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PeaceWave

(3,327 posts)
Wed Mar 25, 2026, 05:36 PM 19 hrs ago

A simple banking idea to help the masses (that Trump will probably swoop in and enact himself)....

Yesterday, I was at the bank and saw a sign that read...4% CD rates - on deposits of $100,000 or more.

Why should that rate apply only on CDs of $100K or more, I thought? That is quite literally a regressive banking policy, favoring only the more well to do. Where is my Democratic politician who says "Fuck that. The same CD or long term savings rate has to apply to EVERYONE."

7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Wonder Why

(6,956 posts)
7. Treasury Direct is wonderful. Better rates than most banks and you can elect to reinvest every
Wed Mar 25, 2026, 08:19 PM
16 hrs ago

8 weeks and they direct deposit your interest to your bank savings account.

AZJonnie

(3,693 posts)
2. I think the banks would have many ways around such a restriction
Wed Mar 25, 2026, 05:56 PM
19 hrs ago

Even if the Dem's bill passed and got by SCOTUS, banks would say something like "okay, now it's 2.25% no matter how much you put in, but if you deposit 100K or more and leave it in for 2 years, you get eleventy million Frequent Flyer Miles" or the like.

You'd have to pass a lot legislation in order to make illegal every form of incentive for leaving a lot of money invested in the bank, some forms of which may've already passed muster with SCOTUS

AZJonnie

(3,693 posts)
4. You could try I suppose but this sort of tiered-rate based on deposit amount is pretty entrenched
Wed Mar 25, 2026, 06:15 PM
18 hrs ago

It's even in the CFPB documentation. As long as the banks accurately disclose the tiers, then do what they promised, and don't discriminate against protected classes (like race, sex, age, etc), this structure is all pretty well-documented as being legal.

Modern tiered‑rate accounts
In the U.S., deposit interest rates were heavily regulated under Regulation Q from the 1930s until the 1980s, but even then banks distinguished between types and sizes of deposits (e.g., large denomination certificates of deposit for institutional or wealthy customers) and paid different rates on them.

Once those caps were dismantled in the late 1970s–1980s, banks quickly formalized what had been informal practice into advertised “tiered‑rate accounts,” where specific balance bands earned different rates; today this structure is standard enough that regulators and legal glossaries treat “tiered‑rate account” as a defined product type.


I agree with you that's it's pretty bullshit, but so many things are when it comes to money and how everything is set up for the rich to get richer

PeaceWave

(3,327 posts)
5. I subscribe to the school of "Don't tell me what the law is. Tell me what the law should be."
Wed Mar 25, 2026, 06:20 PM
18 hrs ago

Wiz Imp

(9,950 posts)
6. That kind of thing has been going on forever.
Wed Mar 25, 2026, 07:22 PM
17 hrs ago

My credit union doesn't currently have any CDs with higer rates with a large minimum deposit. However, they have many different tiers of rates for Money Market Savings.

Description / APY*
Balances of $500.00 to $4,999.99 2.35%
Balances of $5,000.00 to $19,999.99 2.35%
Balances of $20,000.00 to $49,999.99 2.45%
Balances of $50,000.00 to $99,999.99 2.60%
Balances of $100,000.00 and over 2.85%

They also have a lower rate for balances above $500 on Youth Savings Accounts

Description / APY*
Youth Savings (Balances of $.01 to $500.00) 4.00%
Youth Savings (Balances of $500.01 and over) 0.25%

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