Navy Federal Credit Union does not sell CDs under that name. It sells share certificates, the credit-union version of a certificate of deposit, and it pays dividends on them rather than interest. What people search for as Navy Federal CD rates are the dividend rates and APYs on those certificates, which are published on its certificates page with "as of" dates under the rate tables. They are open only to members: you must be eligible to join and keep a $5 Membership Savings Account.
This page prints none of the rates. It sets out what Navy Federal's documents said on 14 October 2026, chiefly the certificates page, the Combined Certificate Disclosures (NFCU 602ED, dated 9-25), the Certificates brochure (NFCU 1169ep, 3-25) and the Important Disclosures (NFCU 606, 6-26). Credit union CD rates explains share certificates and membership in general.
Certificate or CD: the words Navy Federal uses
Navy Federal's FAQ puts the difference simply: "You can get share certificates at credit unions (not-for-profit) and CDs at banks (for profit)." What a certificate earns is a dividend, which the disclosure defines as "a division and distribution of earnings among members, after all expenses have been paid and the required amount has been set aside for reserves", adding that "Payment of all dividends is dependent on the availability of earnings at the end of the period". The brochure says the rates are set by Navy Federal's Board of Directors.
The rate is still set in advance: it "is set as of the date the certificate is purchased and funded", and the brochure says that with fixed-rate certificates it "remains constant for the entire term". Read a Navy Federal certificate as you would any CD: APY, term, penalty, renewal, minimum.
Who can open one: membership comes first
Only members can open a certificate. Navy Federal's eligibility page sets out who can join; the main groups are:
- The armed forces: "Active Duty members of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard and Space Force"; the Delayed Entry Program; DoD Officer Candidate/ROTC; DoD Reservists; and veterans, retirees and annuitants.
- Department of Defense civilians: DoD civilian employees; U.S. Government employees assigned to DoD installations; DoD contractors assigned to U.S. Government installations; and DoD civilian retirees and annuitants.
- Family and household members. The membership FAQ says "Immediate family and household members (including roommates) of current and retired members of the armed forces, DoD personnel and current Navy Federal members are eligible to join", and says immediate family includes parents, grandparents, spouses, siblings, children (including adopted and stepchildren) and grandchildren.
If the servicemember or veteran in the family has died, the family stays eligible, though you "may be asked to submit documentation like a DD-214 form" showing that person would have qualified.
Membership is itself a share. The Important Disclosures open a Membership Savings Account "upon purchase of at least one share ($5)", and its balance must not fall below $5. Naming someone as a joint owner on your certificate "does not grant membership in Navy Federal". A member with $5 in that account and a certificate counts as active, so the disclosure's quarterly inactive-member fee does not apply.
The certificates on offer
The certificates page listed three certificates on 14 October 2026:
| Certificate | Terms | To open | Maximum | Adding money | Penalty band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 3, 12, 18, 24 months; 3, 5, 7 years | $1,000; also $20,000 and $100,000 tiers | None | Single deposit | 90 days (3, 12 months); 180 (18 months to 3 years); 365 (5, 7 years) |
| EasyStart | 12, 18, 24 months | $50 | None | Any time until maturity | 90 days (12 months); 180 (18, 24 months) |
| Special EasyStart | 12 months | $50 | $3,000 | Any time, up to $3,000 | 90 days |
Three things the table does not show:
- The brochure's "$5" is not a certificate minimum. It says a certificate can be opened "for as low as $5", but the lowest minimum on the current page is $50; $5 is the membership share.
- "Jumbo" is not a certificate name here. The $20,000 and $100,000 amounts are minimum tiers of the Standard Certificate, each with its own APY column on the rate tables; compare the column for your amount on the day. The jumbo CD page puts a balance-tier premium into dollars.
- Two certificates in the disclosure are not on the certificates page. SaveFirst Certificates "will no longer be offered or available for purchase beginning March 24, 2025", and the three-year Variable Rate Certificate the disclosure still describes is not listed on the certificates page.
The Special EasyStart conditions
The certificate is limited to one per member per product type (Share, IRA or ESA). Owners aged 18 or older must have direct deposit and a Navy Federal checking account within 90 days of the issue date, and "If these requirements have not been satisfied by the 90th day, your Special EasyStart Certificate dividend rate will be adjusted to the prevailing dividend rate of the 12-month EasyStart Certificate for the remainder of the certificate’s term." At maturity it renews automatically, and anything above $3,000 moves to the Membership Savings Account unless you say otherwise.
The cap sets the size of the prize: on illustrative rates, each tenth of a percentage point is worth about $3 over twelve months on a full $3,000.
How Navy Federal publishes and applies its rates
Each table gives a term, a minimum and an APY; the EasyStart tables also show the dividend rate. The notes say "The APY is an annualized rate that reflects estimated dividend earnings based on the dividend rate and frequency of compounding" and "Dividends compounded daily, credited monthly." The disclosure adds that the APY "assumes dividends remain in the account until maturity". The APY is the figure to compare, as APR vs APY explains: an illustrative 4.00% dividend rate compounded daily over a 365-day year is a 4.08% APY.
Credited dividends "are available for withdrawal anytime without penalty", the brochure says. You can leave them in, have them moved monthly to a Navy Federal savings, checking or Money Market Savings Account, or take a cheque; taking them out lowers the yield, because the APY assumes they stay.
The brochure says "Generally, certificates with longer terms and higher minimums earn higher dividend rates". "Generally" leaves room for exceptions, so read the APY for each term and minimum on the day rather than assuming the longer term pays more.
The early-withdrawal penalty, priced (illustrative)
"All certificates can be redeemed early", says the brochure. The disclosure's penalty is a forfeit of dividends on the amount withdrawn, in three bands:
- Term of one year or less: the lesser of "(1) all dividends for 90 days on the amount withdrawn, or (2) all dividends on the amount withdrawn since the date of issuance or renewal".
- Term greater than one year: the same, with 180 days.
- Term of five years or greater: the same, with 365 days.
Until about the band's number of days has passed, the forfeit is every dividend the withdrawn amount has earned; after that, it is the fixed number of days. On $10,000 at an illustrative 4.00% dividend rate, withdrawn in full:
| Leave after | Dividends earned | 12-month (90-day band) | 3-year (180-day band) | 5-year (365-day band) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | $32.93 | $32.93 | $32.93 | $32.93 |
| 91 days | $100.22 | $98.63 | $100.22 | $100.22 |
| 182 days | $201.44 | $98.63 | $197.26 | $201.44 |
| 273 days | $303.68 | $98.63 | $197.26 | $303.68 |
| 365 days | $408.08 | Matured, no penalty | $197.26 | $400.00 |
| 730 days | $832.82 | Not applicable | $197.26 | $400.00 |
The 4.00% is illustrative, not Navy Federal's rate. The table assumes dividends stay in and compound daily, and figures the days-of-dividends amounts as simple dividends on a 365-day year; the disclosure states neither the day count nor whether that amount is compounded.
Partial withdrawals. Because the penalty is figured "on the amount withdrawn", you can take out part of a certificate: on the same illustrative numbers, $2,000 out of a $10,000 3-year certificate after 400 days forfeits 180 days' dividends on the $2,000, $39.45. If a withdrawal leaves less than the minimum, the disclosure lists three outcomes: the certificate is closed to an existing certificate or IRA certificate; it is closed and the money moved to your IRA savings or MMSA IRA account, a new IRA savings account being opened if you have none; or, at your request, you add funds to bring it back to the minimum. "Penalties may apply", it adds; Navy Federal's article on maturing certificates says the certificate "will be closed and you'll pay the penalty on the entire principal amount".
The first six days. Under Regulation D, money withdrawn in the first six days of a new, not renewed, certificate carries "a seven-day, early-withdrawal dividend penalty": $7.67 on the illustrative $10,000.
No penalty applies to withdrawals of dividends only, withdrawals after the death of any owner, withdrawals caused by the credit union's liquidation, or required minimum distributions from Traditional and SEP IRAs. No disability or age-based waiver is listed.
No Navy Federal document read for this page says outright whether the penalty can reduce principal; if that matters, ask before opening. The early-withdrawal penalty page sets out the other shapes penalty schedules take.
Maturity, renewal and the 21-day grace period
At least 20 days before a certificate matures, Navy Federal sends a notice "specifying the terms under which the Credit Union proposes to renew the Certificate Account or otherwise make the funds available to the owner". If you do nothing, the brochure says, it renews "for the same term and at the current dividend rate". The maturity-instruction form adds: "The renewal rate has not yet been determined and will be established on the date of maturity."
The grace period is 21 calendar days: "You have 21 calendar days from the maturity date to change the conditions under which the Certificate will be renewed." Meanwhile the balance earns dividends "at the prevailing offering rate". Instructions can go through online banking, by mail, by phone, at a branch, or on the Share Certificate Maturity Instruction form.
The brochure's laddering example splits $25,000 into five $5,000 certificates of 12 months, 24 months, 3, 5 and 7 years instead of one 7-year certificate; those rungs sit in the 90-, 180-, 180-, 365- and 365-day penalty bands. The CD ladder guide explains the mechanics.
Insurance: the NCUA, not a bank insurer
Navy Federal's site footer says "Navy Federal is insured by NCUA". The brochure says certificates and other share accounts "are federally insured for up to $250,000" by the National Credit Union Administration, "an independent government agency". The Important Disclosures set out how the limits combine:
- Individual accounts are insured up to $250,000 "for combined balances in your savings, checking, share certificates, and MMSAs", so a certificate shares one limit with your other individual accounts.
- Joint accounts are insured up to $250,000 for each joint owner, and no member can have more than $250,000 of cover through joint ownership.
- Traditional, SEP and Roth IRA balances, IRA certificates included, are insured together up to $250,000, separately from your other accounts; Coverdell ESAs are separate again.
The certificate disclosure says "up to at least $250,000 per individual". The NCUA's regulation defines the accounts it insures as "share, share certificate or share draft accounts", with a standard maximum of $250,000. The bank-side rules belong to a different agency and are set out separately; the credit union page shows how to check any credit union's federal insurance. Non-deposit investment, brokerage and advisory products sold through Navy Federal Investment Services, the disclosure says, "are not NCUA/NCUSIF or otherwise federally insured".
IRA and ESA certificates
The rate tables are headed "Share, IRA, ESA", so the same certificates are offered inside a Traditional, Roth or SEP IRA and a Coverdell ESA, "Subject to IRS annual contribution limits". The penalty bands are the same, except that required minimum distributions from Traditional and SEP IRA certificates are penalty-free; the IRA brochure notes "There are no RMDs for Roth IRAs." What an IRA CD is covers the wrapper, and the IRA CD rules cover required distributions and the IRS's additional tax.
Opening, statements, fees and tax
The brochure says you may buy certificates "by visiting navyfederal.org, calling 1-888-842-6328 or visiting a branch". A confirmation notice follows, and activity appears on your online banking statement or "quarterly paper certificate statement". The application letter lists "no administrative fees" among the certificates' features.
Certificates "are not transferable, are not negotiable, and may be pledged as collateral on a loan at Navy Federal only"; those that take added deposits cannot be pledged. An owner under 18 needs a joint owner aged 18 or older. Navy Federal can change its offerings on 30 days' notice, but an issued certificate's terms "may not be changed without the owner’s consent".
The dividend label does not change the tax. IRS Publication 550 says "You must report as interest the so-called" dividends on share accounts in credit unions, which "will be shown as interest income on Form 1099-INT". The brochure says certificate dividends "are reported for tax purposes in the year in which they’re credited". A forfeited early-withdrawal penalty is shown separately on the form, and Publication 550 says it can be deducted on Schedule 1 (Form 1040).
Using the CD rates calculator with a certificate
The CD rates calculator works from an APY, and a Navy Federal certificate's APY plays the same part: the disclosure makes the calculator's assumption that dividends stay in until maturity, and the IRS has the dividends reported as interest, so the tax lines apply as they would to a bank CD. Enter the APY, not the dividend rate, and your band's 90, 180 or 365 days as the penalty. The early-exit estimate charges the full number of days on the whole deposit, without Navy Federal's "lesser of" cap, so early in a term it shows a larger penalty than the disclosure's formula would.
What to confirm before opening
- Your eligibility route, and at least $5 in your Membership Savings Account.
- The rate table on the day: the APY, its "as of" date and, for a Standard Certificate, your minimum column.
- For a Special EasyStart Certificate, direct deposit and a Navy Federal checking account within 90 days.
- Your term's penalty band, and how a withdrawal below the minimum is handled.
- Where the dividends go: left in, moved monthly, or paid by cheque.
- Your renewal instructions, before the 21-day grace period ends.
- Your individual balances at Navy Federal against $250,000, and your IRA balances separately.
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