Best CD (certificate of deposit) rates in Arkansas: Top 3

Below are the highest yielding CD rates available to residents in the state of Arkansas. The financial institutions offering these rates are local to this state but may also cover a larger regional area. If you reside in one of Arkansas’s bordering states you may also be eligible to take advantage of the savings products below, but you will need to contact a representative.

Some of the products listed below may be promotional and therefor only available for a limited time. These promotional deposit rates generally come with odd maturities (outside of the standard 6 month increments).

How did we compile this list? As you are probably aware, higher CD rates tend to accompany longer maturities and since we did not want to strictly list long maturity CD’s we decided to list the deposit rates which beat the national average by the highest margins.

To get a better idea of how these local CD rates compare with national ones, compare CD rates nationwide.

Top 3 CD rates in Arkansas:

(clicking on the institution will bring you to their rates page)

• Eastman Credit Union: Batesville, AR. 24 month CD yielding 2.70% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. ECU offers deposit rates based on a range of maturities. For example, you will receive a 2.70% APY for 2-3 year deposits. You can opt for any duration of time within that period and lock in the same fixed rate of 2.70%. To join Eastman credit union you need to either live, work, worship or attend school in one of the counties listed on their coverage maps OR work for one of their selected group of employers.
• Arkansas Federal Credit Union: Little Rock, AR. 36 month CD yielding 3.0% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. This rate became effective on the first of August. Joining this credit union is a bit tricky if you fall outside of their group of selected employers. However, if you have family members whom fit within the criteria you may be able to join. The list of selected employers is largely made up of city municipalities and/or military service units such as LIttle Rock Air Force Base, Camp Pike, Camp Robinson, etc. Along with these organizations, Arkansas Federal Credit Union also has list of 500 participating small and medium sized companies within the state.
• Carter Federal Credit Union: Magnolia, AR. 48 month CD yielding 3.30% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. If you opt for a jumbo CD (deposit of $50,000 or more) then they will bump up this rate to 3.43% APY. Carter Federal Credit Union also has a very noteworthy high interest checking account which is yielding an APY of 5.01% on balances up to $30,000. However, you will need to meet the monthly requirements to earn that advertised interest rate. If you live, work, worship or attend school, or are a business or other legal entity in Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Bienville, Claiborne, DeSoto or Red River Parishes, and Columbia or Lafayette Counties, you can join Carter Federal. Your family members, co-workers and neighbors may also be eligible.

All of the institutions listed above are federally insured by either the FDIC or the NCUA (credit union equivilent). If you live in Arkansas and know of a better rate offered by your local bank, please share by leaving a comment.

Tennessee certificate of deposit rates. Who offers the best?

Below are the top 3 CD rates available to the residents of Tennessee. After researching dozens of local, community-owned, credit unions and banks we found that many of these local institutions offer rates which beat those offered by larger national banks. However, this is not the case throughout the country. In much of the northeast, local banks and CU’s rates are less competitive than those offered by the national banks.

Because you will always find a higher rate associated with a longer maturity we took the rates that beat the national average by the highest margin. For the state of Tennessee, we found that the best CD rates come in the form of 12 month CDs, 24 month CDs, and 36 month CDs.

The institutions listed below may serve other state as well as Tennessee depending on their individual membership requirements. If you reside in the state and are looking for the highest yielding certificate of deposit rates you may want to search through rates offered by other states in the southeast as well (use our search bar to find individual states). You can then compare CD rates offered by national banks to ensure the best interest rate.

Top 3 CD rates (Tennessee)

(clicking on the institution will bring you to their rates page)

Consumer Credit Union: Morristown, TN. 12 month CD yielding 2.50% APY with a minimum deposit amount of $500. Consumer Credit Union is a not-for-profit member-owned credit union who passes it’s profits on to it’s members in the form of higher savings rates and lower mortgage rates. The average rate for 12 month CDs is currently around 1.75% APY. They also offer a very noteworthy 24 month CD which is yielding 3.0% APY. This rate substantially beats the national average as well. Who can join? Persons who live, work, worship or attend school in and legal entities located in Greene, Hamblen, Jefferson, Claiborne, Cocke and Hancock County, Tennessee.

Fort Campbell Federal Credit Union: Clarksville, TN. 24 month CD yielding 2.80% APY with a minimum deposit amount of $1,000. Like Consumer Credit Union, Fort Campell is a not-for-profit insitution who is owned by it’s members. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Montgomery or Stewart counties in Tennessee or Christian, Trigg or Todd counties in Kentucky.

Eastman Credit Union: Kingsport, TN. 36 month CD yielding 3.10% APY with a minimum deposit amount of $1,000. They will bump this rate up to 3.20% APY with a minimum deposit of $10k. You can join ECU if you live, work, worship, attend school, operate a business in one of the communities listed on their coverage maps, or are employed by one of their sponsor or contractor companies, or are a family member of one of their eligible members.

All of the institutions listed above are federally insured by the NCUA. If you live in Tennessee and know of a better rate offered by your local bank or CU please share by leaving a comment!

Best certificate of deposit rates in Virginia (Top 3)

Below are the Top 3 CD rates available to the residents of Virginia. The deposit products below are listed by highest yielding interest rate. Because you will almost always find higher interest rates accompanied with longer maturities we took the CD’s that beat the national average by the highest margins (so that we wouldn’t be strictly listing long-term deposits). After digging through dozens of rate pages by various banks and credit unions serving the state of Virginia we found the best offers to come in the form of 60 month CDs, 50 month CDs, and 24 month CDs. The banks listed below provide their services to the greater Virginia area, you may want to comapre these offers with Maryland CD rates and Washington DC CD rates as they probably overlap. If you are ineligible to join these banks or are in anyway not what you are looking for you may want to compare CD rates available nationwide.

Top 3 CD Rates (Virginia)

(clicking on the institution will provide you with more information)

Virginia Commerce Bank: Vienna, VA. 60 month CD yielding 3.75% APY with a minimum deposit amount of $500. They also have this product available for IRA’s with a minimum deposit of $100. Virginia Commerce Bank is all about taking care of their community. Here is a snippet from their “philosophy” section, “VCB has a passion for community service that is illustrated by our track record of corporate citizenship. Our employees invest their time and talents volunteering for and supporting organizations throughout our market. We consistently seek opportunities to give back to the community.”

NASA Federal Credit Union: Wallops Island, VA. 50 month CD yielding 4.00% APY with a minimum deposit of $10,000. This is a fairly decent offer if you don’t mind tying up your cash for a little over four years but it comes with a relatively high minimum deposit amount. NASA Fed CU is a not-for-profit credit union that passes it’s profits on to it’s members in the form of higher interest rates and lower mortgage rates. You do not have to be an employee of NASA to be eligible, however you do have to be an employee (or family member of an employee) of one of their selected employee groups.

Eastman Credit Union: Gate City, VA. 36 month CD yielding 3.16% APY with a minimum deposit amount of $1,000. Eastman CU has geographically exclusive eligibility. If you live, work, worship or attend school in one of their selected counties you are eligible to join. You may also join if you have family members whom fit that criteria. The territory stretches from Dickson county, Virginia to the north,  Sevier County, Tennessee to the south, Washington DC to the east and Handcock and Lee county to the west. Eastman CU is a not-for-profit member-owned financial institution.

If you reside in Virginia and know of a better rate offered through your local bank or credit union, please share by leaving a comment!

All of the above mentioned banks and credit unions are federally insured by either the FDIC or NCUA and your deposits will be insured up to $250,000.

Best certificate of deposit rates in Texas (Top 3)

Below are the top 3 CD rates available to residents in the state of Texas. After researching various credit unions and banks serving the people of Texas, we found the best CD rates to come in the form of 12 month CDs, 25 month CDs, and 60 month CDs. Because you will almost always find higher CD rates accompanied with longer maturities we decided to list the deposit rates that beat the national average by the highest margins (for each given duration). Also, keep in mind that small local banks and credit unions frequently offer CD rate promotions which are only available for limited times. You can also find higher rates offered by local banks that come with low maximum deposits. For example, A+ Federal Credit Union (San Marcos, Texas) is offering a 12 month CD with an APY of 5.0% but you can only invest up to $1,000 into this account and you must have other accounts opened with them as well. These types of deals may be available at your local bank.

Top 3 CD Rates (Texas):

(clicking on the institution will bring you to their rates page)

Advancial Federal Credit Union: Mesquite, TX. 12 month CD yielding 2.58% APY with a minimum deposit of $1,000. Advancial Fed CU’s rate page compares it’s current CD rates with some of the larger national banks such as Bank of America, and Chase Bank. In order to be a member of Advancial you must be employed by one of their select employee groups (SEGs).  You may also be a parent, grandparent, spouse, brother, sister, child or grandchild of a current member.  Once you are a member of Advancial, you will always be a member as long as you maintain the minimum Savings balance.

Eastman Credit Union: Longview, TX. 25 month CD yielding 2.70% APY with a minimum deposit amount of $1,000. Eastman CU’s CD rates function in a slightly different way. The rates are accompanied with a maturity range rather than an exact duration. For example, you can receive this 2.70% APY for durations of 24-36 months. You can join ECU if you live, work, worship, attend school, operate a business in one of the communities listed on their coverage maps, or are employed by one of their sponsor or contractor companies, or are a family member of one of their eligible members.

BP Federal Credit Union: Houston, TX. 60 month CD yielding 4.33% APY with a minimum deposit amount of $1,000. Membership eligibility with BPFCU is fairly exclusive. Membership is only open to BP employers, contractors of BP and Select Employee Groups.  However, once you become a member, individuals in your family can join too and once a member of BP Federal Credit Union, you can remain a member for life.

If you live in the state of Texas and know of a local CD rate that is better than the ones listed above, please share by leaving a comment. To find the highest CD rate you may want to compare CD rates available nationally to the ones listed above.