Top CD prices today, April 21
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You have a fleeting opportunity today to get a certificate of deposit (CD) with a market-leading 5.50% APY, but unfortunately it will evaporate by the end of the business day. INOVA Federal Credit Union has a 20-month promotional certificate that pays that rate, but it is withdrawing the offer at 5:30 PM Eastern Time.
The former rate leader, Langley Federal Credit Union, still offers 5.35% APY on a 22-month term.
INOVA has a second special CD, paying 5.25% for 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.
Important takeaways
- Today’s top nationally available rate for 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 ranking, up from eight yesterday.
- A rate of at least 5.00% APY continues to be available in each period from 3 months to 3 years.
- The most you can earn on jumbo CDs has remained stable for more than two weeks.
- The Federal Reserve may raise interest rates again in less than two weeks, but this is still a good time to lock in record CD rates.
INOVA and Langley, as well as all the credit unions in our ranking, are open to online customers throughout the country. Most of the included credit unions make joining as easy as a bank, and all are covered by the same $250,000 in federal deposit insurance as banks. The only difference is that 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 highest national rate | Today’s highest national rate | Today’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 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 inflation number for April will be, but this could be a good time to lock in an inflation-busting CD rate.
| CD Term | Today’s highest national bank interest rate | Today’s highest national credit union interest 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 | No |
The top rate for a jumbo certificate remains stable at 5.25%, offered in two installments. It’s always smart to keep your search open for standard CDs even when you have a large deposit because you can usually find better prices among regular certificates. But right now, the best jumbo 4- and 5-year APYs are better than other market leaders in those terms.
Will CD prices rise or fall?
CD yields skyrocketed as a result of the Federal Reserve aggressively raising the federal funds rate to combat inflation. Although the Fed has raised the Fed Funds rate twice this year, both times by 0.25%, it is far lower than the cumulative 4.25% of increases it implemented last year. As a result, interest rates on savings accounts increased in 2022, and have then only crept slightly higher this year.
We are less than two weeks away from the Federal Reserve’s next rate-setting meeting, which ends on May 3. Current market predictions are running at an 89% probability that the Fed will raise interest rates by a minimal quarter point. But after that, federal funds futures traders generally expect that we will see interest rates plateau and eventually decline. So while prices may be inches higher, they are already at their highest level since 2007, making now a good time to consider locking in CDs that will provide attractive dividends for months or years to come.
Note that the “peak rates” listed here are the highest nationally available rates that Investopedia has identified in its daily rate survey of hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is much different than the national average, which includes all banks that offer a CD with that term, including many large banks that pay petty cash in interest. Thus, the national average is always quite low, while the top rates you can find by shopping around are often five, 10 or even 15 times higher.
Disclosure of Prize Collection Methodology
Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs to customers across the country, and determines daily rankings of the best-paying certificates in each major period. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions) and the CD’s minimum 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 (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 is $40 or more. For more on how we choose the best prices, read our full methodology.
