[📌 Update January, 2023 – Wells Fargo shook up their Special CD (certificate of deposit) offerings this month. Their previous promotional CDs (the 7 and 13 month specials) now have 5 and 11 month terms. Their Special CDs also come with yields that are 0.25% higher than they were last month while their Standard CDs remain the same. See all of Wells Fargo’s current CD rates below.]

Wells Fargo CD Rates + Account Details

Wells Fargo offers three standard term CDs with maturities at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months and two promotional CDs with terms of 5 months and 11 months which they refer to as ‘Special’ CDs.

All deposits are federally insured up to the applicable limits by the FDIC. The minimum deposit requirement is $2,500 for a standard CD and $5,000 for a promotional CD.

Special CDs

Wells Fargo initially introduced their first Special Fixed Rate CD with a competitive term back in September of last year. Then added another one in October.

As of January 2023, they’ve lowered the terms on both of their Special CD options to 5 and 11 months (down from 7 and 13 months) and have raised the yield by a quarter of a percent in anticipation of another FED rate hike in the beginning of February 2023.

Both Special CDs come with a minimum deposit requirement of $5,000.

Special CD Rates

The 5 month Special CD renews into a standard 3 month CD if nothing is done during the CD’s grace period upon maturity and the 11 month Special CD will renew to a standard 6 month CD.

Standard CD Rates

The minimum deposit requirement for a standard Wells Fargo CD is $2,500.

To put these offers in perspective, the current national average on a 6 month and 12 month CD sit at 0.81% and 1.28% APY, respectively, according to recent FDIC data.

To qualify for the relationship APY on any certificate, you must maintain a Wells Fargo Portfolio Checking account. That account comes with a $30 monthly service fee unless you can maintain $25,000 or more in qualifying linked bank deposits or $50,000 or more in qualifying linked bank, brokerage, and credit balances.

For standard CDs, Wells Fargo is starting to pay varying yields for each term based on your deposit size. Wells Fargo’s deposit tiers are as follows:

• $0 – 4,999.99
• $5,000 – 9,999.99
• $10,000 – 24,999.99
• $25,000 – 49,999.99
• $50,000 – 99,999.99
• $100,000+

Compounding and Crediting Interest

Interest is compounded daily and paid at your interval of choice. If your term is 12 months or less, you may choose to have your dividends paid monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or at maturity. If your term is 12 months or more, you may choose to be paid your dividends monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. These payments can be redeposited into the certificate account, transferred to a linked Wells Fargo saving or checking account, or paid by check (provided your balance is $5,000 or more).

Grace Period and Early Withdrawal Fees

Wells Fargo allows for a 7 calendar-day grace period upon the maturity of your CD in which you can add or withdraw funds, change CD terms, or close the CD without incurring any penalty fee. Withdrawing funds prior to your CD’s maturity will result in an early withdrawal fee.

Early withdrawal fees are as follows:

• For CDs with terms less than 3 months the penalty is 1 months’ interest,
• For CDs with terms 3 to 12 months the penalty is 3 months’ interest,
• For CDs with terms 12 to 24 months the penalty is 6 months’ interest, and
• For CDs with terms over 24 months the penalty is 12 months’ interest.

Funding the CD

You can fund your Wells Fargo CD in one of three ways. They are as follows:

• Transfer funds from an existing Wells Fargo account
• Transfer funds from an external account. You’ll need this bank account number as well as the bank or credit union’s routing number to complete the transfer.
• Use a physical check or money order and send it by mail or stop by one of their 8,000+ branches across the country.

Banking Experience and Consumer Sentiment

You might be wondering how Wells Fargo performs in the eyes of the people from a customer service and overall experience perspective. According to 751 ratings submitted to Consumer Affairs, they come out about average. With an overall score of 3.7 stars out of 5. This is up substantially from their 2020 score which hovered around 1 out of 5.

On the negative side, many customers had reported being solicited by Wells Fargo to take out loans they shouldn’t take out, experiencing longer-than-usual wait times on everything from payments to getting customer service help, and having their accounts locked for no apparent reason.

Of course, all customer reviews should be taken with a grain of salt—Wells Fargo is one of the biggest banks in America and it’s difficult to consolidate all customer experiences into a neat and tidy description of what to expect.

It’s worth mentioning that Wells Fargo is still trying to restore its reputation as a trustworthy institution after its 2016 public account fraud scandal in which credit and debit accounts were wrongfully opened under customer names by Wells Fargo representatives in order to boost sales, and it’s clear that the people haven’t recovered from this offense. So while it may not be clear whether Wells Fargo can be trusted as a corporation, you should at the very least be wary if you choose to bank with them.

Branches and ATM Access

There’s no shortage of Wells Fargo branches and ATMs. You can get a separate ATM card with a Way2Save account or link your funds to an existing debit card. And if you do wish to manage your money from an ATM or branch, you’ll have no problem locating one. You’ll have access to more than 13,000 ATMs and about 8,050 in-person branches.

Wells Fargo’s mobile apps, both for IOS and Android phones receive high scores on their consumer reviews. As of April 2022, they have a 4.8 star rating out of 5 for iPhone users with over 7.3 million reviews and a 4.7 star rating out of 5 for Android users with over 1.73 million reviews.

To contact customer service with general banking questions or concerns, call 1-(800)-869-3557. To get online banking help, call 1-(800)-956-4442. Both lines are open 24/7. If you don’t mind a longer wait time, you can mail a letter to one of these addresses or reach out on social media through Twitter or Facebook.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo is a household name—a bank with as much recognition as history. Founded during the peak of the Gold Rush in 1852 to transport gold by steamship from San Francisco to New York City, this behemoth of a bank has grown tremendously alongside the American economy over the centuries.

Today they hold over $2 trillion in assets with over 70 million customers worldwide. They also employ nearly 270,000 people and have 5,200 branches.

Final Thoughts

After much reluctance to raise their CD rates in our rising interest rate environment, Wells Fargo has finally started to give them a bump on select terms – namely their two promotional deposits.

And while their standard CD rates continue to rise incrementally, they are still not as competitive as some offers from other online banks and nationally available credit unions.