Over twenty options to earn 5.50% or more
We may have lost a passing national leader earlier this week, but your list of opportunities to earn an elite CD rate is still going strong. A whopping 27 certifications in our daily ranking of the best CDs nationwide pay a Standard Leaders average of 5.50% APY — or more.
Still the highest rate today across all CD terms is 5.75% APY, available with a standard one-year certificate from MapleMark Bank.
main sockets
- The number of Benchmark Leader CDs in our rankings – which pay at least 5.50% APY – were held today at 27. That’s up from 22 a week ago.
- Today’s highest rate for a locally available Certificate of Deposit (CD) is 5.75% APY for one year, or 5.76% APY for one year if you can manage a minimum deposit of $100,000.
- For anyone in the market for a jumbo CD, the 18-month lead rose today, to 5.65% from 5.58% APY.
- The longest you can lock in at a rate of at least 5.00% remains three years, at a rate of 5.13% APY, or four years at a rate of 5.12% APY if you can deposit at least $100,000.
- The Fed will not meet again on rates until mid-September, and it is currently uncertain whether it will raise interest rates again higher, or choose to keep them steady.
To help you earn as much as possible, here are the best CD prices available from our partners, followed by more information about the most profitable CDs available to US customers everywhere.
Jumbo CD shoppers have a new, higher-paying option in an 18-month period. You can now earn 5.65% APY on a 15-month supply in our Best Jumbo CDs ranking, up from yesterday’s leading rate of 5.58% APY.
For anyone who wants one of today’s standard rates for more than 2 years, you can get 5.13% APY from a credit union top ranking 3-year CD, or 5.00% from one of three bank CDs at the time. Or if you can manage a minimum deposit of $100,000, you can extend your term to four years with a jumbo APY certificate of 5.12%.
CD Shopper Tip
Do you think you need to hold on to a bank CD because joining a credit union is too much of a hassle? Think again. The credit unions that we include in our rankings are open to anyone nationwide and easy to join. Although some require a donation to an affiliated nonprofit organization, the amount required is generally modest, and some require no donation or cost at all. The process for opening an account with a credit union is also the same as opening an account with a new bank.
Be careful
Although it is suggested that a larger deposit entitles you to a higher payout, this is not always the case for hefty certificate rates, which often pay less than standard CDs. Although today’s best jumbo deals, which typically require a deposit of $100,000 or more, beat standard best rates in five conditions on CDs, you can do just as well or better in the other three terms with a standard CD. So always make sure to shop around each certification type before making a final decision.
Will CD Prices Increase in 2023?
This year has already seen CD rates hit record highs, but it’s likely to be even higher. That’s because the Fed announced another 0.25% increase in the federal funds rate on July 26th, and it will remain at that level until at least September 20th. Credit unions are willing to pay customers for their deposits.
The Fed has been aggressively battling decades-high inflation since March 2022, with 11 hikes to its benchmark rates over the past 12 meetings. The July high brought the cumulative increase to 5.25%, pushing the federal funds rate to its highest level since 2001. This has created historic conditions for CD shoppers, as well as for anyone with cash in a high-yield savings account or in the money market.
The Fed’s official announcement in July did not provide any strong indications as to whether it would raise the benchmark interest rate higher this year. The written statement simply reiterated the Fed’s commitment to lower inflation to its target of 2%.
In his post-announcement press conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell noted that the rate-setting committee had not yet made any decisions about raising rates again in 2023, or if so, what the timing or speed of any increases would follow. He specifically mentioned that rising and stopping were both possibilities at the next meeting, scheduled for September 19-20.
Since then, several Fed governors have made public statements about their expectations of whether the committee will raise or suspend interest rates in the future. Last week, two emphasized the need to monitor upcoming data and decide on a meeting cycle by session – including the possibility of another increase – while a third noted that unless something unexpected appears in the data, he expects rates to be held without any other increases.
A fourth member of the committee spoke this week and noted that although the central bank could now take some time to allow more data, it is not ready to announce the end of the Fed hikes. He also suggested it could be 2024 or even 2025 before the Fed moves the other way and cuts interest rates.
The rate hike in July is likely to push CD rates higher. But it’s also possible that the impact will start to fade until a clearer picture emerges about the Fed’s next move. In any case, once the Fed appears ready to end its rate hike campaign for good, that would be a sign that CD rates have likely peaked.
Note that the “higher rates” listed here are the highest rates available nationwide that Investopedia has determined in its daily rate search on hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is very different from the national average, which includes all banks that offer a CD with that term, including many of the larger ones that pay minuscule interest. Thus, the national rates are always very low, while the higher rates that you can find out by shopping around are often five, 10 or even 15 times higher.
Disclosure of the price collection methodology
Every business day, Investopedia tracks pricing data for more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs to customers across the country and determines daily ratings for the highest-paying certificates in each key term. To qualify for our listings, an organization must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the minimum initial CD deposit must not exceed $25,000.
Banks must be available in at least 40 states. And although some credit unions require you to make a donation to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don’t meet other eligibility criteria (for example, you don’t live in a certain area or work in a certain type of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirements are $40 or more. For more information on how to choose the best rates, read our full methodology.
