We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more.
- PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS
- CD NEWS
Violeta Stoimenova / Getty Images
KEY TAKEAWAYS
For over a year, it's been easy to earn more than 5% with high-yield savings accounts and CDs. But with the addition of a new offer this week, you now have four options at different term lengths for boosting your return even higher:
- Primis Bank: Novus Checking Account promises 6.00% for 6 months
- Financial Partners Credit Union: Pays 6.00% for select California residents for 8 months
- Nuvision Credit Union: Nationwide CD guarantees 6.00% for 10 months
- Merchants Bank of Indiana: Indexed 1- to 3-year CD will pay 5.92% until the Fed changes rates
Want a longer rate guarantee? Our daily ranking of the best nationwide CDs brings you all the top rates in terms up to 5 years.
The full article continues below these offers from our partners.
The First 6% Options We've Seen Since November
Last fall, certificate of deposit (CD) rates reached a peak we hadn't seen in more than 20 years. That's thanks to the Federal Reserve's 2022-2023 rate-hike campaign, which aggressively pushed the federal funds rate to its highest level since 2001. As a result, we saw a 6.00% CD arrive in late September, and for a brief week in October, a 6.50% rate graced the market with its presence.
But with the Fed putting rate increases on hold after its last hike in July, CD rates have edged down from those heights. Don't get us wrong—you can still earn stellar rates in the 5% range for terms as long as 3 years. It remains an excellent time to lock a great return well into the future by opening a CD.
But this week offers a few nuggets of extra earning potential, with three different options now paying 6.00% on products that will guarantee your rate 6, 8, or 10 months down the road. In addition, a fourth offer promises a rate close to 6.00%, but with an unknown end date.
A Checking Account That Pays 6.00%—and Guarantees It
Primis Bank launched its Novus Checking account earlier this spring, with a return that handily outpays even the best high-yield savings accounts. To earn the stellar 6.00% rate, simply set up and receive a direct deposit of at least $1,200. Once that direct deposit requirement is met, your next statement cycle will pay a 6.00% annual percentage yield (APY) on balances up to $100,000 (you'll earn 4.00% on funds above that amount).
Not only that, but Primis guarantees it will pay the 6.00% APY for six months, assuming you continue to meet the direct deposit requirement each month. After six months, the Primis Novus Checking rate will be lowered to 4.00%.
Rates like these are generally reserved for high-yield savings accounts, or CDs that require you to deposit your funds and not touch them for months or years. Instead, Primis provides this remarkable rate for a checking account, which lets you move your money in and out however you like.
YOUR DEPOSITS ARE SAFE
Anytime we feature a top-paying savings, money market, checking, or CD account, you can be assured that it's offered by a federally insured institution. This means that, no matter the size of the bank or credit union, your deposits are protected up to $250,000 per person and per institution by the FDIC (for banks) or the NCUA (for credit unions).
An 8-Month CD That Locks in 6.00% Until February
Eligible California residents can secure a 6.00% APY a bit further down the road, with Financial Partners Credit Union offering an 8-month CD paying that stellar rate.
This promotional CD is only available to new members of the credit union. To join Financial Partners, you must reside in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, or San Diego county or in the city of South San Francisco or Alameda. You're also limited to depositing no more than $5,000 in this promotional CD, with only one CD allowed per person.
A 10-Month CD Paying 6.00% Until April
Want to secure a 6.00% rate until next spring? Nuvision Credit Union is our newcomer to this elite club, having just recently unveiled a new 10-month CD. Like Financial Partners' offer, you can only deposit a maximum of $5,000 in this CD, and can only open one per person. But it's available to anyone nationwide, and it allows you to lock in your 6.00% rate until almost next Easter.
While Nuvision serves employees of Boeing and a list of other companies, anyone in the country can join if they are an American Consumer Council member. If you haven't already joined the nonprofit ACC, you can do so by making a $15 donation. That one-time fee gets you a lifetime membership, which can be useful for joining many other nationwide credit unions as well.
Nuvision indicates that this offer will expire July 31, 2024. However, we've seen other market-leading options get pulled earlier than their advertised sunset date. So if this CD interests you, it's best to get your hands on it fast.
An Indexed CD Rate That Won't Move Until the Fed Does
Our last option doesn't pay quite 6.00%, but at 5.92% its return is still head-and-shoulders above the rest of the CD field. And it offers a unique advantage: You may be able to earn an exceptional rate much further into the future.
The offer is an indexed CD from Merchants Bank of Indiana. Rather than a fixed rate like standard CDs, indexed CDs offer a variable rate that's pegged to a specified metric. In this case, Merchants Bank's 5.92% "Flex Index CD" is linked to the prime rate. The prime rate is in turn connected to the federal funds rate. So long as the Fed keeps its benchmark rate steady, the prime rate will mark time as well.
You can open Merchants Bank's indexed CD for a term of 1, 2, or 3 years. But your APY will change anytime the prime rate changes—or rather, whenever the Fed makes a rate move. While Fed rate changes are never reliably predictable many months out, a majority of market forecasters currently predict the first Fed rate cut won't arrive until September. However, one in five are betting it will take until November before the Fed makes a move.
But even when the Fed does lower the federal funds rate, it's likely to do so gradually. The decreases will almost certainly be just 0.25 percentage points at a time, and they may even skip meetings between cuts. (The Fed makes just eight rate decisions each calendar year, on a cycle of six to eight weeks apart).
A quarter-point rate decrease by the Fed would lower Merchants Bank's Flex Index CD rate to 5.67%. Keep in mind, however, that when Merchants' rate falls, other banks' and credit unions' rates will also drop.
It's impossible to know how the fed funds rate will change in the coming one to three years, and therefore it's impossible to predict what Merchants Bank's Flex Index CD APY will look like going forward. But since the rates on the best high-yield savings accounts and best new CDs will also fall as the Fed lowers rates, this indexed CD is likely to continue offering a very competitive return for whichever term you choose.
RATES COULD MOVE EITHER DIRECTION
Though it's considered unlikely, it's not impossible for the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark rate if inflation continues to remain stubbornly above the Fed's target level of 2%. If a Fed rate increase occurs while you hold a Merchants Bank Flex Index CD, your CD rate would keep pace with an APY hike of its own.
Want to Lock In a Great Rate for a Year or Longer?
Every business day, we publish our daily ranking of the best nationwide CD rates. We track the leading rates in every term from 3 months up to 5 years. While you can't secure a 6% rate right now beyond 10 months, you can opt for a lower rate that will be protected for longer. At this time you can earn 5% or better on terms up to 3 years. And for those who want a guaranteed rate until 2028 or 2029, you can snag an upper-4% rate—including the nation-leading 5-year CD rate from banking giant BMO Alto.
How We Find the Best Savings and CD Rates
Every business day, Googlawi 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. It also cannot specify a maximum deposit amount that's below $5,000.
Banks must be available in at least 40 states to qualify as nationally available. 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.