Citizens Access CD Rates

Citizens Access 1-Year CD

4.25% APY

Citizens Access is the online bank venture of Citizens Bank. Each of the bank’s five CD terms earns decent rates, meaning you’ll get a moderate boost to your savings no matter which account you open.

Terms range from twelve months to five years. This allows you to save toward both short- and long-term goals. So for example, you could open the twelve-month account to save toward an upcoming vacation and open a five-year account to save toward, say, a mortgage down payment. Citizens Access also offers an easy way to create a CD ladder. This involves opening multiple CDs at the same time, each with a different maturity date. That sets up payouts over the next few years. 

Just be aware of the high minimum deposit of $5,000. You’ll need to meet this amount to open a Citizens Access CD. If you choose to open more than one account, like when building a CD ladder, you’ll need this amount for each account you want to open. 

To calculate how much interest you could earn with a CD, try using SmartAsset's CD calculator.

1-Year CD Interest Rate Comparison

Overview of Citizens Access CDs 

With a solid range of term lengths, Citizens Access CDs offer customers some great savings options. Even the shortest term of twelve months earns 5.00%. Citizens Access also makes a Rate Pledge to its CD customers. This pledges that as long as you fund your account within 10 days after opening your account, the bank will guarantee you the highest rate available between opening and funding. 

Once your account is opened, you can credit your interest earned back into the account’s principal or transfer it to another account. Crediting it to the CD principal will allow the account to earn even more savings. 

The end of a CD’s term is known as its maturity date. Once your Citizens Access CD reaches its maturity date, you’ll have a grace period of 10 days to make any changes to the account. This could be to adjust the term length, adding or withdrawing money or redeeming the account. If you don’t want to make any changes, you can let the account run its course and it will renew automatically on its maturity date. 

This grace period is the only time you can withdraw any part of the principal amount. Otherwise, you’ll face a penalty for withdrawing before the account matures. The penalty will equal 90 days’ interest on the amount withdrawn on accounts of 12 months or less. The penalty will equal 180 days of interest on accounts longer than 12 months. 

How Much You Earn With Citizens Access Certificate of Deposits Over Time 

Citizens Access rates have historically been better than they are now, but you'll still earn a decent return. There is one catch to your earnings, though. You’ll need to cough up at least $5,000 (no small amount) to open a Citizens Access CD and take advantage of any one of these great rates. You’ll have to make sure that setting aside that amount to be inaccessible for the whole term is worth the growth you’ll gain. 

Citizens Access compounds interest daily. This allows your principal to grow each day and continue to earn interest as it grows. This is the most efficient way to grow your money in a savings account as opposed to, say, monthly compounding which won’t earn interest quite as fast. The amounts given below reflect what your final balances would look like depending on the CD term and your initial deposit. 

How Citizens Access CDs Rates Compare to Other Banks’ 

Online banks like Citizens Access used to dominate the certificate of deposit industry with the highest rates. Other online banks that offer the best CD rates include Ally Bank and Marcus by Goldman Sachs. Both are much more accessible than Citizens Access, however, since Ally does not require any minimum deposit and Marcus requires $500. They also earn at higher rates.

Ally also provides more variety in its CD offerings. Some of its High-Yield CDs earn according to balance tiers where higher balances earn better rates. There is also the Raise Your Rate CD which allows you to boost your rate at some point(s) during your account term. Finally, for those who can’t quite jive with the lack of withdrawals from a CD, Ally offers a No Penalty CD which allows you to make withdrawals before maturity with no big penalties.

Should You Get a Citizens Access CD Account?

You should get a Citizens Access account if you can responsibly meet the $5,000 minimum deposit. That means you know you won’t need to access any part of that $5,000 before the term is up. 

You should also be comfortable with banking entirely online. This means opening accounts, depositing money and transferring funds all happen online. You will have access to customer service on the phone, but there are no branches or ATMs available.