Live Oak Bank offers a good variety of CD terms. The terms range from six months to five years. There are seven different CD terms available from Live Oak Bank.

Each of the CD terms offers competitive interest rates. The interest rates are competitive with other online CDs. Live Oak Bank CDs offer rates much higher than typical bank rates. Even the six-month and one-year CD offer rates competitive with other online CDs.

Each of the CDs offered through Live Oak Bank has the same opening required amount. The seven terms each require $2,500 to open. Once you have the required opening amount, you can earn interest on any amount above that balance. You must completely fund your account with the $2,500 within 14 days of opening the account.

Live Oak Bank CDs has a low penalty for withdrawing money before the maturity date. If your CD term is less than 24 months, the penalty is 90 days of interest on the withdrawn amount. If your CD terms are 24 months or longer, the penalty is 180 days of interest on the withdrawn amount.

Live Oak Bank does not offer an interest rate guarantee when you open a CD. The interest rate on the day you open and fund your account is the rate you will receive on the CD. If the rates increase shortly after opening your account, your CD interest rate will not increase.

There is only one option for how to receive interest payments on your Live Oak Bank CDs. The interest credits each month. The money is deposited back into your CD. You can withdraw the interest earned on the CDs without a penalty.

Customer service for Live Oak Bank has limited availability and contact options. Customer service is available through phone, email, or mail. Their hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. You can follow Live Oak Bank on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Applying for a Live Oak Bank CD is completely online. To successfully set up a CD you must link an external bank account. Once you finish the paperwork, Live Oak Bank will verify your external bank account. You then fund your account with an electronic transfer from an external bank account.

Read the full Live Oak Bank 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.