Best CD Rates In Georgia Of May 2024

Navy Federal Credit Union’s EasyStart Certificates offer a competitive APY—up to 4.75%—for terms ranging from six to 24 months. With a low minimum opening deposit of $50, these certificates are perfect for building your savings from scratch. While most CDs only allow a single deposit, you can add money to your EasyStart Certificate at any time. You can even set up recurring automatic deposits.

There’s also the Navy Federal Credit Union Special EasyStart Certificate that earns 5.30% APY, although it has a maximum deposit cap of $3,000 and requires a checking account with direct deposit. Standard certificates have no maximum deposit cap, and the 12, 18 and 24-month certificates earn competitive rates.

You must become a Navy Federal Credit Union member to open an account. To be eligible, you must be a member of the armed forces, a veteran, a family member of a current or retired service member or a Department of Defense employee.

Read our full Navy Federal Credit Union Review.

Interest compounds daily and is credited monthly. When your CD matures, you have a 21-day grace period, during which you can make changes to your account. Otherwise, it will renew automatically. Withdrawals of your principal deposit before the maturity date are subject to a penalty, which varies by term.

Georgia’s Own Credit Union offers various CD options, including standard certificates, IRA certificates and bump-rate certificates. Terms for standard CDs range from six months to five years, while bump-rate CDs are issued in 22-month and 44-month terms.

The minimum deposit for CD accounts at Georgia’s Own is $500. Currently, the highest rates are offered on one-year terms.

As with all credit unions, you’ll need to qualify for membership to join Georgia’s Own. There are five ways to qualify, including living or working in one of the 70 counties the credit union services. A $5 minimum deposit is required to open a Georgia’s Own Credit Union member savings account.

Interest earned on CD accounts is compounded quarterly and, for most CDs, credited to your account monthly. An early withdrawal penalty may apply if you withdraw money from your CD account prior to the certificate’s maturity. The penalty ranges from 90 days’ worth of interest up to 450 days’ worth of interest, depending on the length of the CD term.

PenFed Credit Union pays competitive yields, ranging from 3.00% to 4.20% APY, on nine different Money Market Certificate terms, from six months to seven years. And, at $1,000, the minimum deposit requirement is fairly modest.

The credit union gets excellent customer satisfaction scores. It also has a highly rated mobile app, available on iOS and Android. And don’t let the “money market” in this certificate’s name confuse you; this is a share certificate, not a money market account.

With PenFed, you choose your maturity option when you open your certificate and can change it anytime prior to maturity. This gives you some flexibility, and extra time, to decide what you’d like to do with the funds in your account when it matures. You can transfer the funds into another PenFed account, roll it into a new certificate, get a mailed check or transfer it via ACH.

You can join PenFed Credit Union by making a $5 deposit into a savings account.

Read our full PenFed Credit Union Review.

Compounding schedule

The yields earned on credit union accounts are referred to as dividends rather than interest. Dividends on six-month certificates are earned on a simple (not compound) interest basis and are paid when the certificate matures. Dividends on all other CDs are compounded daily and credited monthly.

Early withdrawal penalties

Early withdrawal penalties vary by term.

Maturity options

With PenFed, you choose your maturity option when you open your certificate and can change it anytime prior to maturity. This gives you some flexibility, and extra time, to decide what you’d like to do with the funds in your account when it matures. You can transfer the funds into another PenFed account, roll it into a new certificate, get a mailed check or transfer it via ACH.

PenFed certificates have significantly lower rates across the maturity spectrum than others. In addition, their early withdrawal penalties are pretty onerous compared to what is standard. They’re about the most severe I have heard.

—Jill Fopiano, CEO at O’Brien Wealth Partners

Schwab CD OneSource isn’t a specific CD account—instead, it’s a CD marketplace offered by the brokerage firm Charles Schwab. That means any CD purchased through Schwab OneSource is a brokered CD. Customers can shop for and compare various brokered CDs through the online marketplace before making a purchase.

Rather than compounding, interest on a brokered CD is paid out to customers regularly through the CD’s term. Deposits still receive FDIC insurance as long as the CDs are issued to the broker from an FDIC-insured bank. Investors can also trade or sell brokered CDs before maturity on the secondary market without incurring a penalty.

A benefit of brokered CDs like those offered through Schwab OneSource is competitive interest rates. APYs available from Schwab OneSource are currently as high as 5.65%.

You must be a Charles Schwab customer to open a CD, and these accounts require a $1,000 minimum deposit.

Interest on Schwab OneSource CDs doesn’t compound. Instead, it’s paid out in intervals throughout the CD’s term. Customers can sell CDs on the secondary market without penalty before maturity, though it’s possible they can lose value. And like bank CDs, you can withdraw your full principal balance at maturity.