CIT Bank CD Rates: Pros, Cons, and Current Rates

Business Insider's personal finance team compared CIT Bank CDs to the best CD rates and found it to be a standard offering.

It pays higher CD rates than the national average for a few traditional CD terms and a good rate on its no-penalty CD. CIT Bank's other CD offerings pay pretty low rates, though.

CIT Bank still may be worth considering if you are looking for an online financial institution that offers a variety of CD types. It has a few specialty CDs that aren't common among other banks.

Current CIT Bank CD Rates

The bank's strongest account option is the CIT Bank No Penalty CD. It pays a solid interest rate, and there aren't standard early withdrawal penalties.

CIT Bank Term CD rates vary depending on the term you choose. The 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 4-year, and 5-year terms pay lower interest rates than the average CD. However, the bank's other Term CDs have much stronger rates.

CIT Bank Jumbo CDs pay less competitive rates than other banks. If you're interested in opening a jumbo CD, other online banks have the best jumbo CD rates.

CIT Bank Term CD Rates

A CIT Bank Term CD pays 0.30% to 3.50% APY for terms ranging from six months to five years.

Selecting the right term is important in a CIT Bank Term CD since traditional CDs have early withdrawal penalties. You don't withdraw money before your CD maturity date or you'll pay a penalty that could impact your interest earned.

The 6-month, 13-month, and 18-month CDs pay higher interest rates than the other bank's terms. Still, you can find other banks with even more competitive CD rates overall. 

Here are the current CIT Bank Term CD rates: 

CIT Bank Jumbo CD Rates

CIT Bank Jumbo CDs pay 0.40% to 0.50% APY. A jumbo CD is similar to a regular one but requires a substantial minimum opening deposit of $100,000 or more. CIT Bank Jumbo CDs currently pay similar interest rates to Term CDs. 

You might consider a CIT Bank Jumbo CDif you have more than $100,000 that you would like to deposit in a low-risk place.

CIT Bank only has 2-year, 3-year, 3-year, and 5-year CDs. Jumbo CDs aren't necessarily common options available at all banks, but you can still find other banks with more term options.

Here are the current CIT Bank Jumbo CD rates:

CIT Bank No Penalty CD Rate

The CIT Bank No Penalty 11-Month CD offers 3.50% APY. 

A CIT Bank No Penalty CD could be a good choice if you don't want to worry about early withdrawal penalties.

CIT Bank offers a good interest rate for an online financial institution. That said, it is just short of our best no-penalty CDs, which have higher rates.

Overview of CIT Bank CDs

At CIT Bank, you'll be able to pick from regular CDs, jumbo CDs, and one no-penalty CD. All CIT Banks CDs have a fixed interest rate. This means the rate will stay the same for the entire term.

Besides its 13-month term, CIT Bank primarily has standard term lengths. If you're looking for more term length variety, another bank may be more suitable for you.

In terms of speciality CDs, though, CIT Bank is an overall solid choice. Not all banks have jumbo CDs or no-penalty CDs.

CIT Bank CD Pros and Cons

CIT Bank CD Pros

• No-penalty CD option with a good APY

CIT Bank CD Cons

• Jumbo CDs and long-term regular CDs pay lower interest rates than many CDs at the best banks and credit unions
• No physical locations, so you can't open an account at a branch
• Other online financial institutions have lower minimum opening deposit requirements

CIT Bank CD Alternatives

CIT Bank CDs vs. Capital One 360 CDs

Capital One 360 might be a better option if your priority is opening a CD with a low initial deposit. Capital One 360 lets you open a CD with $0. At CIT Bank, you'll need at least $1,000. 

If you're strictly searching for competitive interest rates, you will want to go with Capital One since Capital One 360 CD rates are currently higher than CIT CD rates. Capital One CDs pay 3.50% to 4.00% APY.

You may favor CIT Bank if you're searching for specialty CDs. CIT Bank has jumbo CDs and a no-penalty CD. Capital One 360 only has regular CDs. 

Capital One Bank Review

CIT Bank CDs vs. Ally CDs

CIT Bank and Ally are equally strong options if you're searching for an online bank with a wide range of CDs. Both have a variety of regular terms and specialty CDs.

If you're comparing interest rates on CDs, Ally CD rates are more competitive. Ally CD rates pay 2.90% to 3.90%APY.

Ally may be a better option if you want to open a regular CD with a low minimum opening deposit. Ally High-Yield CDs can be opened with $0 upfront, while CIT Bank Term CDs require at least $1,000.

Ally Bank Review

How to Open a CIT Bank CD

CIT Bank is an online-only bank, so can't open a CD at a physical branch. You can open an account online, though.

You must be at least 18 years old to apply for a CIT Bank CD. The online application also requires general information, like your home address, email, Social Security number, and phone number.

To deposit money into a CIT Bank CD, you'll need to transfer money from another CIT Bank account or an external bank account. If you're linking an external bank account, you'll need to have your bank account number and routing number handy. You can find a bank account and routing numbers on a check.

Are CIT Bank CDs Worth it?

You may prefer CIT Bank over other online banks if your goal is to open a no-penalty CD. It doesn't have typical early withdrawal penalties like traditional CDs, and it's also a low-risk place to keep money since it's FDIC-insured.

It also has enough CD variety to create a CD ladder, but you can also find banks with even more term lengths. Experts often recommend CD ladders as a strategy to offer more flexibility and hedge against rate volatility.

The bank is a good choice if you plan to open multiple bank accounts at the same financial institution because it has several types of bank accounts. There is a high-yield savings account, an interest-earning checking account, and a money market account.

You may favor another financial institution if you would like to open a CD with a low minimum opening deposit. You can also find higher rates on long-term CDs at other online banks.

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed CIT Bank CDs

We rate bank accounts on a scale from one to five stars. For our CIT Bank CD review, we used our CD methodology which looks at interest rates, minimum opening deposits, early withdrawal penalties, CD variety, customer support availability, mobile app ratings, miscellaneous features, security, and the ethics of the company.

We use a weighted average to get our star rating, which means we weigh certain features, like interest rates and fees, at a higher weight percentage than others. We understand that these areas can more heavily impact a person's overall banking experience.

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