CD Rates Summary - May 11, 2021

CD rates have been static at the popular online banks in the last two weeks. It appears that online CD rates have mostly reached a bottom. You can see how online CD rates have been bottoming out in 2021. For the average online CD rates, both the 1-year and 5-year have fallen very little so far in 2021.

There are a few online banks that have cut rates to such low levels that they are no longer competitive for online banks. Radius Bank is the latest one of these. It recently lowered most of its CD rates from 0.50% to 0.10%.

There continues to be a few CD rate hikes. These are rarely anything to get excited about, but they’re a sign that the worst for CD rates may be behind us.

Noteworthy CD rate changes from two weeks ago are included below (All percentages are APYs).

I’ve separated them into three groups: 1) the popular banks, 2) the less well-known banks that have been rate leaders, and 3) the credit unions with easy membership requirements.

Popular Online Banks:

• None

Less well-known banks that have been rate leaders in the past:

• State Bank of India (IL) (5yr SC 1.00% → 1.11%, 2yr SC 0.60% → 0.65%)
• State Bank of India (5yr SC 1.00% → 1.11%, 2yr SC 0.60% → 0.65%)
• Home Savings Bank (5yr 0.25% → 0.75%, 1yr 0.25% → 0.35%)
• Comenity Direct (1yr 0.63% → 0.70%)
• Rising Bank (2yr Jbo 0.55% → 0.60%, 15m NP 0.60% → 0.55%)
• Third Federal Savings & Loan (39m Spc 0.45% → 0.55%)
• Colorado Federal Savings Bank (1yr 0.50% → 0.51%)
• USAA Bank (5yr 0.37% → 0.25%, 1yr 0.06% → 0.04%)
• Investors eAccess (10m 0.25% → 0.15%, 6m NP 0.25% → 0.15%)
• Popular Direct (1yr 0.20% → 0.15%)
• Radius Bank (5yr 0.50% → 0.10%, 1yr 0.50% → 0.10%)

Credit unions that have easy membership requirements:

• Advancial CU (5yr Jbo 1.94% → 1.91%, 2yr Jbo 1.11% → 1.14%, 1yr Jbo 0.95% → 0.94%)
• NASA FCU (49m 1.50% → 1.40%, 15m 0.80% → 0.70%, 9m 0.75% → 0.65%)
• Wings Financial CU (5yr 1.21% → 1.11%, 1yr 0.70% → 0.60%)
• USALLIANCE Financial FCU (35m 0.75% → 1.00%, 24m 0.90% → 0.80%)
• Pen Air FCU (5yr 1.15% → 0.99%, 1yr 0.60% → 0.50%)
• Navy FCU (5yr 0.90% → 0.95%, 1yr 0.55% → 0.60%)
• Lake Michigan CU (5yr 1.15% → 0.95%)
• Sun East FCU (5yr Jbo 0.75% → 0.95%, 1yr Jbo 0.30% → 0.50%)
• Hiway CU (36m 1.00% → 0.95%)
• Chartway FCU - VA rates (5yr 0.55% → 0.85%, 1yr 0.30% → 0.40%)
• Premier Members CU (5yr Jbo 0.90% → 0.80%, 1yr Jbo 0.55% → 0.45%)

Brokered CD Rates

This year there have been substantial rate gains on long-term brokered CDs. The gains have slowed since the middle of March. The short-term brokered CD rates have remained near zero.

The top non-callable long-term CDs have been primarily driven by one issuer. State Bank of India has been offering rates well above other issuers. These long-term CD rates have fluctuated a bit in the last month, and sometimes, they’re not being offered. Today, both Fidelity and Vanguard were listing State Bank of India non-callable long-term CDs with the same or very similar rates. Both brokerage firms were offering the 10-year CD with a 1.80% rate and the 7-year CD with a 1.50% rate. For the 5-year CD, Fidelity was offering a 0.95% rate while Vanguard was offering a 1.00% rate.

For mid-term CDs, the largest rate change in the last two weeks was on the 4-year term. At Vanguard, the 4-year CD rate fell 15 bps to 0.30%, and at Fidelity, the rate fell 10 bps to 0.35%. The 2-year and 3-year CD rates have changed little to none. At both Fidelity and Vanguard, the top 3-year CD rate was 0.30%, and the top 2-year rate was only 0.15%.

For short-term brokered CDs with terms of 18 months and under, rates remain very low. The top 18-month rate had a slight gain in the last two weeks, rising to 0.15%. The top 12-month rate held steady at 0.10%. For terms under one year, the rates are very low, ranging from 0.02% to 0.05%.

The callable feature gives the bank the right to redeem a CD early. That can save the bank money when interest rates fall. However, the CD holder loses out if rates fall and the CD is called early. When banks offer more callable long-term CDs, it’s a sign that they think rates are heading down. When the number of callable long-term CDs decline, banks may think rates have reached a bottom and will eventually be rising.

Brokered CD rates often follow Treasury yields. Direct CD rates will often follow brokered CD rates with some lag.

Falling brokered CD rates was a trend that began in November 2018 when the top 5-year rates reached as high as 3.60%. However, that trend may be over. In the last four months, long-term brokered CD rates have been on the rise.

Direct CD Rates and Deals

Credit union CD Specials are rare these days, but they haven’t completely disappeared.

The new one to report this week is the 35-month CD Special at USALLIANCE Financial Credit Union. It has a 1.00% APY, with a minimum deposit of only $500. Unfortunately, USALLIANCE’s 24-month CD Special had a rate cut in May, falling from 0.90% to 0.80% APY. The other specials had no rate changes, and they remain competitive. The two best are the 12-month CD (0.65% APY) and the 11-month no-penalty CD (0.55%). For more details, please refer to the review of USALLIANCE Financial and these Special CDs.

NASA Federal Credit Union kept its three CD Specials in May, but it lowered their rates by 10 bps. NASA FCU’s 49-month CD Special (1.40% APY) continues to hold the #2 spot in the 4-year category. Advancial’s 4-year Jumbo CD remains in first (1.60% APY). NASA FCU’s other two CD Specials are also still quite competitive. They’re not rate leaders for their terms, but they’re close. The 9-month CD Special rate is 0.65% and the 15-month Special rate is 0.70%. For more details, please refer to the review of NASA FCU and these CDs.

Abound Credit Union (formerly known as Fort Knox FCU) continues to offer its two CD Specials (37-month, 1.25% APY; 13-month, 0.80% APY). Only Advancial’s Jumbo CDs have higher rates in the 3-year and 1-year categories. Abound’s standard 59-month CD is also very competitive (1.30% APY). The credit union is infamous at DA for what it did in 2011 when it raised the early withdrawal penalty on existing CDs rather than increasing it only on new CDs or CD renewals. I decided to include Abound in the summary so you can make up your own mind on whether it’s worth joining for their CDs.

Advancial Credit Union Jumbo CDs continue to be the rate leaders for most categories. When May began, a few terms had small rate cuts while other terms had small rate gains. Both the 1-year and 5-year had rate cuts, but they’re still on top. The Jumbo 1-year yield is 0.94% and the Jumbo 5-year yield is 1.91%. Unfortunately, readers have been reporting that Advancial is once again not allowing membership through the Connex association. Last November, Advancial officials had been allowing people in any state to become members via the Connex association. If you try to join, please leave a comment about how it went.

Michigan State University FCU often tweaks its CD rates, but the rates have been static in the last two weeks. Its Jumbo 5-year CD yield remains at 1.35%. This yield is still the highest for a credit union that allows people from any state to easily join. You can join by making a $10 donation to the MSU Alumni Association (MSUAA). According to the credit union CSR, you can select MSUAA when submitting the online application. In the comments section just indicate that you would like to make the $10 donation.

The top nationally available 5-year CD yield from a bank is now 1.11%. It’s the State Bank of India’s Senior Citizens CDs, which require the customer be at least 60 years of age.

For nationally available 1-year CDs, the top 1-year CD rate from a bank is still 0.75%. Two banks continue to offer this rate. One is Gateway First Bank which offers a 13-month CD Special. The other is NexBank which offers a 12-month CD with this rate.

It didn’t quite make the 1-year category, but Ally Bank has started to offer a new 14-month Select CD with a 0.60% APY. This replaces the 15-month Select CD. This new one is scheduled to be available through July 14th. However, there’s no guarantee that the 0.60% APY will hold. The rate may fall before July 14th.

In the last summary, I reported on the three CD Specials from INOVA Federal Credit Union. These CD Specials remain with the same rates. They include a 30-month CD (1.25% APY), a 24-month CD (1.15% APY), and an 18-month CD (1.05% APY). The credit union used to allow people from any state to join by becoming a member of the Tru Direction Financial Literacy Program. That has changed, and now this membership option also requires that you live within a 50-mile radius of a branch. I have more details in the INOVA FCU and CD Specials review.

Savings and Money Market Accounts

There continues to be only three institutions with liquid accounts that offer yields of at least 1.00% without any small maximum balance, activity/checking requirements or unusual withdrawal limitations. There was a short period when a new online bank (ZYNLO Bank) was offering 1.25% APY on a new online money market account. The promo ended in March, and now only the standard rate is available (0.80% APY).

The first is the fintech M1 Finance. This is a brokerage firm and robo-advisor which also offers a checking account called M1 Spend. M1 Finance has partnered with Lincoln Savings Bank which holds the deposits and allows deposits to be FDIC insured. The Spend account has two options: basic and plus. The basic account offers no interest. The plus account offers 1% APY on all balances. The downside with M1 Plus is a $125-per-year maintenance fee that can’t be waived.

The second one is the fintech T-Mobile Money. It has partnered with a bank (Customers Bank) to hold the deposits in an FDIC-insured account. Its checking account offers 1.00% APY on all balances without any activity requirements.

The third institution with a 1% account is Advancial Credit Union. Its Premium Money Market account continues to have a 1.01% APY for a minimum balance of $100k. For those interested in Advancial CDs, this is another reason to join.

For more details about these three accounts, please refer to my latest liquid account summary.

Federal Reserve and Interest Rate Summary

The Fed and economy review is now split off on a separate blog post. My weekly summaries will now be focused entirely on deposit rates and deals. Please keep all discussion about the Fed, the economy and politics to my Fed/Economy review blog post.

Here's the link to last week's savings/checking account summary. You can always get the latest rates for savings/checking accounts and CDs by using our rate tables, available via the navigational menu on top.

Yields Accurate as of May 11, 2021

Under 1-Year CD Rates

Noteworthy Local Deals - Under 1-Year CDs

1-Year CD Rates

Noteworthy Local Deals - 1-Year CDs

18-month CD Rates

Noteworthy Local Deals - 18-Month CDs

2-Year CD Rates

Noteworthy Local Deals - 2-Year CDs

3-Year CD Rates

Noteworthy Local Deals - 3-Year CDs

4-Year CD Rates

Noteworthy Local Deals - 4-Year CDs

5-Year CD Rates

Noteworthy Local Deals - 5-Year CDs

Over 5-Year CD Rates

Noteworthy Local Deals - Over 5-year CDs

*BMW (BMW Bank), CSBWI (Commerce State Bank WI), CWBB (Commonwealth Business Bank), FLAG (Flagstar Bank FSB), GSB (Goldman Sachs Bank), MFB (MidFirst Bank OK), MLBB (Marlin Business Bank), MZTB (Mizrahi Tefahot Bank), SBoI (State Bank of India), SBoIIL (State Bank of India IL)

**New To Summary, as of May 11, 2021

CDs Removed, No Longer Available

CDs Removed Due To Low Rates Or Expired Specials