Most American Express Personal Savings CDs offer competitive interest rates. The terms 18-months or longer offer rates that are competitive with other online CDs. These rates are much higher than typical bank rates. The interest rates for American Express CDs are not tiered. Any amount in the account earns the most competitive interest rate.

American Express offers a variety of ways to receive the interest earned off their CDs. You can request a check mailed monthly, each quarter, or once a year. You can transfer the money into another American Express account or a linked account. You can also leave the money in the CD account. American Express gives options to withdraw interest, but it will reduce your earnings. Contact customer service to initiate these options.

There is no set amount required to open American Express CDs. You can open each of the different CD terms with any amount. There is no monthly fee or no required amount to keep in the account to earn interest.

American Express Personal Savings offers a good variety of CD terms. The terms range from 6-months to 60-months. There are seven total CD terms to choose from.

The shortest American Express CD terms have lower interest rates. These term rates are not competitive with other online CDs of the same length. The six-month and 12-month terms do not offer as competitive interest rates as the other American Express CDs.

American Express does not allow partial withdrawals from the CD before maturity. If you need to withdraw money before the maturity date, you must withdraw the entire CD balance. As with all CDs, if you withdraw money before maturity, there is a fee assessed.

The early withdrawal fees for American Express CDs are high. If your CD is less than 12 months, the fee is 90 days of interest. For terms from 12 months to less than 48 months, the fee is 270 days of interest. CD terms from 48 months to less than 60 months, the fee is 365 days of interest. The fee for 60-month terms or longer is 540 days of interest. If you have not earned enough interest to cover the fee, the rest is taken from the CD principal.

American Express Personal Savings does not guarantee to get customers the highest interest rate. The interest rate you receive for the CD term is the rate on the day you fund your account. The interest rate is fixed. It is locked in for the life of the term.

Read the full American Express review.

The interest rates for Capital One 360 CDs are competitive. Each of the terms offers competitive rates. The rates are competitive with other online CDs. The interest rates are not tiered. There is no required balance to earn competitive rates.

The Capital One 360 CDs do not have a set amount required to open the account. You choose how much you want to invest in the Capital One 360 CDs. The CDs cannot exceed $1,000,000.

Capital One 360 CDs offer a Rate Lock Guarantee. You fund your CD by linking it to an external account, which can be another Capital One account. Capital One 360 gives you 10 days to confirm ownership of the linked account. Because this takes a few days, your CD interest rate will be the highest one offered during those days.

Capital One 360 offers a good variety of CD terms. The CDs range from six months to five-year terms. They offer a total of nine CD terms. Each of the terms is FDIC insured.

The only deposit you can make into your CD is when you initially open the account. You cannot add money to the CD during the term life.

During the CD term, you cannot withdraw partial amounts of the principal. These types of withdrawals are only allowed during the grace period. If you make a withdrawal before the maturity date, you will be charged a fee.

To fund your Capital One 360 CD, you must link the CD to an external bank account. Once you have the CD linked to an external account, you can transfer money into the CD. The linked account can be another Capital One account.

Once your CD matures, you cannot add money to the current CD. If you have more money to add, your current CD will be closed and Capital One 360 will help you open a new CD. That CD will include the money from the previous CD and the money you want to add.

Read the full Capital One 360 review.