Conclusion: Certificate of Deposit

Certificates of Deposit function as evidence of the deposit so that the depositor can prove to interested third persons the existence of the deposit. However, personal time deposits which have been made nontransferable have less need to be evidenced by a certificate since the depositor cannot sell the certificate and transfer ownership outright anyway. There are no formal regulatory requirements for what appears in a CD, although there are certain components which are traditionally included, and we listed them. Finally, it is a good idea, for a number of reasons, to use a deposit account agreement, signed by the depositor, in addition to a Certificate of Deposit when opening a time deposit account.