You have a fleeting opportunity today to get a certificate of deposit (CD) with a market-leading 5.50% APY, but it will unfortunately evaporate by the end of the work day. INOVA Federal Credit Union has a 20-month promotional certificate paying that rate, but it is pulling the offer at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
The former rate leader, Langley Federal Credit Union, is still offering 5.35% APY on a 22-month term.
INOVA has a second special CD, paying 5.25% on 11 months, which also expires today. The addition of these two certificates brings our total number of CDs paying at least 5.25% APY up to 10.
Key Takeaways
- Today’s top nationally available rate across all CD terms rose to 5.50% APY, available on a 20-month certificate, but the limited-time offer expires at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
- You can now earn at least 5.25% APY on 10 different CDs in our rankings, up from eight yesterday.
- A rate of at least 5.00% APY continues to be available in every term from 3 months to 3 years.
- The most you can earn on jumbo CDs has held steady for more than two weeks.
- The Federal Reserve could raise interest rates again in less than two weeks, but this is still a good time to lock in record-high CD rates.
INOVA and Langley, as well as all of the credit unions in our rankings, are open to online customers nationwide. Most of the included credit unions make it just as easy to join as a bank, and all are covered by the same $250,000 in federal deposit insurance as banks. The only difference is that the coverage is provided by the National Credit Union Association (NCUA), which is the credit union equivalent of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
| CD Term | Yesterday’s Top National Rate | Today’s Top National Rate | Day’s Change (percentage points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months | 5.00% APY | 5.00% APY | No change |
| 6 months | 5.25% APY | 5.25% APY | No change |
| 1 year | 5.25% APY | 5.25% APY | No change |
| 18 months | 5.25% APY | 5.50% APY | + 0.25 |
| 2 years | 5.35% APY | 5.35% APY | No change |
| 3 years | 5.00% APY | 5.00% APY | No change |
| 4 years | 4.73% APY | 4.73% APY | No change |
| 5 years | 4.68% APY | 4.68% APY | No change |
| 10 years | 4.30% APY | 4.30% APY | No change |
Dozens of the top CD rates still beat the 5% March inflation rate, released last week. This is a relatively rare occurrence, at least in recent years. No one knows what the April inflation figure will be, but this may be a good time to lock in an inflation-busting CD rate.
| CD Term | Today’s Top National Bank Rate | Today’s Top National Credit Union Rate | Today’s Top National Jumbo Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months | 5.00% APY | 4.50% APY | 3.91% APY |
| 6 months | 5.25% APY | 5.01% APY | 5.25% APY |
| 1 year | 5.25% APY | 5.25% APY | 5.15% APY |
| 18 months | 5.10% APY | 5.50% APY | 5.25% APY |
| 2 years | 5.28% APY | 5.35% APY | 5.04% APY |
| 3 years | 4.60% APY | 5.00% APY | 4.99% APY |
| 4 years | 4.55% APY | 4.73% APY | 4.89% APY |
| 5 years | 4.50% APY | 4.68% APY | 4.84% APY |
| 10 years | 4.10% APY | 4.30% APY | None |
The top rate for a jumbo certificate is holding steady at 5.25%, offered in two terms. It’s always smart to keep your search open to standard CDs, even when you have a jumbo-size deposit because you can typically find better rates among regular certificates. But right now, the best jumbo 4-year and 5-year APYs are better than other market leaders in those terms.
Will CD Rates Rise or Fall?
CD rates skyrocketed as a result of the Federal Reserve aggressively hiking the federal funds rate to combat inflation. Although the Fed has raised the fed funds rate twice this year, both times by 0.25%, that’s far lower than the cumulative 4.25% in increases it implemented last year. As a result, rates on deposit accounts surged in 2022, and then have crept only slightly higher this year.
We are less than two weeks away from the Federal Reserve’s next rate-setting meeting, which will wrap up on May 3. Current market predictions are running at an 89% probability that the Fed will hike rates a minimal quarter point. But after that, federal funds futures traders generally expect we’ll see rates plateau and eventually decrease. So though rates may possibly inch higher, they are already at their highest levels since 2007, making now a good time to consider locking in CD that will pay attractive dividends for months or years to come.
Note that the “top rates” quoted here are the highest nationally available rates Investopedia has identified in its daily rate research on hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is much different than the national average, which includes all banks offering a CD with that term, including many large banks that pay a pittance in interest. Thus, the national averages are always quite low, while the top rates you can unearth by shopping around are often five, 10, or even 15 times higher.
Rate Collection Methodology Disclosure
Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying certificates in every major term. To qualify for our lists, 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 available 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 (e.g., you don’t live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.
Source: https://www.investopedia.com/top-cd-rates-today-april-21-7483630?utm_campaign=quote-yahoo&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&yptr=yahoo