New leader in 3-year CD rates paying 1.41%
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A new bank has taken over the top spot in our April survey of the best nationally available 3-year CD rates.
State Bank of India Chicago wasn't among our 10 top-paying banks last month.
But it's now offering savers 1.41% APY with a $2,500 minimum deposit.
NexBank, the leader of our March survey, continues to pay 1.40% APY with a hefty $10,000 minimum deposit.
But that's only good enough for second place in our latest study.
Unfortunately, neither of our leading banks is paying as much as you could have earned last spring, 1.55% APY with our best deal on 36-month CDs.
The Fed has driven savings rates to record lows and plans to keep them there until the unemployment rate drops to 6.5%.
Even though we're headed in the right direction, with the jobless rate falling to 7.6% in the March report, there's still a long way to go before the Fed says it will allow interest rates to move upward.
Most economists polled by Reuters believe the jobless rate won't fall below 6.5% before the second half of 2015.
If that proves to be true, interest rates should be higher when a 3-year CD purchased this spring matures in the first half of 2016, allowing you to roll your money over into a higher-paying CD.
Here are the best nationally available 36-month certificates of deposit, as of today:
Top 36-month CD Rates
| Bank | APY | Minimum Deposit |
| State Bank of India-CHI | 1.41% | $2,500 |
| NexBank | 1.40% | $10,000 |
| Barclays | 1.35% | No minimum |
| Virtual Bank | 1.31% | $10,000 |
| Nationwide | 1.31% | $500 |
| CIT | 1.30% | $1,000 |
| Discover Bank | 1.25% | $2,500 |
| GE Capital | 1.25% | $15,000 |
| AloStar | 1.25% | $1,000 |
To qualify for this list, a bank must allow savers from all 50 states to buy its certificates of deposit online or through the mail.
Click here to compare these returns with the top CD rates from dozens of banks in your area.
Our CD calculator will help you figure out the interest you'll earn, for any term, amount and interest rate.
How to buy the top 3-year CD rates
| Bank | Description | URL |
| State Bank of India - Chicago | The FDIC-insured Chicago branch of India's largest bank, which operates independently of other U.S. branches. | www.sbichicago.com |
| NexBank | A division of NexBank Capital Inc. with two branches in the Dallas area. | www.nexbank.com |
| Barclays | The online American operation of the big British bank. | www.banking.barclaysus.com |
| Virtual Bank | The online division of Sabadell United Bank, based in Miami. | www.virtualbank.com |
| Nationwide Bank | An online bank owned by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and its affiliates. | www.nationwide.com |
| CIT Bank | The online consumer bank of CIT Group Inc., which offers financing to small businesses and middle-market companies. | www.bankoncit.com |
| Discover Bank | An online bank owned by the credit card company. | www.discover.com |
| GE Capital Retail Bank | An online bank that is a subsidiary of GE Capital Corp. | banking.gecrb.com |
| AloStar Bank of Commerce | An online bank based in Birmingham, Ala., formerly known as Nexity Bank. | retail.alostarbank.com |
The Federal Reserve influences how much we make on our savings by setting the federal funds rate — the interest rate commercial banks pay to borrow money that other commercial banks have on deposit with the Fed.
That rate has been essentially zero since December 2008.
Nervous savers have also pulled billions of dollars out of the stock market and flooded banks with cash.
Consumer savings in bank accounts, excluding business and institutional accounts, had grown to $8.2 trillion by the end of last year, up from $3.8 trillion in December 2001, according to Market Rates Insight Inc. in San Anselmo, Calif.
That's much more money than they have been willing to lend out.
Data compiled by SNL Financial of Charlottesville, Va., show that deposits continue to grow more quickly than loans during the third quarter of 2012.
Banks were able to loan out only 72.4% of their deposits, down from more than 93.0% in early 2008, when the financial crisis was just beginning.
As a result, savers have seen the returns on their CDs, savings and money market accounts drop to nearly nothing. The banks don't need, or even want, any more of our money.
It's why the average return on 36-month CDs has fallen from 2.57% APY on Dec. 16, 2008, when the federal funds rate was cut to zero, to a record-low 0.49% APY today.
Contributing editor Darci Swisher contributed to this report.
Mitch Strohm on Google Plus.
