Certificate of Deposit (CD)

Yes. You can own more than one CD at a time.

One strategy that requires multiple CDs with varying terms is called a CD ladder. It involves spreading funds over a number of CDs with staggered maturities to help ensure you get the highest rate offered every time your accounts mature. If interest rates go up, you'll have cash to open new CDs. If rates go down, you'll still have money growing in your higher interest rate accounts. The CD ladder method also allows you to have periodic access to some of your funds. This access can help you avoid early withdrawal penalties.

One feature of CDs you open with USAA Bank is that you can give each account a nickname. That can be especially helpful when you give an account a nickname that matches its related savings goal.

Your CD will have a maturity date based on the term you select during the application. The interest begins to accrue on the business day we receive and record your deposit in our records. We pay interest monthly. You can have us deposit your interest into the CD account or to a different bank account. If we deposit interest, we'll credit that interest to your balance. You'll then earn interest on the new balance, sometimes referred to as compounding interest.

Yes. There is a penalty for withdrawing funds from your CD before the maturity date. Early withdrawal penalties are shown in the Service Fee Schedule (PDF Opens in New Window). In some cases, we may waive an early withdrawal penalty as permitted by law. We deduct the early withdrawal penalty from the CD account's earned interest first, and then we deduct any remaining early withdrawal penalty from the principal amount of the CD account.

If it's important for you to have easy access to your money without an early withdrawal penalty, consider applying for a USAA Federal Savings Bank savings account.