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 Synchrony CDs are competitive. Each of the CD terms offers competitive interest rates. They are competitive with other online CD accounts. Synchrony rates are much higher than typical bank rates. They are not tiered, so any balance over $2,000 earns the competitive rate.

There are a good variety of CD terms available through Synchrony Bank. The CDs range from 3-months to 60-month terms. There is a total of nine CD terms available. Synchrony Bank also offers a Special Rate 15-month CD term.

Synchrony encourages CD laddering to earn more interest. By laddering CDs, you earn competitive rates from investing in longer-term CDs. Laddering means one long term CD matures each year. This means you can access your money more often, without paying a fee. Your money earns the best rate, but one CD matures each year in case you need to access it.

When you open a CD with Synchrony, you receive the interest rate the day you open the account. If the rates increase during the time Synchrony receives and processes your deposit you will receive the higher rate. The window for the rate to increase is 15 days for regular CDs. IRA CDs have a 60-day window. Once Synchrony determines the rate, it is locked in for the life of the CD term.

If you open a Synchrony account and quickly change your mind, there is a fee for closing the account. Customers can close their CD within six calendar days after the CD funds. The fee for withdrawing money within the first six days is seven days of interest. If you close the account after one day, you are still charged seven days of interest.

The minimum required amount to open any of the Synchrony CDs is $2,000. The deposit must be from one single transaction. With the $2,000 you can open any of the CDs offered, including the 15-month CD. You cannot open a CD with Synchrony Bank without at least $2,000.

Synchrony offers a 15-day rate guarantee for regular CDs and a 60-day rate guarantee for IRA CDs. The rate guarantees do not apply when you renew a CD after it reaches maturity. The interest rate guarantee only takes effect when you open a new CD.

Synchrony offers perks to each of its customers. To earn the best perks, you must be a Diamond member and meet those set requirements. To be a Diamond member, you must have account deposits over $250,000 and be a customer for more than five years.

Read the full Synchrony Bank review.