Smart savers are cashing in on higher CD rates right now

For the first time in over a decade, banks are seriously competing for your business. That's great news for savvy consumers who are willing to shop around in order to make the most of their hard-earned money.

After years of maintaining low deposit interest rates, banks are now fielding challenges from a wealth of higher-yield options. Money market funds, in particular, are having a moment. Skittish investors flocked to them last week after the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank turmoil — US money market funds had more than $120 billion of net inflows this week, according data from the Investment Company Institute.

According to FDIC data, overall commercial bank deposits fell last year for the first time since 1948, with net withdrawals hitting $278 billion. This slide in deposits has broader implications for the economy — lower reserves hamper a bank's ability to lend money, among other things. So what are banks doing to try and stem the tide of outflows? They're raising interest rates on deposits, specifically CDs.

Annual percentage yields on the best performing 1-year CDs have topped 5% in recent weeks, which is well above CD rates from a few years ago. And bank customers seem to be taking notice. According to S&P, the outstanding CDs amount in the US banking industry totaled $1.7 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2022, up from $1.49 trillion in the third.

According to Bankrate, here are the current average annual percentage yields (APYs) for the week of March...