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: Earn 1.75% APY on an FDIC-insured savings account at Synchrony Bank. No minimum balance required.
Best Savings Account Deals
- Barclays Bank: Earn 1.65% APY with no monthly maintenance fees and no minimum balance to open.
- Synchrony Bank: Earn 1.75% APY with no minimum balance.
- Chase SavingsSM: Get a $150 bonus when you open a new Chase SavingsSM account, deposit a total of $10,000 or more in new money within 10 days & maintain a $10,000 balance for 90 days.
- CIT Bank: Earn 1.55% APY with just a $100 deposit required to open an account.
- HSBC: Earn a 1.60% APY with a $15,000 minimum balance. No monthly maintenance fees. Member FDIC.
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.
Synchrony Bank currently pays 1.75% 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 1.55% APY. This rate applies to all balances under $250,000. There are no fees with this account, and you can open an account with as little as $100. Interest compounds daily.
EverBank is one of the best online savings account options for one very simple reason–it promises to offer interest rates in the top 5%. Called a Yield Pledge, EverBank guarantees that your rate will always be in the top 5% of competitive accounts offered by leading banks. Currently, EverBank’s money market account pays 1.50% APY in the first year.
HSBC is offering a 1.60% APY. The minimum balance to earn this stated APY is $15,000. If you fall below this requirement, the APY becomes 0.01% … so never let this happen! There are no monthly maintenance fees 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.
Barclays offers one of the highest savings rates available today at 1.65%, topping out at 12x the national average. There are no monthly maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirements. The Barclays website also features a savings goal tool. It enables you to save a specific amount for a set goal.
Ally Bank: This is the bank I use, and it is currently paying an APY of 1.65%. 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 1.65% 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 1.75% 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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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?
@ 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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
They talk about the most recent high-yield savings accounts and also gives an opinion about each one on Feeding Wealth.
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?
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!!
BRICK and mortar! BRICK and mortar! NOT “brink” and morter. The smart little piggy built a BRICK house, not a “brink” house.
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.
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 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 ?
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)?
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.
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.
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.