Now, banks have increased lending and need more deposits, so they're willing to pay higher interest rates. That's according to depositaccounts.com, a website that tracks interest rates on savings accounts and CDs. During the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate to near zero, and kept it that way until December 2015. While the Fed's move made the cost of borrowing substantially cheaper nationwide, it had a secondary effect of cutting the interest rate banks were paying on deposits. As the Fed raised rates, banks initially were happy to charge borrowers higher rates while keeping the amount of interest they were paying on savings accounts and CDs low.

Source: ABC News November 22, 2017 14:37 UTC