With some of the highest rates in the industry and a variety of term options, Synchrony certificates of deposit offer a great savings opportunity. Longer-term Synchrony CDs earn up to 4.85%. Plus, there’s no monthly service fee to worry about draining your savings.
Synchrony doesn't require a minimum deposit. Remember that you cannot make withdrawals from a CD until it reaches the end of its term, or maturity. But it is important to note that the larger the deposit, the more you'll boost your savings by earning more interest than a smaller deposit would.
To calculate how much interest you could earn with a CD, try using SmartAsset's CD calculator.
Synchrony CD | APY |
3 Month | 0.25% |
6 Month | 4.40% |
9 Month | 4.80% |
11 Month - No Penalty | 0.25% |
12 Month | 4.60% |
13 Month | 4.20% |
14 Month | 4.20% |
15 Month | 4.20% |
16 Month | 4.00% |
18 Month | 4.25% |
19 Month | 4.25% |
24 Month | 4.00% |
24 Month - Bump Up | 3.25% |
36 Month | 4.15% |
48 Month | 4.00% |
60 Month | 4.00% |
3-Month CD Interest Rate Comparison
Overview of Synchrony CDs
Synchrony’s CD accounts are pretty standard without any extra perks or benefits. Of course, the high-earning CD rates certainly make up for that since you’ll see some excellent growth by the time your account reaches maturity.
Synchrony includes a 10-day grace period at the end of each CD term. This period starts on the maturity date. During this period, you can make withdrawals and additional deposits if you choose. If you don’t want to make any changes to the account or withdraw the funds, you can simply leave it alone and let it renew automatically. It will renew for the same term and with the published rate at the time of renewal.
CDs are designed to be accessed at opening and at maturity. In between these, you cannot easily withdraw any of your principal amount. If you desperately need access to those funds, you may make an early withdrawal, but at a cost. If your CD term is 12 months or less, you’ll have to pay a penalty of 90 days of simple interest. For accounts between 12 and 48 months, the penalty equals 180 days of simple interest. Accounts of 48 months or more will assess a penalty of 365 days of simple interest.
How Much You Earn With Synchrony Certificate of Deposits Over Time
With some of the highest CD rates across the board, each Synchrony CD account will earn you a solid amount of savings. Even its lowest rate on the 3-month CD earns a few dollars, with the growth increasing according to your deposit. Other banks offer accounts of this length that earn only a couple cents over the term.
Luckily, Synchrony compounds interest daily. This means that your balance grows each day, with the interest you earned yesterday earning more interest today and so on. This allows your money to grow more efficiently than compounding weekly, for example.
The amounts given below represent what your final account balance could be according to your initial deposit and Synchrony CD term length.
Initial Deposit | 3-Month CD | 6-Month CD | 3-Year CD | 5-Year CD |
$2,500 | $2,501.56 | $2,554.41 | $2,824.35 | $3,041.63 |
$5,000 | $5,003.12 | $5,108.82 | $5,648.69 | $6,083.26 |
$10,000 | $10,006.24 | $10,217.63 | $11,297.38 | $12,166.53 |
How Synchrony CDs Rates Compare to Other Banks'
As an online bank, Synchrony and its CD rates are some of the best out there. This is because online banks like Synchrony don’t have to maintain the costs that come with physical branches. Two of Synchrony’s top competitors are Ally Bank and Marcus by Goldman Sachs. There is no minimum deposit with Ally.
You’ll also see that a big bank with thousands of branches like Chase Bank can’t really compete with online banks. Chase has some of the lowest rates around, especially on its CDs. You do have the opportunity to earn rates that are higher than the ones shown below, by linking checking accounts and having substantially large deposits.
CD Account | Synchrony | Ally | Marcus by Goldman Sachs | Chase |
6 Month | 4.40% | 4.90% | 4.75% | 0.01% |
1 Year | 4.70% | 4.50% | 4.70% | 0.01% |
3 Year | 4.15% | 3.75% | 4.15% | 0.01% |
5 Year | 4.00% | 3.75% | 4.00% | 0.01% |
Compare Synchrony to Other Competitive Offers
Should You Get a Synchrony CD Account?
You should consider opening a Synchrony CD account if you’re looking for a way to really grow your savings and you don’t mind losing access to your money for a set period of time. Each account comes with a high interest rate so there’s no doubt you’ll see some growth no matter which term you choose.
If you want to really take advantage of Synchrony’s great rates and maximize your earnings, you should consider building a CD ladder. This involves opening multiple CDs at the same time, each with a different maturity date. That way, you can have some payout when each CD ends, creating a stream of income you can use every few months. That also helps you avoid being forced to make any early withdrawals from a longer-term CD.