Key Takeaways
- The best savings and CD rates are usually offered by small to medium-sized banks and credit unions, while large banks often pay much less.
- But if you feel more comfortable with a big-name institution, these 14 large U.S. banks are offering savings account and CD rates in the 4.00% to 5.15% range.
- If you’re willing to consider smaller institutions, you can earn even more. Our daily rankings of the best high-yield savings accounts and best CD rates provide dozens of options paying up to 5.55%.
- Think a big bank is safer? Think again. FDIC and NCUA insurance provides identical protection of your deposits, no matter the size of the institution.
The full article follows below this list of offers from our partners.
Whatever Size Bank You Want, Rule No. 1 Is to Shop Around
The highest-paying savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs) are typically offered by small to medium-sized banks and credit unions. These institutions with names you may not recognize have to work harder to attract customer deposits, and many of them do so by offering more appealing interest rates.
In contrast, some of the very biggest banks—like Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo—aren’t hungry for deposits in the same way smaller institutions are. As a result, some of them pay savings account rates that are very close to zero—and most of their CDs also pay a pittance. So moving your money to a savings account or CD at one of these banking giants without doing your homework could be a costly mistake.
Fortunately, we make it extremely easy to do your research. Every business day, we publish the top nationwide rates on high-yield savings accounts, in addition to the best nationally available CD rates in every major term. Each list provides at least 15 top-paying options that anyone in the country can open.
Still, if you’d rather deposit your savings with a brand-name bank that feels more familiar, it’s not impossible to earn a respectable rate—if you choose carefully. While you won’t earn the highest rate in the country, you can still earn many times the national average if you take a little time to shop around.
Which Bank Banks Pay the Best Savings and CD Rates?
As you can see below, 14 of the 30 largest banks (ranked by total domestic deposits) currently offer a competitive savings account rate or a reasonable CD rate in at least one major term. Note, however, that some of these banks offer different rates in different ZIP codes, so your mileage may vary. Additionally, rates can go up or down on any given day, so what you see here may or may not still be available when you’re shopping around.
| Best Rates at Big Banks | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size Rank | Bank | Savings Account | 6M CD (5–9M) | 1Y CD (10–14M) | 18M CD (15–19M) | 2Y CD (15–20M) | 3Y CD | 4Y CD | 5Y CD |
| 1 | Chase | 4.75% | |||||||
| 2 | Bank of America | 4.75% | 4.75% | ||||||
| 3 | Wells Fargo | 4.75% | 4.25% | ||||||
| 4 | Citi | 4.35% | 4.75% | 4.00% | |||||
| 5 | U.S. Bank | 4.75% | 4.00% | ||||||
| 8 | Capital One | 4.25% | 4.25% | 5.00% | 4.45% | 4.00% | 4.00% | ||
| 9 | Marcus by Goldman Sachs | 4.40% | 5.10% | 5.00% | 4.60% | 4.20% | 4.15% | 4.05% | 4.00% |
| 12 | BMO Alto | 5.10% | 5.15% | 5.05% | 4.65% | 4.60% | 4.70% | 4.80% | |
| 15 | Citizens | 4.50% | 5.00% | 4.00% | |||||
| 19 | Ally | 4.20% | 4.40% | 4.50% | 4.25% | 4.00% | |||
| 24 | American Express | 4.25% | 4.50% | 4.00% | |||||
| 25 | HSBC | 4.00% | 4.70% | 4.00% | |||||
| 27 | Discover | 4.25% | 4.25% | 4.70% | 4.40% | 4.00% | |||
| 30 | Synchrony | 4.75% | 4.90% | 4.80% | 4.50% | 4.20% | 4.15% | 4.00% | 4.00% |
| Top nationwide rate from smaller institutions | 5.55% | 5.51% | 5.40% | 5.40% | 5.25% | 5.00% | 4.86% | 4.80% | |
Empty cells in the table indicate either that the bank does not offer the product, or its rate for that category is not even mildly competitive. For example, Chase Savings currently pays 0.01% APY on its savings account. And aside from its 9–11 month CD offering 4.75% APY (which is only available if you also hold a Chase checking account), the rest of Chase’s CDs pay 3.00% or less.
One Big Bank Is a National CD Rate Leader
Right now, one of these big U.S. banks is offering a leading long-term rate. BMO Alto, the online banking division of banking giant BMO, is currently paying the top 5-year rate of 4.80% APY. It’s also offering the runner-up 4-year rate, at 4.70% APY.
How to Earn Even More—Or Lock in a High Rate for Longer
If you instead want to earn one of the nation’s very top rates, you can do that by loosening your criteria on how big or recognizable the bank needs to be. There are over 100 banks and credit unions that offer high-yield savings accounts to customers nationwide, and more than 200 that offer nationally available CDs. So the 30 largest banks are just the tip of the iceberg. By being willing to bank at a medium-sized or even small institution—after ensuring it is federally insured—you can earn the highest rates available.
Our daily ranking of the best high-yield savings account rates currently features 20 options that pay 5.15% APY or better, including a national leader that’s paying a record rate of 5.50% APY.
Our daily ranking of the best CD rates, meanwhile, includes six leading CDs that pay at least 5.50%, with terms ranging from 3 to 9 months. For terms longer than that, the leading nationwide rate ranges up to 5.40%, including the nation-leading 5-year rate of 4.80% APY from big bank BMO Alto. But beyond those leaders, you have 15 or more choices in every term, all offering stellar returns.
If depositing your money in one of these smaller institutions feels riskier, rest assured that it isn’t. FDIC insurance applies equally to all member banks. So if the smaller bank you’re considering is an FDIC member, your deposits are just as safe at that bank as at an exceptionally large one. The same holds true for credit unions—if they’re a member of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), they too offer the same federal insurance protection on your deposits that FDIC coverage provides.
Rate Collection Methodology Disclosure
Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs and savings accounts to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying accounts. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the account’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.
