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.

PurePoint Financial offers competitive interest rates on each CD term. Their interest rates are competitive with other online CD accounts. PurePoint rates are some of the leaders in the market of online CD accounts. The interest rates are not tiered. Any amount over $10,000 earns the most competitive interest rate offered.

There are four ways to fund your PurePoint CD accounts. Fund your account through an online electronic transfer from a linked account. You can also fund your account through a mobile deposit, a wire transfer, or by mailing in a check. You can only make a deposit into PurePoint CDs when you open the account.

There are a variety of CD terms available through PurePoint Financial. The terms range from six-months to five-years. There is a total of nine CD terms offered. Each of the terms requires $10,000 to open.

PurePoint Financial offers its Best Rate Commitment. Once you fund your PurePoint CD, they watch the rates for ten days. During that time, whatever is the highest rate offered will be the rate you receive for the duration of the CD term. If you renew your CD for the same term, you are again given the ten-day period to lock in the highest rate.

To open PurePoint CDs requires a high amount. Each term requires $10,000 to open. Once you open the account, you earn the most competitive interest rates for any balance over $10,000. PurePoint CDs do not have tiered interest rates.

There is a fee if you withdraw money from your PurePoint CD before it reaches maturity. The fee for any CD term length is 181 days of interest on the withdrawn amount. That fee applies to every PurePoint CD.

The opening required amount to open PurePoint CDs is $10,000. That amount must come from a one-time deposit of at least that amount. The deposit can only come from a single account. If PurePoint does not receive that funding within 45 days, they will close the account. Once you open and fund a CD, you cannot deposit into the CD during the life of the CD term.

To open an account with PurePoint Financial requires signing up for online banking. It does not matter if you open an account over the phone, online, or in person. If the primary account holder does not enroll in online banking within 90 days, PurePoint will close the account. If you open an account over the phone, you only have 30 days to enroll in online banking. A valid email address is also required.

Read the full PurePoint Financial review.