Chase CD Calculator
Chase publishes two rate tiers: a standard rate close to zero, and a far higher relationship rate that requires a linked Chase checking account. The gap between them is the whole story on this page.
Two rates, and the gap between them is the story
Large branch banks price certificates on relationship rather than on market. Link a qualifying checking account and the relationship tier is offered to you; go without one and you land on the standard tier, which at branch banks is frequently a small fraction of a percent. On $10,000 for twelve months, the published relationship rate of 1.50% earns $150. The standard rate of 0.01% earns $1. That is not a rounding difference — it is a different product wearing the same name. The one genuinely competitive number is usually the single featured term the bank promotes that month, currently a short certificate in the mid-3s, and it changes monthly.
Before setting a branch CD against anything else, work out which tier you actually qualify for. Then count what qualifying costs: if the linked checking account carries a monthly maintenance fee you would not otherwise pay, take twelve months of it off the extra interest before calling the relationship rate a win.
What a branch bank is really selling
Even on the relationship tier, the published rates here sit far beneath the best nationally available CDs. A $25,000 twelve-month deposit at 1.50% earns $375.00; at a top rate of 4.40% it earns $1,100.00. That $725 gap is the price of the branch — the counter you can walk into, the banker who handles a trust or estate account, the convenience of one login for everything.
For some savers it is a fair trade, particularly on large or complicated accounts where in-person service carries genuine value. For a straightforward $10,000 twelve-month certificate it usually is not. Also worth knowing: branch-bank CD rates commonly differ by ZIP code and deposit size, so the rate shown online may not be the rate offered at your branch — ask rather than assume.