Explore the highest yielding 12-month certificates of deposit with rates of up to 3.50% APY and flexible withdrawal options. Start growing your savings today!
A 12-month CD trades access for certainty. You leave the money alone for a year, and in return the bank cannot cut your rate the way it can on a savings account. The best one right now pays 4.10% APY with no minimum deposit. The lowest on this page pays 3.50%.
That gap is smaller than it looks. On $10,000 it comes to roughly $60 over the full year, so for most people the minimum deposit and the early withdrawal terms end up mattering more than chasing the last tenth of a percent.
Every rate here was taken from the bank's own rate sheet rather than a comparison site, and any bank whose current 12-month rate we could not confirm was left off instead of guessed at. Where a bank publishes a rate but has no online application we can send you to, we have said so rather than point you at a different product.
The Best 12-Month CD Rates We Can Open For You
Three accounts, ranked by what they pay and what they ask for. Full list of every rate further down.
Best Rate You Can Open Here
CIT No-Penalty 11-Month CD
3.90% APY, one month short of a year, and you can take the whole balance out after day 7 with no penalty.
Highest rate of any account you can open straight from this page
Withdraw the entire balance and earned interest from day 7, penalty free
Eleven months is close enough to a year for most savings goals
No fees, FDIC insured through First Citizens Bank
Cons
Partial withdrawals are not allowed, it is all or nothing
$1,000 to open, and you cannot add money after funding
Our Verdict
The one we would take on this page. It pays more than every 12-month CD you can open here, it matures a month sooner, and if something goes wrong you can walk away from day 7 without losing a cent of interest. CIT does publish a 1-Year CD at 4.00%, but there is no direct application link for it, so we have listed it in the table below rather than sending you somewhere that shows a different rate.
Best True 12-Month CD
Quontic Bank 12 Month CD
A straight twelve-month term at 3.50% APY, open with $500. A digital bank and certified CDFI.
An actual twelve-month term, not eleven or thirteen
$500 opens the account, half what CIT asks for
Six terms from 3 to 60 months, so you can build a ladder
Certified Community Development Financial Institution
Cons
3.50% is the lowest rate on this page
On $10,000 that is about $60 a year behind the leaders
Our Verdict
Take this if you want a clean twelve-month term and do not have $1,000 to commit. You are paying roughly $60 a year on a $10,000 deposit for the lower minimum and the exact term. Quontic is also a certified CDFI, so a share of its lending goes to underserved communities, which is worth something to some people and nothing to others.
Best Short Commitment
CIT 6-Month CD
3.75% APY for half the lock-up. Pays more than CIT's own 13-month CD for less than half the wait.
Higher rate than CIT's 13-month CD for less than half the commitment
Sensible if you think you will want the cash inside a year
Interest compounds daily and is credited monthly
No opening or maintenance fees
Cons
Six months is not twelve, so you take reinvestment risk at maturity
If rates fall you will renew into a lower one
Our Verdict
Worth a look if a full year feels too long. You give up 0.15% against the no-penalty CD and get your money back in half the time. The catch is what happens at maturity: if rates have fallen by then you reinvest at whatever is on offer, which is the exact risk a 12-month CD is meant to avoid.
12-Month CD Calculator
Set the rate and term to see exactly what your deposit earns.
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Every 12-Month CD Rate Compared
Sorted by APY, highest first.
Bank
12-Month APY
Term
Min.
Synchrony Bank Top rate
4.10%
12-mo
$0
Marcus by Goldman Sachs Top rate
4.10%
12-mo
$500
CIT Bank 1-Year Term CD
4.00%
12-mo
$1,000
Capital One 360 CD
4.00%
12-mo
$0
CIT No-Penalty CD Open in minutes →
3.90%
11-mo
$1,000
American Express
3.50%
12-mo
$0
Quontic Bank Open in minutes →
3.50%
12-mo
$500
Tap any bank for detail. Rates come from each bank's own published figures, checked August 26, 2026. Discover no longer offers its own CDs: its CD page now redirects to Capital One following the acquisition. We could not verify Ally's current 12-month APY at publication, so it is not listed.
Common Questions About 12-Month CDs
The highest published 12-month CD rate we found is 4.10% APY, offered by both Synchrony Bank (no minimum) and Marcus by Goldman Sachs ($500 minimum). CIT Bank and Capital One both pay 4.00% on a one-year term. Rates move, so check the bank's own page before you fund an account.
At 4.10% APY a $10,000 deposit returns about $410 over twelve months, leaving you $10,410 at maturity. At 4.00% it is roughly $400, and at 3.50% about $350. The gap between the best and worst rate on this page is around $60 on a $10,000 deposit. Use the calculator above to run your own number.
It depends on whether you would otherwise leave the money in a savings account. Top high-yield savings accounts pay a variable rate that the bank can cut at any time, and several have been cut through 2026. A 12-month CD locks your rate for the full year. The trade is that you cannot touch the money without a penalty. If the cash is genuinely spare for a year, the CD wins. If it is your emergency fund, it does not.
Most banks charge an early withdrawal penalty of roughly 90 to 180 days of interest on a one-year term, and the penalty can eat into your principal if you withdraw in the first few months. The exception on this page is the CIT No-Penalty 11-Month CD, which lets you take the entire balance plus earned interest from day 7 with no penalty at all.
Yes. Every bank listed on this page is an FDIC member, so deposits are insured up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. CIT Bank is a division of First Citizens Bank, which means CIT and First Citizens deposits are combined for the purposes of that limit rather than insured separately.
Capital One completed its acquisition of Discover, and Discover's CD product page now redirects to Capital One's online CD page. There is no longer a separate Discover 12-month CD to open. If you held a Discover CD before the change, your existing terms continue until maturity.
Choose the CD if you know you will not need the money for a year and you want the rate locked. Choose savings if you might need access, or if you think rates are heading up. A middle option is the no-penalty CD, which pays close to CD rates while letting you exit after the first week.
Yes. CD interest is taxed as ordinary income in the year it is credited to your account, and the bank issues a 1099-INT if you earn $10 or more. On a 12-month CD opened mid-year, interest credited before December 31 is taxable in that year even though the CD has not matured. Holding the CD inside an IRA changes this treatment.
★ BEST RATE YOU CAN OPEN HERE
CIT No-Penalty 11-Month CD · 3.90% APY
$1,000 minimum. Withdraw the full balance penalty free from day 7. FDIC insured through First Citizens Bank.
Advertiser Disclosure: My Millennial Guide may receive compensation when you open an account through our links. That relationship does not decide the order of this page: the table above is sorted by APY, and the two highest-paying banks on it are ones we earn nothing from. All APYs were taken from each bank's own published rates on August 26, 2026 and are subject to change without notice. Verify the current rate with the bank before you deposit. CIT Bank is a division of First Citizens Bank, Member FDIC. For a complete list of account details and fees, see ” + CIT_FORMS + “. Quontic Bank is Member FDIC. FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, per ownership category.
Brian Meiggs founded My Millennial Guide and has spent over a decade writing about money. He tries every app and product before it goes on the site. No fluff, no guesswork. Named to the Northern Virginia 40 Under 40 earlier this year, and featured in WSJ, Business Insider, and Entrepreneur. Off the clock: chess, the gym, a quiet night in.
