The opening required amount for PenFed CDs is low. Each standard and IRA CD terms only require $1,000 to open. The education CDs only require $500 to open. You can open the CDs online or in a branch location.

There are a good variety of CDs available through PenFed. They offer nine standard CD terms from six months to seven years. Their IRA CDs and educational savings certificates terms range from one to seven years.

Each CD term with PenFed offers competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online CDs. The standard, IRA, and education CDs interest rates are competitive. They are higher than the typical bank interest rates.

There is more than one way to choose how to receive interest payments earned from your PenFed CDs. You can have the money added to the CD or another account. You can choose to have the money sent to you in a check. You can receive the interest earned monthly or when the CD matures.

To open a CD with PenFed, you must first become a member of the credit union. If you have or are currently serving in the military, you can become a member. Living in certain areas or being a member of set organizations qualifies you. If you work for the U.S. government or other organizations, you are eligible as well. If you do not meet any of these requirements, you can pay a $5 fee. Once you are a member, you can apply for accounts.

PenFed offers standard CDs, IRA CDs, and educational CDs. Members can only open standard CDs online. To open the other types of CDs, you must visit a branch location or contact customer service. All the standard CD terms are available to open online.

The standard PenFed CDs do not offer an interest rate guarantee. If you open a CD and the interest rates increase shortly after, your interest rates will not increase. The PenFed standard CDs offer competitive interest rates.

The early withdrawal fees for PenFed CDs are high. If you withdraw money early from a six-month CD, you will lose all your interest. For CD terms longer than six-month the fee is all interest earned if withdrawn in the first year. After the first year, the fee is 30 percent of what would have been earned if the CD had reached maturity.

Read the full PenFed Credit Union review.

Most giantbank.com CDs offer competitive interest rates. The rates for some CDs are competitive with other online accounts. All of the CD rates are higher than typical bank rates. The CD terms that are 12-months and longer offer the most competitive interest rates.

There are a good variety of giantbank.com CD terms available. The terms range from 91-days to 60-month CDs. There are seven different terms offered through giantbank.com. You can apply for any of these CD terms online.

There are two options on how to open a CD with giantbank.com. You can apply for the CD online or fill out an application and send the application back through the mail. If you open the CD online there is a maximum opening amount of $50,000.

The opening required amount for giantbank.com CDs are low. Each of the CD terms requires $2,500 to open. You must keep a balance of at least $2,500 in the giantbank.com CDs to earn interest. Any amount over the required balance earns a competitive interest rate. The interest rates are not tiered.

The short-term CDs do not offer as competitive interest rates as the longer-term CDs. The 91-day, six-month, and nine-month CDs do not offer as competitive rates. These rates are still competitive. The rates are just not as competitive as the other giantbank.com terms.

giantbank.com limits the ways you can initially deposit money into CD accounts. Those ways include mailing in a check or a wire transfer. You can also transfer money from another giantbank.com account. The website does not say you can make the initial transfer from an external bank into a giantbank.com CD.

giantbank.com is an online bank. You can contact customer service through email, mail, phone, or fax. Customer service does have limited hours they are open. They are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST.

Customers can transfer the interest earned on giantbank.com CDs to other accounts. But, the money can only be transferred to other giantbank.com accounts. Those accounts include giantbank.com checking or money market accounts.

Read the full Giantbank.com review.