High-yield savings accounts are a low-risk, low-effort way to reward yourself for saving. With interest rates on the rise, experts say now is a great time to make sure your savings account is best suited for your goals.
And they’re about to increase even further: the Fed recently enacted another interest rate hike, which experts say will make APYs that banks offer on high-yield savings more competitive over the next few weeks.
With high-yield savings accounts right now, you can make over 2% APY (annual percentage yield, which is the expected rate of interest earned over a year), or even more. These extra earnings can be small, but over time make a difference.
For example, a traditional savings account that has an APY of 0.01% with $1,000 in it will earn 10 cents per month. That same $1,000 will earn $20 per month in a high-yield account with a 2.00% APY — a much higher rate of return.
Here’s everything you should know about high-yield savings accounts, along with the accounts we think are the best.
Best High-Yield Savings Accounts of September 2022
- Ally Bank: Good for All-in-One Online Banking
- American Express National Bank: Good for Amex Cardholders
- Barclays Bank: Good for Online-Only Saving
- Bread Savings: Good for Simple Savings
- Capital One: Good for Hybrid Banking
- CIT Bank: Good for Larger Deposits
- Discover Bank: Good for Different Accounts in One Place
- DollarSavingsDirect: Good for Online Only Access
- FNBO Direct: Good for Checking Option
- Lending Club Bank: Good for ATM Access
- Live Oak Bank: Good for Personal and Business Savings
- Marcus by Goldman Sachs: Good for Consistently High APY
- Prime Alliance Bank: Good for High Yields
- Salem Five Direct: Good for Multiple Options
- Synchrony Bank: Good for Product Range
- TAB Bank: Good for Very High APY
- UFB Direct: Good for Basic Options
- Varo Bank: Good for Ability to Increase APY
Ally Bank: Good for All-in-One Online Banking
Founded in 2009, Ally Bank is one of the most prominent online banks. Its high-yield savings account is regularly at the front of the pack in terms of interest rates and is one of the bank’s star products. Ally also offers no-fee investing on stocks, bonds, and ETFs, free interest-bearing checking accounts, money market accounts, CDs, loans, retirement accounts, and other investment vehicles.
Ally Bank Online Savings Account
Ally’s savings account currently offers 2.10% APY. You won’t pay any monthly fees and don’t need to meet and minimum balance requirements to open or maintain the account.
American Express National Bank: Good for Amex Cardholders
American Express may be best known as a credit card network and issuer, but it has a suite of online deposit accounts with competitive interest rates and fees. You can open high yield savings, CDs, and even IRAs with the bank. There’s also a rewards checking account option available to people with an Amex consumer credit card. American Express Bank is currently testing access to deposit accounts via its mobile app, but you’ll also need an American Express credit card to link your savings account or CD to the app.
American Express High Yield Savings
You can earn 2.00% APY with the American Express online savings account, with no minimum deposit requirements and no monthly fees.
Barclays Bank: Good for Online-Only Saving
Barclays Bank is the U.K.-based financial institution’s online banking division for U.S. customers. It has fewer account types than some other banks on our list, with just high-yield savings account and CD options. There’s also no ATM access or bank branches within the U.S., but it does have consistently competitive rates and offers easy online access via desktop or mobile.
Barclays Online Savings Account
Barclays currently offers 2.25% APY for online savings balances under $100,000. There are no monthly fees, and you only need to maintain a balance of $0.01 to earn interest.
Bread Savings: Good for Simple Savings
Bread Savings is part of Bread Financial, which used to be known as Comenity. Now, Bread Savings offers a high yield savings option and various CDs, all with competitive interest rates. With Bread Financial, you can also get access to a cash back credit card as well as personal loans and installment plans.
Bread Savings High Yield Savings Account
For a $100 minimum opening deposit, you can earn up to 2.90% APY with Bread’s high yield savings option. You’ll need to maintain the $100 in your account, but there are no monthly maintenance fees. However, if you ever need to request a paper statement, you will incur a $5 fee.
Capital One: Good for Hybrid Banking
Capital One strikes an interesting balance between a traditional brick-and-mortar bank and a more agile startup. It has locations across the country and carries all the major banking products you’d need (such as checking, savings, and CDs), plus credit cards, while also offering competitive rates. Capital One is beneficial for the consumer who wants all the rewards of a high-yield savings account while maintaining the ability to speak to a bank representative face-to-face.
Capital One 360 Performance Savings
Capital One’s online savings account offers 2.15% APY on any balance. There’s no monthly maintenance fees, no minimum to open, and no minimum balance requirements.
CIT Bank: Good for Larger Deposits
CIT Bank recently merged with and became a division under First Citizens Bank. It’s an online bank with mobile app access, and offers savings, CD, and money market accounts. You can also open an eChecking account with CIT Bank which also earns a small APY, and is linked to your savings account.
CIT Bank Savings Connect Account
The Savings Connect account from CIT Bank earns 2.70% APY right now. There are no maintenance fees to keep your account, but you will need at least a $100 deposit upon opening.
Discover Bank: Good for Different Accounts in One Place
Discover is well-known for its credit cards — especially for those new to credit — but it also has an online bank with several account options and competitive rates. Products offered by Discover Bank include checking, savings, money market accounts, and CDs. You can access your account information via mobile app or online, and see all your different account types within a single Discover online account.
Discover Online Savings Account
The online savings option from Discover currently has an APY of 2.15% APY. There’s no minimum deposit to open the account, no minimum account balance, and no monthly fees.
Dollar Savings Direct: Good for Online Only Access
Dollar Savings Direct is the online division of New York-based Emigrant Bank. It offers both high yield savings accounts and CDs. There aren’t any saving or tracking online features that some other banks offer, and you cannot access your account through a mobile app, but Dollar Savings Direct does still offer consistently high yields if you don’t mind accessing your account only online.
Dollar Savings Direct Dollar Savings Account
You’ll earn a very high 3.00% APY with a Dollar Savings high yield account. There are no fees and no minimums required to open or maintain your account.
FNBO Direct: Good for Checking Option
FNBO Direct is an online bank associated with First National Bank of Omaha, based in Omaha, Nebraska. You can open either a high yield savings or an interest-earning checking account with FNBO Direct. FNBO Direct offers account access online or via its mobile app.
FNBO Direct Online Savings Account
FNBO Direct’s high yield savings account offers a 1.90% APY. You’ll need at least $1 minimum deposit to open the account, and maintain at least $0.01 in your account to earn interest. There are no monthly maintenance fees.
Lending Club Bank: Good for ATM Access
Lending Club Bank is an online bank with a broad range of loan, saving, and investing products for individuals and business owners. It offers mobile banking and a mobile app to access and review your account and transfer funds. Unlike many other savings account options, you can also get ATM access through an ATM card with your high yield savings account.
Lending Club Bank High Yield Savings Account
Lending Club Bank’s high yield savings currently offers a great 2.65% APY. To earn that, you will need a minimum $100 deposit when you open your account, but there are no minimum account balance requirements after that and no monthly fees.
Live Oak Bank: Good for Personal and Business Savings
Live Oak Bank is an online bank targeted to small business owners, but it also offers competitive yields on personal high-yield savings and CD accounts. It offers fewer personal banking products than other options on our list, but consistently has high yields. Plus, you can manage your account online or via Live Oak Bank’s mobile app.
Live Oak Bank Savings Account
Live Oak Bank’s savings account has a 2.00% APY with no minimum required deposit to open. There are no monthly fees and no minimum balance requirement, but you will need at least $0.01 in your account to earn the APY.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs: Good for Consistently High APY
Marcus is the online banking division of Goldman Sachs, and offers a host of products that include high-yield savings, CDs, investment accounts, and personal loans. You can access your account online, and Marcus has a mobile app with the ability to check you balance, transfer money, and more. Marcus also allows same-day transfers of up to $100,000 to and from other banks into your savings account.
Marcus Online Savings Account
Marcus’ online savings account currently has an APY of 2.15%. There are no fees and no minimum deposit to open your account.
Prime Alliance Bank: Good for High Yields
Prime Alliance Bank is based in Utah but operates nationwide to online customers. It offers high-yield savings and money market accounts, CDs, and IRAs. There’s also an online checking account option, but it doesn’t earn any interest. You can access your Prime Alliance Bank account online or via mobile.
Prime Alliance Bank Personal Savings
The personal savings high yield account from Prime Alliance earns a very high 2.70% APY, with no monthly fees and no minimum balance or deposit requirements.
Salem Five Direct: Good for Multiple Options
Salem Five Direct is the online division of Massachusetts-based Salem Five Bank. Its deposit account types include a high yield savings account, CD, and checking account. The online products offered by the bank have more competitive rates than the brick-and-mortar financial institution, and you can access your account through a web browser, mobile app, or even by voice command using an Amazon Alexa device.
Salem Five Direct eOne Savings
With Salem Five Direct’s savings account, you can earn 1.65% APY on balances up to $1 million. You’ll need at least a $10 deposit to open the account, but there is no other minimum balance requirement and no monthly fees.
Synchrony Bank: Good for Product Range
Synchrony is an online bank with a wide range of savings products, from high-yield savings, money market accounts, CDs, and even IRA money markets and IRA CDs. all at competitive yields. Your Synchrony account information is accessible via mobile app or online. Synchrony offers an optional ATM card for high-yield savings customers with no ATM fees, and you can use the card to check your account balance at an ATM, too.e.
Synchrony Bank High Yield Savings
You’ll earn 2.25% APY with Synchrony Bank’s high yield savings, and there’s no minimum deposit or minimum balance requirement, as well as no fees.
TAB Bank: Good for Very High APY
TAB Bank started in 1998 primarily providing financial services to those in the trucking industry, but today it’s an online bank with nationwide availability that offers high-yield savings, CDs, and money market accounts, as well as different account types for business owners. Recently, the bank opened a waitlist for its TAB Flow debit card, which offers fractional stock rewards on your spending. You can access your account online or mobile.
TAB Bank High Yield Savings Account
With a TAB Bank high yield savings, you can earn a great 2.66% APY. There’s no minimum deposit to open and no monthly fees, though you’ll need to maintain a daily balance of at least $1 to earn interest.
UFB Direct: Good for Basic Options
UFB Direct is the online banking division of Axos Bank. Unlike some others on our list, UFB Direct is limited to a high yield savings account and money market account, with the main difference between the two being the option to write checks with a money market account. UFB Direct has a mobile app for account management, and you can use to make mobile deposits of paper checks.
UFB Savings
UFB Direct’s high yield savings account earns 2.85% APY. There’s no minimum deposit or balance requirement, and no monthly fees.
Varo Bank: Good for Ability to Increase APY
Varo is an online bank that offers a high yield savings account and checking account, as well as cash advance services and a secured credit card. You can access your account online, but Varo also has easy access through its mobile app. If you have a Varo bank account and Varo savings account, you can use savings tools to increase your balance, like rounding up transactions made with your Varo debit card and transferring the amount to your savings.
Varo Savings Account
Varo’s savings account has a tiered APY. There are no monthly fees and there’s no minimum to open your account. However, to earn the account’s 2.00% APY, you’ll need to maintain a balance of at least $4.95 in any 31-day month and $5.12 over 30-day months.
You can increase your APY to 5.00% by meeting certain conditions, including receiving direct deposits of at least $1,000 monthly, keeping no more than $5,000 in your account, and more.
What Is a High-Yield Savings Account?
A high-yield savings account is a savings account that offers a competitive APY, or interest rate. A high interest rate can yield tens or hundreds of dollars in earned interest, depending on how much money you have saved.
Interest rates are always changing, and were very low after the start of the pandemic in 2020. However, the Federal Reserve has begun raising the federal funds rate (which many bank account APYs are based on) and as a result, interest rates are increasing today.
So a great interest rate for a high-yield savings account is relative, and based on how it compares with other available options. At the moment, interest rates for high-yield savings accounts average just above 2.00%, though exact rates vary across banks. In comparison, traditional brick-and-mortar banks tend to have savings accounts with rates as low as 0.01%. The national average savings account rate according to the FDIC is currently 0.17%.
Emergency funds are one of the most popular reasons people save. Most experts we talk to recommend building a fund of about six months’ expenses, even as you pay down debt. Given that emergency savings should be kept on reserve in an account with easy access, putting that money into a low-risk vehicle like a high-yield savings account is a smart move.
While the accounts we featured here are standouts, there are many good options available. As long as it has a competitive APY, is FDIC-insured, and doesn’t charge any monthly fees, you’ll be better off than you would leaving your savings in a conventional account with a low APY.
How We Chose the Best High-Yield Savings Accounts
Our top high yield savings accounts are based on criteria we also use to determine the accounts on our list of best savings account rates, and are updated regularly alongside that page.
To get a comprehensive overview of the online bank landscape, we analyze more than 30 of the most commonly reviewed and searched-for high-yield savings accounts, as well as the top 25 commercial U.S. banks. We then evaluate them based on factors including APY, minimum opening deposit, minimum balance requirement, customer service options and availability, and what other accounts each bank offers.
None of the banks we recommend charge any monthly service or maintenance fees. Because so many reputable banks offer good APYs on free accounts, we think people should take a hard pass on any banks that do charge a monthly maintenance fee to keep a savings account.
For the greatest amount of accessibility, we also excluded accounts that require more than $100 as a minimum deposit. Many of the accounts on our list require much less or nothing at all as an opening deposit.
In addition, all of the contenders and final picks are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which protects your money up to $250,000 in the event a bank goes out of business.
While all the accounts we chose offer competitive interest rates compared to traditional savings accounts, we didn’t set any hard criteria for APY. This is because interest rates are constantly in flux and can change based on market conditions.
Pro Tip
Find a bank that charges $0 in monthly maintenance fees. You shouldn’t have to pay to use your bank account.
The Case For an Online Bank
Online bank accounts have considerable perks, and typically offer among the highest APYs.
Compared to national bank chains with a network of physical locations, online-only banks have far less overhead. This helps explain why they offer more competitive interest rates, and typically charge fewer and lower fees. Many of them also forgo common fees (such as monthly maintenance fees) or offer other benefits (such as early direct deposit), in line with their role as banking industry disruptors.
Are High-Yield Savings Accounts Safe?
Yes. High-yield savings accounts are offered by FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions. This backing by the federal government means that if the bank were to shutter, you would be able to recover up to $250,000. Avoid any banks or credit unions that aren’t federally insured.
What to Consider When Choosing a High-Yield Savings Account
There are many factors to consider when reviewing the marketplace of savings account:
- Annual Percentage Yield (APY): This is the interest rate at which you’ll earn money in one year, in exchange for keeping your funds in the savings account. The higher, the better.
- Fees: Many banks require monthly maintenance fees in order to keep the account open. We recommend going with a bank or credit union that doesn’t charge this fee.
- Minimum deposit required: Oftentimes, to open a savings account, you’ll need to provide an initial deposit to the bank, though many online banks allow you to open an account with $0. Keep the minimum deposit in mind if you’re low on cash.
- Minimum balance required: Many banks require a certain amount of money to be in the savings account at all times. If you don’t maintain the minimum balance, you could incur fees or lose your APY for the months you don’t meet the threshold.
- Withdrawal options: You’ll want a bank that has ATMs or partners with ATM companies, so you’re able to withdraw cash on the go.
Best Uses for a High-Yield Savings Account
High-yield savings accounts are all-purpose, allowing you to save for both short-term and long-term goals. They offer competitive interest rates while also keeping your funds liquid in case of an emergency. Here are some ideas for how you can use your high-yield savings account:
- Emergency fund
- Down payment on a home
- Wedding expenses
- Vacation expenses
- Moving expenses
- College tuition
- Buying a car
High-Yield Savings Account FAQs
Further Reading
We have covered savings accounts at length. We like to think we’re experts. Read on for more of our savings account coverage:
