An annual percentage yield (APY) of 3.25% is now being given by Elements Financial as the best rate that is currently available from a savings account that is accessible nationwide. This is only one of the highest rates you may discover in our rankings, which can be seen below. The FDIC’s national average for savings accounts is 0.17% APY, so this is approximately 20 times higher than that. Even the 10th-best rate on the list, which was culled from our weekly research on the rates offered by more than 200 banks and credit unions throughout the country that provide savings accounts, provides an annual percentage yield of 2.50%. The best savings account rates currently being offered by our partners are shown below, followed by our comprehensive rating of the best savings account rates being offered throughout the country.
Best High-Yield Savings Account Rates
- Elements Financial – 3.25% APY*.
- APY of 3.00% is offered by DollarSavingsDirect.
- Bask Bank – 2.75% APY.
- CFG Bank – 2.75% APY.
- Ivy Bank – 2.70% APY.
- TAB Bank – 2.66% APY.
- UFB Direct offers an APY of 2.61%.
- BrioDirect offers an APY of 2.61%.
- APY of 2.60% is offered by TotalDirectBank.
- APR offered by Quorum Federal Credit Union is 2.50%.
- USAlliance Financial – 2.50% APY.
- Fitness Bank – 2.50% APY*.
- APY of 2.45% is offered by Northpointe Bank.
- CIT Bank – 2.40% APY.
- Rising Bank – 2.35% APY.
The following table presents, in ascending order of annual percentage yield (APY), the nation’s best savings account rates. In cases when more than one financial institution offers the same rate, we have rated the accounts according to which need the lowest required continuing minimum balance.
Elements Financial, Promo Helium Savings – 3.25% APY*
- Minimum first deposit: Any amount.
- The continuing balance requirement for the promotional annual percentage yield is $2500.
- There is not monthly cost.
- Credit card with an ATM: you bet.
- Mobile check deposit: Yes.
- The answer is yes, there are checking accounts accessible.
- CDs are available: Yes.
*The 3.25% APY is a promotional rate that is provided as a fixed rate for the first 12 months that your account is open. In order to qualify for this rate, the money that is put into this account must be new to Elements Financial (coming from another institution).
DollarSavingsDirect, Dollar Savings Account – 3.00% APY
- Minimum first deposit: $0.
- Minimum ongoing balance: $0.
- There is not monthly cost.
- Not with your ATM card:
- Mobile check deposit: No.
- No checking accounts are currently available.
- CDs were available: Yes.
Bask Bank, Interest Savings Account – 2.75% APY
- Minimum first deposit: Any amount.
- Any amount is required as a minimum continuing balance.
- There is no monthly cost.
- Not with your ATM card:
- Mobile check deposit: Yes.
- No checking accounts are currently available.
- CDs are available: No.
CFG Bank, High Yield Money Market Account – 2.75% APY
- Minimum first deposit: $1,000.
- The minimum continuing amount required to get the specified annual percentage yield is $1,000.
- If you have a continuous amount of $1,000 or more, there is no monthly cost; otherwise, it is $10 each month.
- Not with your ATM card:
- Mobile check deposit: Yes.
- No checking accounts are currently available.
- CDs are available: Yes.
What exactly is meant by the term “high yield savings account”?
High-yield savings accounts, as its name suggests, provide interest rates that are far greater than those offered by conventional savings accounts. They are typically offered online and are based on the premise that it is prudent to keep your savings wherever it can earn a competitively high yield, even if that means keeping it at a different bank than where you keep your checking account. This is true even if the bank offers internet-only banking services as well as traditional banking services.
The variation in interest rates may be very considerable, with the best savings accounts in the country generally earning 15–20 times the rate that is considered to be the national average for savings accounts. Because it is straightforward to connect a high-yield savings account to your main account in order to facilitate seamless transfers, you may continue to retain your checking account at its current location.
If I put my money into an online savings account, would it be safe?
Customers of banks are safeguarded by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures their deposits to a maximum value of $250,000 per institution in the event that the bank fails to meet its financial obligations. The vast majority of banks, whether traditional or virtual, are members of the FDIC. By providing NCUA insurance to the great majority of credit institutions, the federal government of the United States guarantees the financial stability of credit union members for amounts up to $250,000.
Your deposits are safeguarded and secured in the same manner regardless of whether your financial institution has physical locations or operates only online. Before you start doing business with any new financial institution, you should make it a point to look for the FDIC or NCUA emblem on their website.
What sets a money market account different from a high-interest savings account and how can you choose between the two?
The relationship between savings accounts and money market accounts is quite tight. Both provide you the flexibility to deposit and withdraw funds whenever it is most convenient for you, but their primary purpose is to give you the opportunity to build up savings while receiving interest on the total amount in your account. In addition, the federal law that places a cap of six withdrawals per month on the amount that may be taken out of savings accounts applies to both kinds of accounts.
The ability to write checks out of a money market account is often seen as the defining characteristic that separates savings accounts and money market accounts from one another. In contrast, withdrawals from savings accounts can normally only be made by electronic transfers, ATM cards (where they are available), or visits to the physical location where the account is held.
How Frequently Do Interest Rates on Savings Accounts Change?
There is no assurance that the annual percentage yield (APY) that a savings account will pay on the day that you make your first deposit will remain the same. In point of fact, the account’s rate is subject to modification at any moment.
The Federal Reserve has a significant role in determining the direction of interest rates, including whether they move up or down and how often they shift. When the Federal Reserve Board changes the federal funds rate, most banks and credit unions move their own rates in the same general direction.
Having said that, changes in interest rates on savings accounts are not normally something that happens on a daily or weekly basis. In the absence of any new actions taken by the Fed, interest rates often do not change for many weeks or months at a time.