Wells Fargo CD Rates

Wells Fargo 3-Month CD

4.50% APY

Wells Fargo offers two certificate of deposit account types: Special CDs and Standard CDs. The longer-term Special CDs offer the best Wells Fargo CD rates, with the others not coming quite as high. You do have the option of earning at higher bonus rates, though, by linking a checking account.

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

Special CD

Wells Fargo Special CDs are available in different term lengths. This allows you to open accounts that best fit your financial goals and preferences. Keep in mind that you’ll need a minimum deposit of $5,000 to open an account. 

All these rates surpass Wells Fargo’s other CD options. You’ll find the better Special CD rates with the account at 7 months.  

Standard CD

Unlike other banks’ CD structures, Wells Fargo offers fewer standard CDs than its Special CDs with only three term options. None of these accounts have memorable interest rates, climbing as high as 1.51% with a yearlong bonus rate. 

These three term lengths make for a solid CD ladder, however. That way, you can open them all at once and potentially have a payout after three months, six months and a year. 

Save more with these rates that beat the National Average

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Overview of Wells Fargo CDs 

You have two CD account options with Wells Fargo: Special CDs and Standard CDs. Each type earns interest according to a standard or a bonus interest rate and does so free of a monthly charge. To earn at the bonus rates, you need to link a checking account to your CD. 

All Wells Fargo CDs compound interest daily. This is the best kind of compounding because it grows your money faster and more efficiently. It means that your deposit will earn interest today, which will, in turn, earn interest tomorrow and the next day and so on. This grows your money better than compounding yearly, for example. Wells Fargo pays out interest on terms less than 12 months on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annually basis or at maturity. For terms longer than 12 months, interest can be paid monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. 

CDs are designed to remain inaccessible from opening to maturity. Once you make your initial deposit, you cannot make any withdrawals or additional deposits until the term ends. If you do need to make an early withdrawal from a Wells Fargo CD, you’ll face either the Regulation D Penalty or the Early Withdrawal Fee. 

The Regulation D Penalty costs seven days of simple interest. This applies to withdrawals made within seven days of account opening, including the opening day. It also applies to withdrawals made during the grace period when you also make additional deposits during that grace period and your withdrawal exceeds the amount of the matured CD balance.

Withdrawals made after the first seven days of account opening trigger the Early Withdrawal Fee. This amounts to one month’s interest for terms less than three months, three months’ interest for terms three to 12 months, six months’ interest for terms 12 through 24 months and 12 months’ interest for terms over 24 months. 

Save more with these rates that beat the National Average

• Savings & MMAs
• CDs

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How Much You Earn With Wells Fargo Certificate of Deposits Over Time 

You don’t stand to earn much with a Wells Fargo CD right off the bat since these CDs have pretty low rates. To earn more, you’ll have to make a larger deposit so there’s more money to grow. You can also benefit from higher bonus rates if you link to a checking account to earn bonus rates. 

Wells Fargo does compound interest daily which helps grow your money much faster and more efficiently than say yearly compounding. Daily compounding means that your money earns interest today, your money plus that interest earns more interest tomorrow and so on. 

How Wells Fargo CDs Rates Compare to Other Banks 

In terms of available CD options, Wells Fargo doesn’t really have much to offer especially when compared to its competitors. There are only three Standard CDs, which doesn’t offer customers much choice. You can potentially earn bonus rates, though, by linking a checking account to your CD. 

This limited CD spread is in stark contrast to other big banks like Bank of America and Chase which both offer CD terms from one to 120 months. Chase also offers the opportunity to earn a better relationship rate. The rates shown below are Chase’s standard rates. 

Wells Fargo’s interest rates are also some of the lowest out there. Other big banks like Bank of America and Chase don’t fare much better, although Bank of America’s standard rates seems to be higher overall. 

Online banks like Ally and Marcus are going to have the best interest rates. You can already see below that these banks’ rates outweigh Wells Fargo’s by a wide margin. Ally Bank also sets your rate according to your deposit. This means that a higher deposit usually snags an even higher rate. The Ally Bank rates given below are for the bottom tier. 

Should You Get a Wells Fargo CD Account?

A Wells Fargo CD mostly makes sense for you if you already have a checking account. That way, you can immediately unlock the bonus CD rates. If you already have a Wells Fargo account, it also makes it more convenient to keep your CDs with the same bank.

You shouldn’t get a Wells Fargo account if you’re looking for big returns, however. These rates are some of the lowest in the industry. You would do better to open CDs with an online bank, which typically has much higher rates.