the best CDs to use for your money. You can read their insights at the bottom of this post.

BI

Here's what they had to say about CDs. (Some text may be lightly edited for clarity.)

What makes a CD good or not good?

Mykail James, MBA, certified financial education instructor, BoujieBudgets.com:

"You always want to look at how much money you need to start up. And then if you can continuously add money in. Also, check not just what the interest rate is, but how often they pay out interest, whether it's monthly or quarterly."

How should someone choose a CD term length?

Roger Ma, CFP® professional and author of bank account methodology. We rate bank products on a scale from one to five stars, with one star being the lowest rating and five star being the highest rating possible.

For CDs, we consider what terms are offered, along with the accounts' minimum opening deposit requirements, interest rates, fees, miscellaneous features, and early withdrawal penalties. We also consider the financial institution's customer service options, ethics, security and mobile app ratings. We score each of these features on a scale of zero to five, then calculate the weighted average to determine the account's total rating.

If two banks offered the same APY on a CD product, we considered factors like minimum deposit requirements and early withdrawal penalties. 

Best CD FAQs

Kit Pulliam

Banking reporter

Kit Pulliam (they/them) was a banking expert who specialized in certificates of deposit, savings accounts, and checking accounts. They’ve been reporting, editing, and fact-checking personal finance stories for more than four years. ExperienceIn college, Kit worked as an undergraduate research assistant in a psychology lab. While there, they found that they were passionate about writing and helping others write about topics that matter.Before Business Insider, Kit was an editorial specialist for Tax Analysts, diving into the tax code to help readers get the best information about a confusing but necessary subject.They find banking similar to taxes in that way: There are some things everyone needs to know because just about everyone needs to work with a bank — and you don’t want to end up with an account that doesn’t serve your needs.As interest rates changed, they enjoyed the fast pace of reviewing rates for products like CDs and high-yield savings, which can change daily and have a direct impact on readers’ money.Their work has been featured in Business Insider and MSN. They were part of the Milestone Moments series with Business Insider.ExpertiseTheir expertise includes:

• Certificates of deposit
• Savings accounts
• Checking accounts
• CD rates
• Bank reviews

EducationKit is an alumnus of Vanderbilt University, where they studied English and psychology and received the Jum C. Nunnally Honors Research Award for their senior thesis.Outside personal finance, Kit enjoys reading, film, video games, and cross-stitching. They are based in the DC area.

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Evelyn He

Compliance and Operations Associate

Evelyn He is a compliance and operations associate for Business Insider’s Personal Finance team. Evelyn ensures content accuracy and editorial independence so readers get the most up-to-date and objective financial advice, enabling them to make informed financial decisions.ExperienceAs part of the compliance team, Evelyn helps fact check Personal Finance stories and works to make sure that the language is clear, precise, and compliant with government regulations and partner guidelines. Previously, Evelyn worked as a compliance specialist for Apellis Pharmaceuticals and a legal assistant at the law firm Morrison Mahoney.ExpertiseEvelyn is an expert in the following areas:

• Compliance
• Quality assurance
• Affiliate marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Content strategy

EducationEvelyn earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UMass Amherst and a master’s in marketing from Boston University. Evelyn has two dogs, Money and Tibber.

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