Depending on your age, some of you may remember Axos Bank as “Bank of the Internet USA” back in the late ’90’s and early 2000’s. The bank was one of the first digital banks anywhere in the world. They opened their proverbial doors back on July 4, 1999. The founders intentionally opened on a national holiday (fourth of July) to plant the idea in people’s minds that a bank could be open 24/7 in the age of the internet.

After a series of mergers and acquisitions and re-financings throughout their short life, the bank officially became Axos Bank on October 1st, 2018. The company also moved from the tech-heavy NASDAQ to the NYSE at that time.

Today, Axos Bank offers a wide range of digital products on both the loan (auto, personal, mortgage) and savings (checking, savings, CD) side.

In this review we will just focus on their FDIC-insured certificates of deposit. Axos Bank currently offers seven standard term CDs ranging from 3 months to 5 years. While their CDs are still on par with the current national average, more competitive rates can be found through other online banks or nationally available credit unions.

Axos Bank CD Rates + Account Details

Axos Bank CDs are federally insured by the FDIC up to $250,000 per depositor or $500,000 on joint accounts. All of their CD’s come with a minimum deposit requirement of $1,000.

Axos Bank CD Rates

Axos Bank’s current CD rates represent a growing trend of flat-lining rates across all terms that we see with many online banks currently.

To put the offers above in perspective the current national average on a 12 month CD sits at just 0.22% APY, while a 60 month CD yields roughly 0.41% APY nationally.

How to Open and Fund Your Axos Bank CD

Opening a certificate of deposit account with Axos Bank can be done in minutes. To get started, navigate to the Axos Bank CD page.

From here, you can either click on the yellow “Open an Account” button at the top of the page or navigate down the page to the specific deposit term you’re looking for and click “Open an Account” in the right hand column.

Here’s what you will need to complete your application:

1. Full Name
2. Address
3. Phone Number
4. Social Security Number
5. US driver’s license or state ID (If you open the account via photo capture for quicker approval)
6. Occupation

Funding the account can be done with as little as $1,000. If you plan on funding the account right after opening it, you should have your routing number and bank number handy from the institution/account the funds are coming from.

Axos Bank allows for remote deposit as well. Remote deposit allows the customer to make deposits to their qualified Axos account from their home, office or other remote location. Customers may use MyDeposit for personal use as long as the Bank provides access to MyDeposit to the customer and they have accepted the Terms and Conditions. MyDeposit allows the deposit of one check at a time by scanning the check.

You may also deposit checks using your mobile device. To facilitate this you may download the Axos Bank app for Android or IOS.

How is Interest Calculated on Axos Bank CDs

Interest on Axos Bank certificates of deposit is compounded daily and credited monthly.

Axos Bank also allows free electronic interest transfers for those that may be living off the interest as income and need the funds to be accessible.

Early Withdrawal Penalties

Early withdrawal penalties are only listed on the Axos Bank website in the context of IRA CDs. So if you are holding your Axos Bank certificate of deposit in an IRA, here’s what you can expect to pay if you make an early withdrawal from you CD:

IRA CD Early Withdrawal Penalty

• Retirement CD term of 12 months or 18 months, six months loss of interest, accrued or not.
• Retirement CD term of 36 months, eighteen months loss of interest, accrued or not.

If you are just holding an Axos Bank CD in a standard account, then here is what Axos Bank stipulates as it pertains to early withdrawal penalties:

You have contracted to keep your funds on deposit for the agreed term. You may not withdraw all or part of a retirement CD except as provided in this Agreement. At our discretion, we may allow you to withdraw all or part of your funds at times other than the grace period. We withdraw interest before principal. Each time we permit you to make an early withdrawal of principal, we may charge you an early withdrawal penalty. If your account has not earned enough interest to cover the early withdrawal penalty, we deduct any interest first and take the remainder of the penalty from your principal.

Grace Period

As with most online CDs, Axos Bank has a 10 day grace period in which you can add or withdraw funds from your deposit penalty free.

All of Axos Bank certificates of deposit automatically renew after their grace period, so be sure and set yourself reminders for this period. Axos Bank will also send you a notification 30 days prior to maturity.

Final Thoughts

While Axos Bank CD rates have been competitive in the past, the seven standard term CDs they offer today all feature the same paltry APY of 0.20%.

While this may be on par with the national average for shorter term CDs such as 3 – 12 months, it gets less attractive as the term length goes up.

Better rates on CDs can be found at nationally available credit unions and a handful of online banks.

Many variable-rate online savings accounts also boast higher APYs.