As of Sunday, August 2, 2026, the highest nationally available certificate of deposit rate remains 4.10% APY, according to Yahoo Finance's daily rate survey.
The top offer comes from Marcus by Goldman Sachs on a 9-month CD, a term that exemplifies the current market pattern: the most competitive yields are clustered in shorter maturities of roughly one year or less. Online banks and credit unions continue to lead the rate tables, while traditional brick-and-mortar institutions generally lag behind.
This rate environment sits directly on top of the Federal Reserve's policy pause. The Federal Open Market Committee held the federal funds target range at 3.50% to 3.75% on July 29, a 9-3 vote that revealed a notable split. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan dissented, each favoring a quarter-point increase. The lower bound of the target range has held at 3.50% through the end of July, per St. Louis Fed data.
The pause follows three rate cuts in 2025 and no moves so far in 2026. That stability has kept deposit yields elevated relative to the pre-2025 cycle, giving savers a window to lock in fixed returns. Industry observers describe the period as a potential "last opportunity" before the next policy shift, though the direction of that shift is now openly debated inside the Fed.