Anyone who wants to stretch one of today’s record CD prices through 2025 is in luck. This is due to its 18-month tenure earning a new national leader in paying 5.75% API. For the past week, the 18-month high rate was 5.66% API.
It’s today’s newcomer. First Harvest Credit UnionThe 5.75% API offer is available for a 15-month period. If opened this month, this will lock in your price until December of next year. But if you want to extend your payment guarantee until 2025, it’s a runner. Alabama Credit UnionPaying 5.66% APY in full over 18 months.
Key receivers
- A new CD took the top spot at 5.75% APY for 15 months over an 18-month period.
- The daily top rate for the nation’s best-performing CDs remained 6.00% API on the 1-year certificate — the first nationwide CD to reach that level since the Fed began raising interest rates last year.
- Today’s CDs nationwide that pay 5.50% APR or higher have increased from one to 47. That’s six gains over the past week.
- The best long-term option that offers at least 5.00% is a 3-year CD that pays 5.23% APR.
- The Fed is widely expected to hold rates at its September 19-20 meeting, but odds for a November Fed hike are currently running at around 45 percent.
Nationally, it remains the leading 6.00% API in all terms. America 1 Credit Union, available for 12 months. Lucky CD shoppers in select markets can choose one of these additional 6.00% APY offers.
Want to maintain a record rate for a longer period of time? You can earn a 5.23% API from our top 3-year CDs ranking leader, or at least 5.00% from five other competitors in that term. The maximum rates in the 4-year and 5-year terms are 4.81% APY and 4.86% APY.
If you have a jumbo deposit, you can get slightly higher than normal rates on some terms. The maximum Jumbo rate is currently 5.85% APY—requiring a minimum deposit of $100,000 on a 6-month certificate—with additional options in 1-year and 18-month terms paying 5.80% APY.
Despite the perception that a larger deposit entitles you to higher fees, that’s not always the case for jumbo certificate prices, which pay less than standard CDs. Although today’s best jumbo offers, which typically require a deposit of $100,000 or more, beat the best standard rates in five CD terms, you can do as well or better with a standard CD in the remaining three terms. So always make sure to buy each certificate before making a final decision.
Despite the perception that a larger deposit entitles you to higher fees, that’s not always the case for jumbo certificate prices, which pay less than standard CDs. Although today’s best jumbo offers, which typically require a deposit of $100,000 or more, beat the best standard rates in five CD terms, you can do as well or better with a standard CD in the remaining three terms. So always make sure to buy each certificate before making a final decision.
Will CD prices rise this year?
The Fed has been battling the highest rate of inflation in decades since March of last year, with fast and furious increases in the federal funds rate in 2022 and easing to moderate increases in 2023. On July 26, the Fed lowered its inflation target. For the 11th time in 12 meetings, taking the cumulative increase to 5.25%. This pushed the benchmark rate to its highest level since 2001. In turn, it created record rate conditions for CD consumers, as well as anyone with cash in a high-yield savings or money market account.
The Fed’s next meeting ends on September 20, and markets are betting that the central bank will hold its benchmark rate this time. But the chances of the Fed hiking rates at the November meeting are currently based on 45% odds.
In a speech on August 25, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that more rate hikes are on the table if inflation does not fall sufficiently in the coming months. Other Fed board members echoed the sentiment that future rate hikes are still possible.
If the Fed raises rates in the future, it will certainly push CD prices up a bit. But the holdover expected in September will keep markets — and CD consumers — guessing whether the pause is temporary or permanent. Once the end of the Fed campaign is seen with more confidence, that will signal that CD prices have peaked.
Note that the “peak rates” quoted here are the highest rates nationwide that Investopedia has identified in its daily rate survey of hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is very different from the national average, where all banks that offer CDs with that term, including many large banks, charge a small fee in interest. So, while national averages are always very low, the highest rates you can get by shopping around are often five, 10 or 15 times higher.
Note that the “peak rates” quoted here are the highest rates nationwide that Investopedia has identified in its daily rate survey of hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is very different from the national average, where all banks that offer CDs with that term, including many large banks, charge a small fee in interest. So, while national averages are always very low, the highest rates you can get by shopping around are often five, 10 or 15 times higher.
Disclosure of collection method
Each business day, Investopedia tracks rate data from more than 200 banks and credit unions nationwide that offer CDs to their customers and determines the highest-paying certificates for each major period. To qualify for our listings, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the CD’s minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000.
Banks must be present in at least 40 states. And while some credit unions require you to donate 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 occupation), credit unions don’t have a donation requirement of $40 or more. For more on how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.
Correction – September. In the year 2, 2023: This article has been updated to describe the previous 3-year CD maximum rate and the current 4-year Jumbo CD maximum rate.
Investopedia / Alice Morgan and Sabrina Jiang
