I’ve used online savings accounts for years. The Dough Roller editorial team has researched hundreds of options and selected the highest yield options based on interest rate and fees. The result is this list of the best online savings account offers.
Online savings accounts are one of the best places to stash your cash. Also called high yield savings accounts, you earn some of the highest available interest rates for a savings account, and you get the convenience of online account management and easy transfers to and from your existing bank accounts.
Recently, a reader e-mailed me asking where to find the best online cash accounts. So here is my list of some of the top paying online savings account offers.
Deal of the Day: High Yield Savings With American Express® Personal Savings: 2.00% APY | No Minimum Balance | No Monthly Service Fee
Best Savings Account Deals
- American Express National Bank: Earn 2.00% APY with no minimum balance.
- CIT Bank: Earn 2.15% APY with just a $100 deposit required to open an account. (Savings Builder)
- Synchrony Bank: Earn 1.90% APY with no minimum balance.
- HSBC: Earn a 2.01% APY with a $1. No monthly maintenance fee. Member FDIC.
- Barclays Bank: Earn 1.90% APY with no monthly maintenance fee and no minimum balance to open.
Online Savings Account Details
Because of their convenience, security and favorable interest rates, online savings accounts are perfect for emergency funds or other short-term savings. Interest rates on these savings accounts do change, and here are some of the highest yield account offers to make the most of your money.
American Express National Bank currently pays 2.00% APY (as of 11.15.2018) for it’s online savings account product. American Express has NO monthly minimum or deposit requirement and the interest rate is paid across all balances. This is my online savings account of choice.
Synchrony Bank currently pays 1.90% APY on its savings account product. There is no minimum balance requirement to open an account or to qualify for this rate. Synchrony pays this rate on all balances. They also offer an ATM card for easy access to your cash.
CIT Bank sports one of the highest savings account rates available at 2.15% APY with their new Savings Builder account. To earn the 2.15% APY, you need to either make a deposit of $100 per month OR maintain a balance of $25,000. Initial opening deposit minimum is just $100.
HSBC is offering a 2.01% APY. The minimum balance to earn this APY is $1. There is no monthly maintenance fee associated with the HSBC savings account. You’ll have access to your account 24/7, access to their mobile banking app and the ability to deposit a check simply by taking a picture. Member FDIC.
Capital One 360 is the bank a lot of my family uses. Both of my teenage children have Money accounts, and my wife and I have checking accounts. The interest rates are extremely competitive, there are virtually no fees, and the website is extremely easy to use. In addition, I use the Capital One 360 iPhone app to check balances, make transfers, and deposit checks.
Ally Bank: This is another great bank, and it is currently paying an APY of 1.90%. While it’s not the top rate, I’ve found the Ally website to be extremely easy to use. And the bank also offers an excellent lineup of CDs.
Discover Bank: Finally, Discover Bank offers a very competitive savings account rate at 2.00% APY. There is no minimum balance requirement to open an account. Interest is compounded daily, and there are no monthly fees.
FNBO Direct, better known as First National Bank of Omaha offers online savings accounts, CD’s and fee-free bill pay for all its customers. This is the bank that I personally use and even though the APY isn’t the best on this list, the online interface and customer service is top notch. FNBO Direct is an excellent choice. It currently pays 1.85% APY.
Savings Account Alternatives
If you are looking for higher returns, LendingClub may be the answer. LendingClub is a social lending site where you can invest in loans issued to individuals and businesses. The current average return is above 9%, and some loans carry interest rates as high as 20%. While these investments are not FDIC insured, given the low interest rates paid by banks, LendingClub may be a great alternative. Visit www.LendingClub.com for more information.
More High Yield Options
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If FNBO pays 1.40, and you bank with them, why is it not recommended?
While I don’t bank with FNBO, I think it’s a good option and it is included in our list.
I was wondering why CIT is not on your list as they are FDIC insured and currently paying 1.35% APY on their savings account
You’re right! They should be. I’ll add them today.
First off thank you for your wealth of knowledge and podcast. Since listening I have saved 50.00 a month on my cable, lowered my home insurance premium by 500.00, and saved over 200 on my auto insurance. Now I am looking at high yield savings accounts and see that CIT bank has 1.35% but notice you don’t have that as a recommendation. Also Discover Bank offers 1.15% with a 250.00 cash offer if you deposit 20,000. I an thinking of putting 20,000 in CIT for the higher interest and 20,000 in the discover for the cash offer even though the rate is 1.15%. What are your thoughts on that? This is our emergency fund money that is currently making nothing sitting in BofA Money Market account.
Sallie Mae Bank MMAs now yield 1.30% APY! Do you ever look at bank safety ratings (like at BankRate, Weiss Ratings, Bauer Financial, Fitch)?
i am an invester over seas and i can get up to 10% APR per year in some banks tax free from the origen .so you tell me how this compares to your rates .for example i get $95.00 us dollares for each $10000.00 dollares per month .now can any one beat that ?
Can some one explain me how this works? Im looking into invest some money but I have no idea where to start! How it work and how u get your monet
I invested with Flux Holdings when they accepted new investors. The rates have held steady at 2.5% even with the recession. But it looks like they’re not accepting new clients right now.
Tyler, as you no doubt know, Flux Holdings is not FDIC insured.
BRICK and mortar! BRICK and mortar! NOT “brink” and morter. The smart little piggy built a BRICK house, not a “brink” house.
The TOP High Yield Online saving bank is and has been over a year is South Shore bank. Until very recently offrerd 2.1 % rate and just now dropped to 1.90% !
Why is this bank NOT reported is a mystery to me……
I do have an account there for last six months and surprised no one comes close to this bank!!
How about American Express Personal Savings account? Like Discover, they recently started offering a savings account with a 2% APY. Any opinion on this one?
They talk about the most recent high-yield savings accounts and also gives an opinion about each one on Feeding Wealth.
Hi – great list of online savings accounts – but there are more! I work with ShoreBank that has a competitive online savings account at 3.5% interest. Some more details: $1 minimum, no monthly fees, online and phone customer service. If you are interested in promoting good causes – ShoreBank is a great option. ShoreBank has a bottom line mission to invest in socially and environmentally (and sometimes both at once) responsible projects and businesses – so a good rate, a great cause.
What can be the next best thing to stuff that is not fdic insured. What do you think about ag financial savings account Mr. Roller?
Actually, the AG financial savings account pays a good interest rate and promotes a good cause, too!
It would be interesting to find out a comparison between the yields of the savings accounts now versus a year or two ago. I seem to remember that ING and others were at 4.5-5% in 2006, but I could be mistaken.
Other than government bonds, the new Tax free Saving Account being introduced in Canada is also going to be a very good option for investors.
How about SmartyPig?
They offer 3.4% right now and it’s a great way to force yourself to save money by setting goals. Save now, buy later!!
Merna, it’s funny you mention SmartyPig. I just ran across an article in Fast Company magazine about SmartyPig, and I’m preparing a follow up article on the site.
Smarty Pig savings is at 1.34 now, but it’s still better than the rest.
Is there a link to Smartypig available? I tried typing it into Google and got a DNS server blah blah blah error.
Netspend offers 5% APY on their goal setting savings accounts, although they’re most known for their prepaid card, thought I’d just put that out there.
But only for the first $1000, and it requires a prepaid card that has a lot of fees attached.
@ GL… Yeah, but are treasury bonds as liquid as savings accounts?
GL, there is also more risk with Treasury bonds. Depending on when you need to cash out, if interest rates have risen, you may be forced to sell at a loss.
So 3.75% is the best deal online right now?.. I’m fairly certain that even Treasury bonds can provide a higher return than that. 🙁
Who pays 3.75?