| North Palm Beach, Fla. -- Nov. 25, 2009 (Bankrate.com) -- The average yield for a 1-year CD in the United States remained unchanged at 1.59 percent on Wednesday, according to Bankrate.com's daily Your Best Interest report.
A 1-year CD (certificate of deposit) is a time deposit, FDIC-insured to $100,000 per person ($250,000 on retirement accounts), with a fixed maturity date of one year. It usually pays higher interest than a savings account and a penalty is charged for withdrawing funds before the maturity date. The highest rate on a 1-year CD nationally is 2.96 percent, with an annual percentage yield of 3.00 percent. Six months ago, the average yield was 1.90 percent. The yield on a CD is higher than the rate because the yield takes compounding into account. Of the 15,222 institutions that Bankrate surveys nationally that sell 1-year CDs, 10,285 institutions offer daily compounding, 3,112 institutions offer monthly compounding and 1,647 institutions offer quarterly compounding. For consumers, more-frequent compounding produces a higher total yield. Institutions also have different minimum deposit requirements. Bankrate's survey found the minimum for a 1-year CD ranged from $0.00 to $50,000.00. Some institutions sell their CDs only in their local market; others sell CDs nationwide. Click here to see the 100 highest yields on a variety of CDs available nationally. To see all of the results of Bankrate.com's surveys, go to www.bankrate.com. The Your Best Interest report is a daily service of Bankrate.com, a financial news and information service based in North Palm Beach, Fla. Bankrate surveys more than 300 financial products from more than 4,800 institutions in all 50 states. |