This Year’s CD Deals We Can Be Thankful For

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. May you enjoy the feast and the company of your family and friends. Thanks for all of your support this year.

It’s sort of my blog tradition for Thanksgiving to look back at some of the bank deals this year that we can be thankful for.

First, we can be thankful for another year of rising interest rates. The Fed has now raised the federal funds rate eight times, and it looks very likely we’ll see a ninth rate hike in December. We now have internet banks offering non-promotional savings account rates as high as 2.35% APY. Last year at Thanksgiving, the highest APY was only 1.55%.

Just like previous years, the best CD deals this year have come from credit unions. First, let’s start with the ones that are still active as of 11/22/2018.

Andrews Federal Credit Union has been offering an exceptional 9-month CD since July. With a rate of 2.75% APY, it’s still the rate leader for nationally available CDs with terms under one year and with similar minimum deposit requirements. On Black Friday, an even better CD special is scheduled to be available at Andrews Federal. As I described yesterday, this Black Friday special will have an 8-month term and a 2.86% APY.

For a larger minimum deposit ($50k), Advancial Credit Union, has some exceptional short-term CD rates. These CD terms include a 6-month (2.78% APY), 12-month (3.01% APY) and an 18-month (3.15% APY). This is another easy-membership-requirement credit union as described in my CD and credit union review.

We are finally starting to see a few 4% CDs, but the nationally available ones are still not lasting long. One that is still available is the 5-year CD at Connexus Credit Union. It has a 4.00% APY with a $5k minimum deposit. The early withdrawal penalty is 365 days of interest. Please see my CD and credit union review for more details.

Occasionally, a credit union will offer an unbelievable CD rate special, but there’s typically a catch. That catch is a relatively small maximum deposit. Great Lakes Credit Union is currently offering this type of CD special. It’s a 7-month term CD with a 7.00% APY. Maximum deposit is $7k. Please refer to my deal and credit union review for more details.

Now let’s review the 2018 hot deals that have ended.

Not all CD specials with an exceptional rate have small maximum deposits. One example this year was the 7-month CD special at Keesler Federal Credit Union. This had the exceptional rate of 5.00% APY with no stated maximum deposit. These hot deals never last long. This one ended just a few days after I reviewed the deal.

It wasn’t as exceptional as the Keesler deal, but the 15-month CD special at NASA Federal Credit Union was still pretty hot when it was offered in September. The 15-month CD special had a 3.25% APY which would still be a rate leading CD if it were offered today. The special lasted a month, ending on October 1st.

One of the first 4% CDs that we saw this year was the 64-month CD special at Sharonview Federal Credit Union. This special had a 4.00% APY with a maximum deposit of $250k with new money. The special began on March 1st and ended on March 9th, only about a week after my CD and credit union review.

Sometimes a credit union will offer exceptional rates on only IRA CDs. That was a case this year at Achieva Credit Union with its 5-year IRA CDs that had APYs that ranged from 4.00% ($500 minimum) to 4.20% ($75k minimum). This deal lasted for a few months during the summer and early fall, ending on October 1st.

We have been seeing more 4% CDs in the last month. One that came and went quickly was the 4-year CD special at Garden Savings Federal Credit Union. This had a 4.08% APY with no stated balance cap and an early withdrawal penalty of only 180 days of interest. This special CD lasted just for a few days early this month.

Lastly, we shouldn’t forget the Ally Payback Promotion which will allow customers to earn up to an additional $1,000 on top of Ally Bank’s standard interest rates. The promotion details weren’t the easiest to understand, but it did allow for existing customers to participate. I was worried that Ally Bank may let its accounts become uncompetitive during the promotion, but they have continued to raise rates. The latest rate hike was a 5-bps rate increase on the 11-month No Penalty CD which now has rates up to 2.25% APY for $25k+ deposits.

With rates continuing to be on the rise, hopefully we’ll soon see more 4% CDs, and hopefully, we’ll see them at both internet banks and credit unions in which anyone can join. I’m thankful that more credit unions have expanded their fields of membership. You can see these in our big list of credit unions anyone can join.

What deposit account deals were you thankful for this year?