The Best Online High Yield Savings Accounts
Updated List Of The Best High Interest Online Savings Account Offers and Bank Rates!
The high yield savings account and money market annual percentage yields (APY) listed below are regularly verified and confirmed to the best of my ability. However, I recommend that you personally check individual bank rates before applying. I will attempt to actively update the APY interest numbers after every major interest rate move by the Federal Reserve, but keep in mind that online savings and money market account rates do fluctuate.
Interest Rate Chasers and Choosing A High Yield Savings Account
There’s an interesting breed of savvy savers called high yield interest rate chasers that are continuously on the hunt for the best interest rates. However, although it is very important, I don’t think high interest rates alone should be the sole determining criteria when deciding where to do your banking. Thus you don’t need to immediately go nuts and jump ship whenever your bank drops your interest rate by a few decimal points. There are other quality factors worth taking into consideration and evaluating such as - reliability, customer service, website interface ease of use, brand name reputation, availability of brick and mortar branches, and consistent history of offering high rates. Just for the record, the vast majority of my cash is invested in the stock market, but what little cash I have is stashed in my Citibank Ultimate Savings Account. It doesn’t offer the highest APY interest rate out there, but Citibank has always offered reliable and satisfactory service, with the added convenience of brick and mortar branches. Of course, with the growth of online banking and the stiff competition among online banks for high yield banking customers, I will likely expand my high interest savings account options very soon.
The online banks listed below are sorted in the order of interest rate currently offered, starting with the highest APY. I’ve chosen to leave out some regional banks as well as several established institutions like Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America for various reasons. Many of them either offer terrible interest rates for their savings and money market accounts, or their top rates require too high of a minimum account balance to achieve (frequently more than $100,000). Below, I’ve also provided information such as the minimum initial deposit required to open an account, as well as additional noteworthy information such as whether there are fees or minimum balance requirements. All of the online banks listed below have indicated that they are FDIC insured, which means all customer bank accounts are protected against catastrophic bank failure and financial loss up to a fairly substantial amount.
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| Bank Name | APY Rate | Min | Notes and Additional Info | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Countrywide Bank | 3.55% | $1,000 | Need $10,000 to get the top rate. 2.65% APY interest otherwise | ||||
| HSBC Direct | 3.50% | $1 | No fees or minimums | ||||
| FNBO Direct | 3.50% | $1 | No fees or minimums | ||||
| Washington Mutual | 3.30% | $1 | Must open with a WaMu checking account online to get top rate | ||||
| E-Trade | 3.30% | $1 | This popular brokerage/bank provides lots of financial services in one place | ||||
| iGO Banking | 3.28% | $1 | No fees or minimums | ||||
| WT Direct | 3.26% | $1 | No minimum. Need $10,000 to continue the max rate after 60 days - 0.50% APY otherwise | ||||
| Savings Square | 3.25% | $1 | No fees or minimums | ||||
| UFB Direct | 3.01% | $1 | No fees or minimums | ||||
| Capital One | 3.00% | $1 | Money market account. No fees | ||||
| ING Direct | 3.00% | $1 | No fees. Good customer service but rate can be better | ||||
| Emigrant Direct | 2.75% | $1 | No fees or minimums | ||||
| Citibank Ultimate | 2.65% | $5,000 | Make 2 bill payments via linked Citi account to get top rate - 1.92% APY interest otherwise | ||||
| AmTrust Direct | 2.00% | $1 | Money market account | ||||
Please let me know if there are any other better high interest online banking and savings account deals out there!
January 15th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Great list. I’ve been eyeing that Countrywide rate for awhile. We have our home loan with them, but with BOA buying them out I’m not sure what that is going to do to the bank. But I guess the FDIC will protect the savings accounts right?
We are going to have a small nest egg after we sell our home and I’d like it to earn as much interest as possible.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
good list..I also saw 5.75% 10-yr cd rate listed at money-rates.com. Stupid Fed is going to ruin these rates soon.
January 16th, 2008 at 2:11 am
As for Bank of America’s buyout of Countrywide, in my opinion despite monetary trouble and even downward interest pressure due to Fed rate cuts, I don’t think their high yield rates will drop too substantially. Certain banks are known for their high rates and they’d lose even more business if they rolled the rates too far back.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Great list! I need to switch to a higher interest rate.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
What about onbank vs igo, countrywide, emigrantdirect, ing, etrade, etc.? See Bankrate.com search highest interest mma/savings for others.
May 1st, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Check out Fidelity’s money market account too. I had my money in there for a while and because of the tax treatment, it earned almost double the going interest rates.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:08 am
FYI…there is a 4.50% apy money market listed at Money-Rates.com have not seen a rate that high for a while
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:47 am
Hey you should take a look at the HSBC high yield savings account. Looks like they are currently running some type of high interest 3.5 APY interest rate until August 15, 2008. Their red pig commercial is everywhere on TV these days.
I wonder if HSBC plans to extend the interest rate offer past that due date or whether it’s just a temporary summer promotion. I hope not.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Has anyone been able to find ATM sites for HSBC?
June 30th, 2008 at 2:40 am
The bank has a pervasive presence overseas, but their locations seem to be somewhat limited in this country. Personally, I’m not sure if I’d use HSBC for checking purposes, but their high yield savings accounts seem to offer pretty good value.
July 11th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
You must always be cautious about using these accounts as your only investment vechile. They are a good place to park cash for the short term or in volatile markets, but longer term they will erode your wealth. Great summary here. I personally use HSBC and ING direct.
July 13th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
If you are from the greater Washington D.C. area of Baltimore Maryland, and Virginia, you might be familiar with the online high yield saving account offerings from Provident Direct bank. Its savings account rates are pretty comparable to that offered by the top banks out there like Countrywide, HSBC Direct, and even WaMu as you mentioned. They’re all like 3.50% APY at the moment. I don’t work for them or anything like that.
July 20th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Capital One has a high-interest savings that offers 3.5% (as of July 20) if you deposit $10,000.00 or more. The adds say there are no fees, they will give you an ATM card and checks for free. Just something else to check out.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Are you sure Countrywide should be list as the #1 high intrest online savings bank? Yeah it’s got the highest intrest rate but you need like 10k to get that rate.. just my .02