Each Sallie Mae CD offers competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online CD accounts. Sallie Mae rates are much higher than typical bank rates. The longer the CD term the higher the interest rates offered. Sallie Mae’s five-year CD offers very competitive interest rates.

Sallie Mae offers a good variety of CD terms. The terms range from 6-months to 60-months. There are 11 CD terms in total. Sallie Mae offers CD terms in more than just traditional terms. Those term lengths include an 11-month CD, a 13-month CD, a 15-month CD, and a 30-month CD. These options allow customers to find the best fit for their money.

The CD interest rates for Sallie Mae CDs are not tiered. You do not have to have a large account balance to earn the most competitive rates available. Any balance above the required opening amount earns competitive interest rates.

Most CDs have a fee if you withdraw the money before the CD reaches maturity. The penalty for Sallie Mae CDs is less compared to other banks CD fees. The penalty for withdrawing money from CD terms 12-months or less is 90 days of interest. The fee for CDs over 12-months is 180 days of interest.

There is a set amount required to open Sallie Mae CDs. Each of the CD terms requires $2,500 to open. Make deposits through an electronic transfer or an e-deposit on the mobile app. You can also mail a check.

To earn interest on the Sallie Mae CDs, you must keep an account balance of $2,500. If your balance drops below that amount, you will not earn any interest. Sallie Mae CDs offer competitive interest rates if you keep that set balance.

Sallie Mae CDs do not come with a guarantee to lock in the best rate. The interest rate at the time you open the CD is the interest rate you receive for the life of the term. The rate you lock in is fixed for the life of the CD term.

Sallie Mae CDs must be linked to an external account to make electronic transfers. Once you link an external account, you can transfer money electronically. Customers can withdraw earned interest from the CD. To withdraw the interest, transfer the money into the linked external account.

Read the full Sallie Mae review.

The set amount required to open Marcus CDs is low. Each CD term only requires $500 to open. Marcus CD offers competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online CDs and much higher than typical bank rates. To earn interest on your Marcus CDs, you must keep $500 in the account. You will not earn interest until your CD has a balance over the $500 minimum.

Marcus offers a ten-day interest rate guarantee. Once you fund your account with the minimum deposit, you have ten days to watch the rates. If the rates increase in those ten days, Marcus locks in the highest interest rate.

Interest earned on Marcus CDs is automatically added to the principal amount of your CD. There are other options if you wish to receive interest in another way. You can have the monthly interest transferred to a Marcus online savings account. You can also transfer the money to an external linked account. You can withdraw the earned interest anytime during the CD term without a penalty.

Marcus offers a No-Penalty CD. This CD requires $500 to open. Once the account has been opened for seven days, you can withdraw your money at any time during the CD term. You will not be charged a fee for withdrawing your money before it reaches maturity. You cannot add additional funds to the No-Penalty CD.

You can withdraw money from the No-Penalty CD without a fee, but you cannot make a partial withdrawal. If you want to withdraw the money, you must withdraw the entire balance. This includes all the interest you have earned. You can withdraw the money after the account is open for seven days. You can only make a withdrawal one time during the term life of the CD. Once you withdraw your money, the account will close.

Marcus CDs terms less than 12-months do not offer as competitive of rates as the other CDs. The six-month and nine-month terms still offer competitive rates. Their rates are just not as competitive as the other CD term rates. These rates are still much higher than typical bank rates of the same terms.

The No-Penalty CDs offered through Marcus comes in limited term lengths. There are only three terms offered for the No-Penalty CDs. Those terms are a seven-month term, an 11-month term, and a 13-month term.

To make electronic transfers into your Marcus CDs requires linking another account. You can link a Marcus CD to a Marcus online savings account. You can also link your Marcus CD to an external account. Once you link the accounts you can transfer money electronically to fund the account. You can also have the earned interest transferred into the linked account.

Read the full Marcus by Goldman Sachs review.