A certificate of deposit (CD) that is tailor-made to accommodate the varying needs of engaged depositors. Thanks to the non-standard features of these CDs, depositors expect extra benefits from them including better rates (annual percentage rates– APRs), more flexibility, ability to cope with market changes, and so on.

Examples of exotic certificates of deposit include asset-linked certificates of deposit, jumbo certificates of deposit, zero-coupon certificates of deposit, bitter-end certificates of deposit, variable rate certificates of deposit, tiered certificate of deposit, relationship certificates of deposit, anytime certificates of deposit, tax deferral certificates of deposit, no-penalty certificates of deposit, bump-up certificates of deposit, step-up certificates of deposit, etc.

Exotic certificates of deposit are also known as designer certificates of deposit as opposed to vanilla certificates of deposit.