Best 18 month CD rates of November 2023

Eighteen-month certificates of deposit (CDs) offer yields that you could typically only get by locking in your cash for longer. But thanks to high inflation and the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, you can park your cash in a high-yielding savings product for a relatively short period of time and ride out the current turbulent economic moment.

Account details and annual percentage yields (APYs) are accurate as of November 20, 2023.

Ally Bank High Yield CD
Synchrony Bank CD
Capital One 360 CD
USAlliance Federal Credit Union Certificate Account
Sallie Mae Bank CD
Compare the best 18-month CDs
Methodology
National average rates for CDs
What is an 18-month CD?
What is a good CD rate for an 18-month term?
Short-term vs. long-term CDs
How to choose the best 18-month CDs
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Why trust our banking experts

Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of banking products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.

330+ CDs offered by 46 institutions.
4 levels of fact checking.
50+ data points analyzed.

Blueprint Rating

What you should know

Ally Bank’s 18-month CD comes with a sky-high 5.15% APY, that compounds daily, and doesn’t require a minimum deposit. Should you end up renewing your CD, Ally will automatically add a 0.05% loyalty reward to the new interest rate of any CD you renew into.

A nice perk for these times is Ally’s Ten Day Best Rate Guarantee: It promises that Ally will automatically boost your rate to match if the yield on the CD term you select goes up within 10 days of you opening the CD. That should give you confidence to pull the trigger.

Still, you must have conviction in your choice: You’ll pay 60 days’ interest on CD terms that are 24 months or fewer should you withdraw your principal early.

As one of the largest banks in the nation, Ally offers almost everything you’d expect from a traditional bank. In addition to CDs, you can find home loans, auto loans, checking and savings, credit cards and investing options. The one thing you won’t find though is a brick-and-mortar location as Ally Bank is an online-only institution.

Pros and cons

Pros

High APY.
Interest compounded daily.
Ten Day Best Rate Guarantee.

Cons

No physical branches.
Early withdrawal penalty.

Blueprint Rating

What you should know

Synchrony Bank offers a 5.25% APY on its 18-month CD and has a $0 minimum deposit. This combination is ideal for young savers starting out, as well as those who are more established.

Synchrony’s early withdrawal fees, however, are on the steep side: 180 days’ simple interest for CD terms more than 12 months but less than 48 months. While we want savers to stick with their initial savings plan, life sometimes happens. Therefore be confident that you can make ends meet without your principal for 18 months.

Another option is Synchrony’s nine-month CD, which has a slightly higher APY of 5.50%. Not only will you earn a higher yield, but you’ll have access to your cash nine months earlier.

The bank offers other savings products as well, including high-yield savings, money market accounts and retirement CDs. However, Synchrony only offers credit cards and savings accounts, and has no physical locations.

Pros and cons

Pros

High APY.
No minimum deposit.
Solid digital experience.

Cons

Expensive early withdrawal fees.
No physical branches.

Blueprint Rating

What you should know

Capital One’s 18-month online CD has a competitive 5.00% APY, which represents the top rate of all its CD term offerings. Like our other picks, it has no minimum balance requirements and no monthly fees, making it a great option for new savers.

When the CD matures, you have a 10-day grace period to make a move (withdraw funds or choose a different CD term), otherwise it automatically renews. If you close an 18-month CD early, you’ll forfeit six months’ worth of interest. If your CD hasn’t earned that much interest yet, your principal can be reduced (which is not great, but rather common in the industry).

Pros and cons

Pros

High APY.
10-day grace period at maturity.
No minimum balance.

Cons

Early withdrawal penalties can reduce the CD’s principal.

Blueprint Rating

What you should know

You can earn a 5.75% APY on an 18-month certificate account at USAlliance, which tops amongst our winners — but that yield comes with tradeoffs. You’ll need $500 minimum to open the account, which isn’t nothing, but not onerous, either.

To wit: the early withdrawal penalty for certificate accounts of 18 months or longer is 360 days’ dividends, which can be deducted from your principal should you not have earned enough dividends to cover it.

Given that high cost, if you suspect that the need for an early withdrawal may pop up — consider the credit union’s special 11-month, no-penalty certificate account. Its 5.00% APY is quite competitive and you have a seven-day grace period before automatic renewal at the end of the term.

You can join the credit union by becoming a member of a nonprofit organization. There are five organizations to choose from, including Tread Lightly (which charges $25 to join and promotes outdoor recreation) and the New-York Historical Society (which charges a $100 membership fee).

Pros and cons

Pros

High yield.
No monthly fees.
Affordable.

Cons

Steep early withdrawal penalty.
Membership fee may apply.

Blueprint Rating

What you should know

Although Sallie Mae is known for helping Amercians save for educational expenses, anyone can open a Sallie Mae CD account for any reason. And with a sky-high 5.15% APY, Sallie Mae’s 18-month CD makes sense as a part of your savings portfolio.

You will need to drop $2,500 to open the account, which may be difficult for new savers as well as those employing a CD ladder strategy.

The early withdrawal penalty for CD terms greater than 12 months is 180 days’ worth of simple interest, which can affect the principal (CD terms of 12 months or less require you to forfeit 90 days’ worth of simple interest), but is reasonable compared to industry averages.

When your CD matures, you’ll have a 10 calendar day grace period to withdraw funds or otherwise make changes before it automatically renews.

Pros and cons

Pros

Top-of-the-market yield.
Relatively low early withdrawal penalty.
No monthly fees.

Cons

Higher minimum deposit.
Limited live customer service hours.

Compare the best 18-month CDs

Institution	Star rating	APY	Min. deposit
Ally Bank	5.00	5.15%	$0
Synchrony Bank	4.91	5.25%	$0
Capital One 360	4.76	5.00%	$0
USAlliance Federal Credit Union	4.73	5.75%	$500
Sallie Mae Bank	4.68	5.15%	$2,500

Methodology

We analyzed more than 330 CDs offered by 46 institutions and gave each a score out of 100. CDs with a score of 80 to 100 earned five stars; those that scored 60 to 80 earned four stars; and so on. Below are the factors that went into our scoring and how we weighed each.

APY – 45%

The point of getting a CD is to earn a high guaranteed yield. While other factors absolutely play a part in which financial institution you choose, if all other things are equal, you’ll choose the CD with the highest rate.

To that point, we weighed the APY as the most important element in our consideration.

Minimum deposit requirement – 20%

If you can’t afford to get a CD due to its high minimum deposit requirement, then there’s likely very little point in you reading about the CD.

CDs with no minimum opening deposit requirement scored the highest in this category, followed by those with low requirements.

Compound interest schedule – 15%

The more frequently a deposit or investment compounds, the more money you earn. Most CDs compound daily, but some try to skip over this and compound monthly. The shorter the compounding period, the higher the CD scored in our methodology.

Customer service and digital experience – 10%

Given that you’re looking to entrust money to an institution (potentially hundreds to thousands of dollars), it’s good to know whether the organization will respond to you. We looked at customer reviews, industry scores and star ratings.

Available terms and availability – 10%

Many savers benefit from getting multiple CDs. Having all (or most of them) at one institution can streamline things, so we also considered how many other CD terms institutions offered.

We also looked at whether they were available nationally. Not every institution is able to offer banking products in all states and some credit unions strictly limit membership. Organizations with national reach and open membership (if applicable) scored higher.

Why some banks didn’t make the cut

Many of the largest banks in the nation didn’t make our list. This is because they tend not to offer competitive deposit yields. High APYs are made to tempt savers — the largest banks already have plenty of deposits.

Smaller institutions are typically more competitive in this field as they’ll peacock about — showing off great rates, to attract customers or members.

National average rates for CDs

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) tracks the average rates paid on CD accounts nationwide. While the agency doesn’t post rates for 18-month CDs, it does for other term lengths. As of Oct. 16, 2023, the average 12-month CD paid 1.79% APY and the average 24-month CD paid 1.50% APY. The average 18-month CD rate likely falls somewhere in the middle of the two.

What is an 18-month CD?

A certificate of deposit, or CD, is a type of savings product that requires you to put money into an account and keep it there for a set period of time. In exchange, you earn a guaranteed interest rate. Annual percentage yields, or APYs, are often higher on CDs compared to standard savings accounts.

CDs are described by their term — an 18-month CD is a certificate of deposit with an 18-month-long term.

If you withdraw your CD funds early, you’ll typically pay a penalty and give up some of your interest. The early withdrawal penalty is usually tied to the term length and longer-term CDs often have steeper penalties. Once the CD reaches maturity, you can choose to renew the CD or withdraw the funds along with the interest you earned.

What is a good CD rate for an 18-month term?

CD rates fluctuate, so what’s considered a good rate will change depending on the current interest rate environment. Generally speaking, “a good rate on an 18-month CD is one that is higher than the current average rate”, said Michael Collins, a chartered financial analyst (CFA) and CEO of WinCap Financial.

Be sure to look around for the best rates. While the average national deposit rate on 12- and 24-month CDs paid less than 2.00% APY in August, many online banks published rates well above the national average. For example: Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Sallie Mae Bank and Synchrony Bank all offered rates above 5.00% APY on 18-month CDs at that time.

Short-term vs. long-term CDs

You can find CDs with just about any term length, but most financial institutions offer CD terms ranging from three months to five years (some go even as long as 10 years). Short-term CDs generally have terms of one year or less, while mid-term CDs are between one and three years, and long-term CDs lock up your funds for even lengthier terms.

Shorter-term CDs require less of a commitment, but they often have a lower earning potential because your money doesn’t have much time to grow.

The typical upsides to mid-term and long-term CDs are higher APYs and more time for your money to grow. “You have more time to benefit from the higher interest rates associated with longer terms”, said Collins. “[But you’ll be] locked into the fixed rate for the duration of the term, which could mean missing out on potential gains from higher rates later on”.

CDs with distant maturity dates could also cost you in the form of interest and penalties if you need to withdraw money early. So before opening a CD, consider which term works for you and your money goals.

How to choose the best 18-month CDs

CD rates are the highest they’ve been in more than a decade, so plenty of banks and credit unions are offering them. Here are some ways to make sure you find the best one.

Check your options

Besides CD terms, you can also choose between CD types:

A standard CD allows you to make one initial deposit and doesn’t allow for early withdrawal without penalty.
No-penalty CDs don’t charge fees for early withdrawal, but they typically offer lower APYs.
In a rising-rate environment, bump-up CDs allow you to request a one-time APY increase during the term.
Add-on CDs allow you to deposit more money into the CD account over time.

Shop around

The main purpose of opening a CD is to earn money, so research several institutions to find the best deal. Generally, online banks and smaller financial institutions tend to offer the highest rates.

Carefully read the terms and conditions

Understand the rules surrounding minimum deposits, withdrawal allowances, penalties and fees before opening a CD account.

Consider deposit insurance limits

Banks and credit unions that are federally insured each provide up to $250,000 in deposit insurance per depositor and per account type. If you’re putting more than $250,000 in CDs, consider spreading out the funds at different institutions to make sure each CD account receives full coverage.

“The last thing you want to do is have more than the FDIC limit in one bank, and wake up one day to learn that the bank has failed and your entire deposit will not be insured”, said Lawrence Sprung, a certified financial planner, wealth advisor and founder of Mitlin Financial.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

If you want a guaranteed APY at a relatively high rate, and you don’t mind locking away your funds, an 18-month CD can be a good idea. In the second half of 2023, some 18-month CD rates top 5.00% APY, so it could be a good time to open one of these accounts.

CD rates generally trend with the federal funds rate, which is controlled by the Federal Reserve. The central bank raised that benchmark rate more than 10 times in 2022 and 2023, so CD rates followed suit.

But the hikes will eventually peter out, causing CD rates to plateau and eventually drop.

“[If you think rates are going down], it could be a good idea to lock in a good interest rate with an 18-month CD rate now”, said Sprung. But if you believe rates are trending upward, you may want to choose a shorter term. This gives you the flexibility to potentially snag a higher rate when your CD matures.

The answer depends partly on your needs. If you’ll need to withdraw money in the near term, then opening a high-yield savings account will give you the liquidity you need without incurring penalties. Money market accounts (MMAs) are another option — they act like a savings account, but you usually earn a higher APY on larger balances and receive a debit card or checks to make withdrawals.

Online banks often offer high-yield CDs with the best rates. These institutions operate online, which means they have lower overhead costs and can pass on the savings to customers. Smaller financial institutions also typically offer good CD rates to attract new depositors. And credit unions tend to offer higher CD rates compared to banks.