Best Online Savings Accounts for High-Yields
Joy Wallet is advertiser-supported: we may earn compensation from the products and offers mentioned in this article. However, any expressed opinions are our own and aren't influenced by compensation. To read our full disclosure, click here.
Many online savings accounts have features that make saving easier. Online banking through a mobile app, no monthly maintenance fees, no minimum balance requirements, and helping you categorize savings goals are ways an online-only account can beat a physical bank.
The one area where they stand out the most is offering the highest rate for a savings account. A year ago, interest rates paid on savings accounts hit bottom but have since increased to an average of 0.42% APY, according to July 2023 data from the FDIC. That won’t do much for your savings goals.
Much higher interest rates are out there, especially in high-yield savings accounts from online banks that typically have higher rates than brick-and-mortar banks.
We ’ve found some of the best online savings accounts that pay the highest rates, which should make building an emergency fund or any other goal easier. All are insured for up to $250,000 by the FDIC.
Jump To
Overview of the best online savings accounts
Bank | Best For |
|---|---|
Capital One 360 | No fees or minimums |
CIT Bank | High APY |
Discover Online Savings Account | No fees for many services |
Marcus by Goldman Sachs | Same-day transfer of funds |
Ally Financial | Savings goals |
American Express | Online-only access |
Barclays | Unlimited withdrawals or transfers |
Bask Bank | Highest APY |
Synchrony Bank | ATMs and other way to access money |
Betterment Cash Reserve | Holding money for investments |
Wealthfront Cash | Many ways to access cash |
Lending Club | Personal finance management tools |
Citibank Accelerate | Citibank customers in certain states |
UFB Direct | Many online tools |
SoFi | Rate bonus for direct deposit |
Best online savings accounts
The savings accounts we’ve reviewed are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for up to $250,000 per depositor per ownership at each FDIC-insured bank. If you have over $250,000 in accounts at one bank, you should consider opening other accounts at different banks to protect your assets.
The Federal Reserve helps set interest rates, so rates could go up or down at any time.
Some savings accounts are tiered, paying higher interest rates on higher balances. But many accounts offer the same rates among all balances.
Start saving in 3 simple steps
1. Use Capital One Shopping for Free. It takes seconds to add Capital One Shopping and works with all major browsers.
2. Shop as you normally do. Capital One Shopping's magic works quietly in the background, searching for discounts on your purchase.
3. Save effortlessly. Ready to save? Just click Capital One Shopping and the best deal discovered will be applied to your cart.
Capital One 360
Formally called the Capital One 360 Performance Savings account, this account easily beats the national average for savings account interest rates, with an annual percentage yield, or APY, of 4.25%.
It also has many other benefits. One of the best is that it doesn’t charge monthly maintenance fees, which can eat away at the interest you’ll earn. A minimum deposit isn’t required for this FDIC-insured account.
A Capital One account can be opened online, or you can visit any of Capital One’s physical branches if there’s one near you. The bank also has ATM access nationwide, including at stores such as CVS, 7-Eleven, and AM/PM stores. Capital One also has bank branches and cafes, though you should check its online location finder to see if one is in your area.
You’ll have easy access to your money because cash from a Capital One savings account can be moved to a checking account at Capital One or elsewhere. An automatic savings plan can be set up to regularly move money from a checking account to an online savings account.
CIT Bank
CIT Bank is a division of First Citizens Bank. It has two savings accounts that pay higher interest rates than the basic savings account it offers.
The first, Platinum Savings, pays 0.25% - 5.00% APY, but only on $5,000 and higher balances. If you have less than $5,000 to deposit, or worry that your balance may fall below $5,000, then the CIT Bank account called Savings Connect is better. It pays 4.65% APY with a minimum deposit of $100. The bank says the interest rate is 11 times the national savings average. Compound interest is calculated daily, which increases your savings over monthly compounding.
One downside is that if you’re looking for physical branches, CIT Bank doesn’t have any. Using the bank can only be done online or through its mobile app. Checks can be deposited remotely, as can money transfers.
Discover Online Savings Account
Discover offers many financial services, including credit cards, checking accounts, retirement accounts, and an online savings account that pays 4.25% APY. No minimum deposit is required.
Its interest savings account doesn’t charge monthly service fees, and it doesn’t charge many other types of account fees, such as for insufficient funds or stop payment orders. While many banks don’t charge monthly maintenance fees for savings accounts, be sure to check the listed fees on the bank’s website to see if it charges for other things, such as ATM fees.
Discover allows up to six monthly transactions for free, but going over that frequently could cause Discover to close your account. This limit of six transactions is normal for a savings account. Federal law limits certain types of withdrawals and transfers from savings accounts, and many banks only allow six withdrawals per month from a savings account.
One way to avoid transaction fees is to use the account as a savings account, not a checking account where you make regular withdrawals. Instead, find a no-fee checking account and link it to your high-yield savings account. Discover has more than 60,000 no-fee ATMs in stores.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs
The high-yield savings account at Marcus by Goldman Sachs has one of the highest rates, at 4.40% APY.
One advantage it has over other savings accounts, including traditional ones, is that it makes it easy to move your money around quickly. The account allows unlimited withdrawals without fees, so you can use it for daily purchases.
Another benefit is that Marcus provides same-day transfers of $100,000 or less to or from other banks. Instead of waiting a day or two for your money to transfer, it can arrive in or leave your Marcus savings account on the same day, giving you earlier access to your money.
A minimum deposit of $1 is required to earn interest on the account. Marcus’ online calculator shows how much interest you can earn with its online savings account, including recurring weekly, biweekly, or monthly deposits.
Ally Financial
Of all the online banks we’ve reviewed, Ally Financial’s online savings account almost makes it fun to save. Customers can set up “savings buckets” for specific purposes, such as a rainy day, home purchase, or travel.
You can track your progress online while earning 4.00% APY interest in a savings account. Using the buckets doesn’t require opening additional accounts. A related option is to open an Ally checking account and set up “spending buckets” from your accrued savings.
Ally also has “boosters” to put your savings strategy on autopilot. These include recurring transfers, rounding up transactions from an Ally checking account to the nearest dollar, transferring the difference to your savings, and analyzing your checking account for safe-to-save money transferred to your savings account.
A downside to Ally’s savings account is that it requires a minimum daily balance of $5,000 to earn its top interest rate of 4.20% APY. The company’s website doesn’t make it easy to find the interest rate on lower or higher amounts, though it says that APYs are variable and are based on the tier in which your end-of-day balance falls.
Start saving in 3 simple steps
1. Use Capital One Shopping for Free. It takes seconds to add Capital One Shopping and works with all major browsers.
2. Shop as you normally do. Capital One Shopping's magic works quietly in the background, searching for discounts on your purchase.
3. Save effortlessly. Ready to save? Just click Capital One Shopping and the best deal discovered will be applied to your cart.
American Express
The American Express High-Yield Savings Account, or HYSA, also pays 4.25% APY and has no fees or minimum balance requirement.
As American Express says on its website, savings accounts aren't meant for everyday spending. Thus, it doesn’t provide ATM cards, debit cards, or checks.
The best way to move money into an American Express HYSA is by starting the transfer of funds on the bank website where your money is currently held. To transfer money from the American Express account, you can start at the American Express savings site, where some transfers can happen on the same day.
It allows up to nine free withdrawals or monthly transfers. To add money to your American Express HYSA, you must link to another account, set up direct deposit, or mail a check. American Express will give you an online bank account; customers can use the Amex App to access their savings accounts.
Barclays
The Barclays Online Savings Account has a high APY at 4.35%, putting it in the top tier among bank offers on an interest savings account that we’ve found.
Barclays offers the basics you’d expect from a national bank. It doesn’t charge monthly service fees or require a minimum account balance.
Withdrawing money can take two to three business days for your money to be posted to another bank. A check can also be mailed to you. Barclays doesn’t limit the number or types of withdrawals or transfers accountholders can make monthly from a savings account.
It has a Barclays savings assistant to help you set and fund savings goals. You set the monthly contributions, current savings amount, and the total amount you want to save, and it calculates how long it will take to reach your goal with an annual percentage yield that remains constant.
Bask Bank
The Bask Interest Savings Account pays 5.10% APY, making it one of the highest-paying savings accounts of the banks we reviewed. It has no monthly service fees. The only fees it says it charges are for international or domestic wires.
The bank is a division of Texas Capital Bank in Dallas. It’s FDIC-insured for up to $250,000 per depositor for each account owner.
Bask Bank offers certificates of deposit, an interest savings account, and a mileage savings account. The mileage account earns 2.5 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for every $1 saved annually.
The bank doesn’t offer ATM or debit cards, so you’ll need to transfer to another bank to withdraw money.
Synchrony Bank
The Synchrony Bank High Yield Savings account doesn’t have a minimum balance and makes it easy to access your money via ATM, online, or phone. It also has a phone app to check balances, transfer money, or deposit checks.
With the ATM card that comes with the account, accountholders can withdraw money for free at ATMs in the Plus or Accel networks. Synchrony Bank doesn’t charge a fee to use an ATM, but the ATM owner or operator may charge an ATM fee. For ATM fees other banks charge, Synchrony will refund domestic charges of up to $5 per statement cycle.
You can use the ATM card to withdraw cash unlimited times, though the daily withdrawal limit from an ATM is $1,000. The card can also be used to make purchases of up to $500 per day.
The account has no minimum deposit and doesn’t charge monthly service fees. It pays the same 4.75% APY across all deposit tiers, from $1 to more than $25,000.
Betterment Cash Reserve
Betterment Cash Reserve is another high-yield cash account that pays high interest at 5.50% for three months, then 5.00% APY. It doesn’t charge monthly fees and requires a minimum balance of only $10.
You can access your cash with unlimited withdrawals, but withdrawals can only be made through online transfers to a linked checking account. It doesn’t accept check deposits or allow check writing.
Betterment isn’t a bank. Deposits are held by program banks that Betterment works with. That sounds fine until you see the fine print that the Cash Reserve account is meant for Betterment clients to “earn interest on cash intended to purchase securities” through Betterment. “Cash Reserve should not be viewed as a long-term investment option,” it continues.
In other words, the high-yield account is a place to park your cash until you decide how to invest it through a Betterment brokerage account. Also, it’s not meant to hold your cash for a long time.
Can you open a Betterment savings account and keep your money there for years while earning high interest? We assume so, but Betterment’s website doesn’t say if it will force you to close an account if you don’t invest it in stocks, securities, or other financial products it offers.
Start saving in 3 simple steps
1. Use Capital One Shopping for Free. It takes seconds to add Capital One Shopping and works with all major browsers.
2. Shop as you normally do. Capital One Shopping's magic works quietly in the background, searching for discounts on your purchase.
3. Save effortlessly. Ready to save? Just click Capital One Shopping and the best deal discovered will be applied to your cart.
Wealthfront Cash
Like Betterment’s savings account, Wealthfront Cash is tied to a brokerage account. Wealthfront’s website is more transparent about how to withdraw your money and use the account, and it offers a variety of ways to do so.
Wealthfront cash pays 5.00% APY and doesn’t have a minimum balance. It also doesn’t require “sneaky requirements,” like direct deposit or debit card transactions.
It clarifies that the savings account is meant to build long-term wealth by investing your extra cash quickly. It offers near-instant transfers to connected Wealthfront investment accounts.
The company’s website gives the example of depositing $11,500 with:
- $10,000 of it is kept in an emergency fund through Wealthfront Cash
- $1,000 per month saved for a down payment on a home
- $500 invested monthly in a taxable account through Wealthfront
Unlimited, fee-free transfers to external accounts are allowed. The account also comes with a debit card for free at more than 19,000 ATMs to pay your bills. You can deposit checks and use direct deposit for paychecks to the account.
Lending Club
Lending Club is known for loans, of course. It also offers a high-yield savings account that pays 5.00% APY without charging monthly maintenance fees.
It also has free unlimited external transfers through online and mobile banking, so you can get your money when needed. And to get actual cash in your hands, it gives customers a free ATM card.
There’s no minimum balance requirement after making an initial opening deposit of $100.
Open Lending Club’s financial dashboard on your computer, and you can use a number of its personal finance management tools, such as:
- Creating a budget
- Tracking monthly spending
- Analyzing trends to know your spending habits better
- Developing a plan to pay off debts
- Linking your external accounts to get a holistic view of your finances
- Compile your net worth
Citibank Accelerate
Citi Accelerate Savings is a high-yield savings account from Citibank with a standard APY of 4.45%. The program is available in all its savings account programs with different balance requirements.
However, Citi Accelerate is only available in states where Citibank doesn’t have physical branches. In states with branches, potential customers must walk into a Citibank office to learn the promotional rate for its savings accounts.
Its U.S. branches are concentrated in six metropolitan areas:
- New York
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- San Francisco
- Washington, D.C.
- Miami
The bank’s most basic standalone savings account, Access Account Package, pays 4.25% APY, but again, only in states where the bank doesn’t have physical branches.
To avoid monthly service fees, the savings account requires linking to a checkless regular checking account through Citibank and maintaining a $1,500 combined average monthly balance in the linked accounts. The $10 monthly service fee can be waived with direct deposit or one bill paid per statement period.
If a checking account at Citibank isn’t linked, the monthly fee drops to $4.50, which can be waived with an average monthly balance of $500.
Paper checks aren’t provided, but the account has a Citi debit or ATM card that can be used at more than 65,000 ATMs nationwide. The account also comes with online bill payment and online account access. The account can only be accessed digitally by depositing checks through a phone app.
UFB Direct
Along with money market accounts and mortgage loans, UFB Direct offers a high-yield savings account called UFB Premier Savings that currently pays 5.25% on any balance. It’s the highest APY among the bank offers we found.
Axos Bank offers UFB Direct’s bank accounts. UFB Direct doesn’t charge maintenance or service fees and has no minimum initial deposit requirement.
It offers a few ways to access your money, including a free ATM card, free transfers between direct deposit accounts, and digital tools for remote banking.
Its digital tools go beyond the methods that online banks regularly use — online banking and mobile check deposits by taking a photo on a smartphone to deposit checks. UFB Direct also has SMS banking, where SMS messaging is used to access account features when you don’t have Wi-Fi access and can’t get online.
SoFi
The high-yield savings account at SoFi pays 4.50% APY, but only if you have direct deposit.
The savings account is also a checking account, so accountholders can use it for their daily expenses while earning interest.
SoFi doesn’t offer a standalone savings account. Instead, it’s combined with a checking account. However, SoFi confuses the issue by paying 4.40% APY on savings balances with direct deposit and 1.20% APY checking account balances with or without direct deposit. Somehow, the two balances must be separated for different interest rates to be paid.
No minimum direct deposit is needed to receive the higher interest rate. The combined account doesn’t charge monthly, minimum, or maintenance fees.
Besides the high-interest rate on savings, through the end of 2023, customers with direct deposit can earn up to a one-time bonus of $250, depending on how high their direct deposit is. For direct deposits of $1,000 to $4,999.99, a $50 cash bonus is given. For $5,000 or more, the bonus is $250.
SoFi has what it calls “vaults” in the savings account that customers can create for specific savings goals, such as a car down payment or emergency fund. Debit card roundups can be set to fund a vault, as can paychecks automatically.
Best online savings accounts summary
Note: An ATM is not considered a physical branch, though some banks may have ATMs in stores.
Bank | Opening Deposit | APY | Online, physical branch or both | Monthly Service Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Capital One 360 | $0 | 4.25% | Both | $0 |
CIT Bank | $100 | 0.25% - 5.00% | Online | $0 |
Discover | $0 | 4.25% | Online | $0 |
Marcus by Goldman Sachs | $1 | 4.40% | Online | $0 |
Ally Financial | $0 | 4.20% | Online | $0 |
American Express | $0 | 4.25% | Online | $0 |
Barclays | $0 | 4.35% | Online | $0 |
Bask Bank | $0 | 5.10% | Online | $0 |
Synchrony Bank | $0 | 4.75% | Online | $0 |
Betterment | $10 | 5.50% for three months, then 5.00% | Online | $0 |
Wealthfront Cash | $0 | 5.00% | Online | $0 |
Lending Club | $100 | 5.00% | Online | $0 |
Citibank Accelerate | $0 | 4.45% | Online | $10, but can be waived |
UFB Direct | $0 | 5.25% | Online | $0 |
SoFi | $0 | 4.50% | Online | $0 |
Start saving in 3 simple steps
1. Use Capital One Shopping for Free. It takes seconds to add Capital One Shopping and works with all major browsers.
2. Shop as you normally do. Capital One Shopping's magic works quietly in the background, searching for discounts on your purchase.
3. Save effortlessly. Ready to save? Just click Capital One Shopping and the best deal discovered will be applied to your cart.
FAQs
Can I withdraw all my money from a high-yield savings account?
Yes, you can withdraw some or all of your money from your account at any time. The account offers liquidity, as opposed to a certificate of deposit, or CD, that can tie your deposit up for months or years and may charge a fee for early withdrawal.
What are the downsides of an HYSA?
These accounts often earn much higher interest than a standard savings account, but they can earn less than investments such as stocks and mutual funds. They may also not keep pace with inflation, which as of the end of April 2023 was 4.9%. None of the HYSA accounts we found beat the inflation rate. If your account is at an online bank, then it probably won’t have physical branches that you can walk into for help or to withdraw money. Transfers may also take up to five days, though many companies offer transfers in as fast as one day.
How often is my interest compounded?
The APY that financial institutions advertise is the annual percentage yield, which means how much you’ll earn in returns in one year. Some accounts may compound interest daily, monthly or quarterly. The more often interest is compounded, the more money you earn. Compound interest is paying interest on top of interest, so doing it more often gives you more money to build on.
Why you should (or shouldn’t) use online savings accounts
Earning more interest on your savings is the biggest reason to use online savings accounts. They often pay higher interest rates than those found at physical banks, though we found one bank with physical branches that offers a high rate for savers.
Many offer same-day transfers and ATM access; monthly service fees are usually zero. A mobile app is a common way to do business with an online savings account or a computer.
If you don’t want to do your banking online, an online account may not be for you. Many don’t have physical branches, so you won’t be able to walk into the bank to make a withdrawal or do anything else with your account.
You may also not want an online savings account if it requires tying the account to a brokerage account, as Wealthfront Cash and Betterment Cash Reserve do.
The bottom line
If your money is sitting in a savings account that’s not earning much interest, now is a good time to shop around for higher interest rates and move at least some of it to an online savings account that pays a much higher rate. Some pay 10 times or more than what you may be earning elsewhere.
These types of savings accounts don’t come without a few requirements. They may require you to do most of your banking online, though some may offer ATM and debit cards to make getting cash or buying stuff easier.
If you’re on the fence about moving to an online savings account, check how far off from the national average your account is and see if you can at least get it closer to that.
Joy Wallet is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor, financial advisor, loan broker, insurance producer, or insurance broker. Its articles, interactive tools and other content are provided to you for free, as self-help tools and for informational purposes only. They are not intended to provide investment advice. Joy Wallet does not and cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information in regard to your individual circumstances. We encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific investment issues. Featured estimates are based on past market performance, and past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.
Our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market. We are compensated by our partners, which may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on our site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice. Our editorials are grounded on independent research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services.
We value your privacy. We work with trusted partners to provide relevant advertising based on information about your use of Joy Wallet’s and third-party websites and applications. This includes, but is not limited to, sharing information about your web browsing activities with Meta (Facebook) and Google. All of the web browsing information that is shared is anonymized. To learn more, click on our Privacy Policy link.
Images appearing across JoyWallet are courtesy of shutterstock.com.
Writer
Aaron Crowe is a freelance journalist who specializes in personal finance writing and editing. He has worked at newspapers, where he won a Pulitzer Prize, and has written for numerous online publications. These include AOL, US News & World Report, WiseBread, Bankrate, AARP, and many websites focusing on housing, credit and insurance. He lives in California with his wife and daughter.
Share this article
