Chase, or Chase bank, headquartered in downtown Manhattan (New York City) is the consumer and commercial subsidiary of the multinational JPMorgan Chase which holds nearly $2.63 trillion in assets.

Chase Bank has 5,100 branches and 16,000 ATMs nationwide. They offer a full range of financial services that reach nearly every age group and demographic. For the purposes of this review we will focus on the certificate of deposit suite offered by Chase Bank.

Despite the bank’s eye-popping asset size, their current CD rates are quite poor and underperforming the national average.

Chase Bank CDs come with terms ranging from 1 months to 10 years and can be opened online or in a local branch. If you wish to open a CD online; however, you will need to be an existing Chase Bank customer.

Chase Bank CD Rates + Account Details

Chase Bank is member FDIC and all consumer deposits are federally insured up to $250,000 per depositor or $500,000 for joint accounts.

All Chase Bank CDs require a minimum deposit of $1,000 to open. In normal interest rate environments the interest rates paid on Chase Bank CDs are tiered by deposit amount.

The tiers are $1,000 to $9,999.99, $10k to $24,999.99, $25k to $49,999.99, $50k – $99,999.99, $100k to $249,999.99 and $250k plus.

Today; however, the increase in APY by deposit size is negligible, with the yield increasing from 0.02% APY to 0.05% APY at the $10,000 mark.

Chase also requires you to enter in your location by zip code before viewing rates online. Presumably this means location may affect your interest rate; however, we ran multiple scenarios in different locations throughout the country and found the same rates everywhere.

Chase Bank CD Rates

To give these yields some context, the current national average for a 12 month CD sits at roughly 0.22% APY while the average on a 5 year CD sits at roughly 0.47% APY.

If you’re strictly after a respectable APY and want a fixed-rate CD rather than a high yield savings account or money market account, then we would recommend checking out various nationally available credit unions. Some still provide yields above 1.00% APY.

How is Interest Calculated on a Chase CD?

Interest is compounded daily and you have some choice as to the frequency in which it is paid out. Depending on the term you may choose to have it paid monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually.

Early Withdrawal Penalties

Early withdrawal penalties for Chase Bank CDs are as follows:

• CD terms less than 6 months pay 90 days of interest
• CD terms 6 months to 24 months pay 180 days of interest
• CD terms 24 months or more pay 365 days of interest

Additional Chase CD Fees

Chase Bank CD accounts do not come with any monthly maintenance fees like their other accounts, but depending on how you plan to move funds around, you may encounter some fees.

Below is Chase Bank’s wire fee schedule:

Transferring funds online is always going to be a cheaper option than having a banker help you in a physical branch.

If you plan on opening a CD with $1,000,000 or more; however, you must do this in a local branch.

Chase Bank CD Grace Period

A certificate of deposit’s grace period is the brief window of time in which the deposit holder may move funds into and out of their certificate of deposit without facing a penalty. During this time you may also roll your funds into another deposit with a different term.

All Chase Bank CDs come with a standard 10 day grace period for CDs with terms of 14 days.

Chase Bank will alert you via email prior to your CD maturity date, but you should set up your own reminders as well.

Why are Chase Bank CD Rates so Low?

Unfortunately for consumers looking to lock in good rates on certificates of deposit, the nation’s largest banks will all leave you hanging. Whether it’s Chase Bank, Wells Fargo or Bank of America, consumers simply can not expect anything in the way of decent savings rates.

Why is that?

The simple fact of the matter is that banks don’t need your money. With key rates at historic lows and the Fed printing money through qualitative easing (among other programs), these large banks have no need to attract consumer capital with competitive savings rates on long-term CDs or other deposit accounts.

Potential Solution(s) or Alternative?

If you’re looking for FDIC-insured CDs and/or savings accounts, then we would recommend online banks or nationally available credit unions. Some of these institutions still pay well above 1.0% APY on long-term CDs and close to 0.90% APY on savings accounts.

If FDIC-insurance is less important to you, you can read our 12 alternatives to CDs and savings accounts for ideas that don’t just consist of banking products.

Final Thoughts

Although Chase Bank has vast coverage across the country and abroad, their current CD rates are underperforming an already abysmal national average by a considerable margin.

If you value in-person banking and are looking for federal insurance on your savings, then you may want to consider a local credit union. They can likely beat Chase’s CD rates and your money will be insured by the NCUA (FDIC equivalent for credit unions) up to $250,000.

If you value high rates and prefer online banking to traditional banking, then check out Ally bank or Discover as potential options for parking your cash.