A bank account can sit quietly for years while the interest rate attached to it changes around it. That makes the FDIC’s latest national rate update a useful excuse to revisit where cash actually lives, especially when a familiar account may now look less attractive than it did when it first opened. The latest available update, released in August 2026, shows national averages ranging from just 0.07% for interest checking to 1.71% for a 12-month CD.
Those figures do not tell anyone which bank offers the best deal, and that distinction matters. The FDIC national rates represent averages, not shopping recommendations, so a bank that pays far more than the average can sit right beside one that pays practically nothing. The next update arrives September 21, which gives account holders a handy reason to check the fine print now rather than letting another month of interest quietly wander off.
