[Update March 2022: Discover Bank raised the rates on all of their certificates of deposit with terms 12 months or greater following the FED’s rate hike on May 4, 2022. Discover Bank’s CDs increased by between 0.50% and 0.95% APY. See all rates below.]
Ever since Sears first introduced the Discover Credit Card back in 1985, the Discover Bank brand has largely become a household name.
Although the bank is often associated with their popular credit cards, they also have a suite of deposit products featuring annual percentage yields considerably above the current national average(s). This suite comes with an online savings account, money market accounts and certificate of deposits with wide-ranging terms.
In this review we will just focus on Discover Bank’s CDs. Terms range from 3 months to 10 years and, like all of Discover Bank’s deposit accounts, are federally insured by the FDIC up to $250,000.
If you’re in the market for an FDIC insured bank CD as rates rise, Discover Bank is certainly worth exploring.
In this post you'll learn:
Discover Bank CD Rates + Account Details
Discover Bank CDs require a minimum deposit of $2,500 to open an account. All CD accounts are federally insured by the FDIC up to the applicable limits.
| CD Term | APY |
| 3 months | 0.20% |
| 6 months | 0.25% |
| 9 months | 0.30% |
| 12 months | 1.20% |
| 18 months | 1.50% |
| 24 months | 1.60% |
| 30 months | 1.60% |
| 3 years | 1.70% |
| 4 years | 1.80% |
| 5 years | 2.15% |
| 7 years | 2.15% |
| 10 years | 2.15% |
To put Discover Bank’s CD Rates in perspective, the current national average for a 12 month and a 60 month CD sit at just 0.17% APY and 0.32% APY, respectively, according to recent FDIC data.
Discover Bank’s CD rates have risen three times now in 2022. The largest rate bumps have been associated with longer term deposits (5 to 10 years).
Early Withdrawal Fees
If you need your funds in the case of an emergency an early withdrawal fee will be applied. This is quite standard with any bank CD and Discover Bank’s early withdrawal fees are on par with other major banks.
Early withdrawal fees:
| CD Term | Penalty |
| less than 1 year | 3 months simple interest |
| 1 – 4 years | 6 months simple interest |
| 4 – 5 years | 9 months simple interest |
| 5 – 7 years | 18 months simple interest |
| 7 – 10 years | 24 months simple interest |
The only other fee you’ll need to be aware of is for outgoing wires. If you plan on moving any money out of the CD upon maturity you’ll incur a $30 fee per wire.
Discover Bank CD Rates VS Big Banks
As mentioned, all of Discover Bank’s CD accounts come with a minimum deposit requirement of $2,500. This is steeper than most online banks which generally feature minimum deposits between $0.01 – $1,000.
Their APYs (annual percentage yields) are on par with other online banks at the moment and are comfortably ahead of the big banks.
That said, there are still several online banks and a handful of nationally available credit unions that offer better yields on fixed rate deposits.
Discover Bank isn’t shy about benchmarking their deposit rates against the competition either.
In fact, on the CD section of Discover Bank’s website (shown above), they have a very helpful interactive widget that allows you to add other banks and compare current deposit rates.
They have a couple banks defaulted into the module when you start – US Bank, Bank of America and Capital One, but you can choose up to 6 different banks to compare (only 3 at a time).
How to Open a Discover Bank CD
Once you’ve found the right CD term for you, you can navigate to Discover Bank’s online CD page here and click the orange “Open an Account” button found at the top right of the page and directly in the center under the words “Lock in your future.”
When you begin the application process, you’ll want to have some personal information readily available. Be prepared with the following:
- full name
- home address
- date of birth
- phone number
- Social Security number
- employment status (employer and length of employment may be requested)
- driver’s license, passport or other form of photo ID
After your application is completed and accepted you can fund the account.
Funding your Discover Bank CD
Upon completing the application you will have exactly 45 days to fund this account. The account can be funded in one of 4 ways. Here are the 4 ways in which you can fund your account:
- Transfer funds from another bank account via an online transfer.
- Transfer funds from another bank account via telephone. This function is only available for your initial transfer. Call 1-800-347-7000 to get started.
- Download their mobile app from iTunes or the Google Play store and complete a mobile check deposit.
- Make a check out to yourself and send it via snail mail to the following address: Discover Bank P.O. Box 30417 Salt Lake City, UT 84130
What Happens When Your CD Matures
Exactly 30 days prior to your Discover Bank CD maturing, Discover Bank will send you a notification making you aware of the date.
Upon maturity you will enter what is referred to as a grace period. The grace period with Discover Bank CDs is 9 days. During these 9 days you can make additional deposits, withdraw any interest or principal or change the term of your deposit. However, once you take any of the aforementioned actions, this will trigger the end of your grace period, even if the full 9 days are not up.
If you do nothing during the 9 day grace period your CD will automatically renew into the same CD term you had before with whatever current APY Discover Bank is offering on said term.
Earning Interest
You’ll start earning interest on your deposit the same day it is funded. The interest is compounded daily and returned to the deposit (or another Discover Bank account) once per month.
With the interest earned you can do one of two things:
- The do nothing / default option places the interest back into the CD to compound until maturity.
- If you’re living off of the interest as income, or for whatever reason want the interest to be accessible, you may have it transferred to another Discover bank account.
Consumer Sentiment + Customer Service
Discover’s performance as a bank is above average with user reviews hovering around 4 out of 5 stars on the top review sites.
The online institution simply has a reputation for being a stand-up company with total transparency. It is also known and respected for having a team of customer service representatives that are as helpful as they are speedy. User reviews reflect satisfaction with the bank, with only the occasional angry customer reporting excessively long transfer holds, unexpected account closures, and the like.
Likewise, the Discover apps are top-notch. With 3.4 million consumer ratings on the Apple store, the IOS app receives a 4.9 out of 5 star rating as of March 2022. It also receives a 4.7 out of 5 star rating on Google Play with over 230k reviews.
Discover has multiple phone lines devoted to various banking needs, and these are all open 24/7 year-round. To open or manage an account, call 1-800-347-7000. For online banking tech support, call 1-800-290-9885. For everything else, visit this page for the right number. Mail can be addressed to:
General Correspondence Discover Bank
P.O. Box 30416
Salt Lake City, UT 84130
Discover has only one branch (the bank’s headquarters in Delaware), but there is a sizable network of ATMs from which you can service your accounts at no cost.
Discover will allow you to make incoming or outgoing ACH transfers of up to $250,000 per month.
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