The Best Online Savings Accounts
It’s always a good time to identify the best high-yield savings accounts. But that’s especially true for right now when many of us need to know that our money is growing – even when it’s staying put.
In this article, Knowpert highlights the best online savings accounts that actually pay you to save. Yes, THAT’S RIGHT. You get paid to leave your money with these banks. We’ll go over the interest rates, any fees, minimum balances, and what $10,000 would become after ten years of untouched growth.
10. Barclays Online Savings Account
No minimum balances. No monthly fees. However, you do need to maintain enough in your Barclays Online Savings Account to earn a minimum of $0.01 per year to receive any amount of interest. But that means you’d need to have at least $1.50 in your account.
The interest rate at Barclays is 1.50% Annual Percentage Yield (APY). That means if you put $10,000 in your account and didn’t touch it for ten years, you’d find an extra $1,605.41 in your account.
Learn more Barclays Online Savings Account here.
9. Ally Bank
The Ally Bank savings account offers the same rate as Barclays at 1.50% APY compounded daily, which means $10,000 would become $11,735.07 after ten years.
While you earn interest, you can also utilize a cool feature they call “buckets,” wherein you can distribute savings for certain expenses. So if you’re saving up for a home improvement, you can utilize a separate area for that while the overall account balance grows.
When considering between two accounts with competing APY, we recommend reviewing the additional features to see which sets itself apart.
Learn more about Ally Bank Savings Account here.
8. Discover Online Savings
A Discover Online Savings account also compounds your interest daily (rather than monthly or yearly). And at 1.50% APY, it’s the exact same as Ally Bank. For either option, you’ll earn over $150 per year if you start with $10,000 in your account, although there’s no minimum or fees.
Further, the Discover app is probably the best of all the options. So, if you’re a fan of mobile banking and want to go with this interest rate, we highly recommend this savings account.
Learn more about Discovery Online Savings Account here.
7. Marcus By Goldman Sachs
Another account with no minimums or monthly fees – except that the Marcus by Goldman Sachs savings account offers 1.55% APY, which is 0.05% higher than Barclays, Ally, and Discover. However, that’s a fairly insignificant difference unless you have a six-figure savings account.
For example, $10,000 in your Marcus account over ten years would become $11,662.70. That’s $57.29 after a decade. That’s the price of a nice dinner out with a glass of wine, but it’s not a big enough difference to write home about.
Learn more about Marcus By Goldman Sachs here.
6. American Express National Bank
An American Express savings account doesn’t require you to open up a new bank account, you can simply deposit any amount of money with zero fees and watch it grow. And with a 1.60% APY, this one is slightly better than both Marcus and Barclays.
After ten years, an account with $10,000 would hold $11,720.26. That’s $57.56 higher than Marcus, and $114.85 higher than Barclays, Ally, and Discover. That’s a pretty significant difference.
Learn more about American Express’ Online Savings Account
5. UFB Direct
A UFB Direct savings account is ranked 5th on our list because it offers 1.70% APY. That’s a fantastic number, but it comes with a harsh caveat: you need at least $25,000 in your account to earn that rate.
In fact, balances under $25,000 earn 0.05% APY.
With that being said, $25,000 at 1.70% APY for ten years becomes at least $29,590.31 – for a $4,590.31 gain. So, if you have the money, go with this one over any of the above recommended options.
Learn more about UFB Direct Savings Account.
4. Vio Bank
Vio Bank offers 1.70% APY on all accounts as long as you keep a $100 minimum balance, which is extremely reasonable given the High Yield Savings rate. You can also withdraw up to six times every month for free, and there’s no monthly fees.
Basically, a Vio Bank Savings Account blows the above options out of the water. To put it into perspective, 1.70% APY on $10,000 over the course of ten years will yield at least $1,836.12.
3. HSBC Direct
The only reason the HSBC Direct Savings Account beats out Vio Bank is the minimum deposit. Otherwise, they’re nearly identical, with HSBC offering 1.70% APY and a minimum deposit of only $1. Like Vio, this comes with no monthly fees and up to six withdrawals per month. Beyond that, it will be up to you to decide which of the two options is right for you. Chances are, if you’re looking for online savings accounts with a high-yield, you’re going to have at least $100 in the account.
Learn more about HSBC Direct Savings Account.
2. Live Oak Bank
A convenient feature of the Live Oak Bank Savings Account introductory page is the automatic calculator comparing many of the competing options we mentioned above. You can set the amount of money you’ll start with and see what you’ll earn every year with Live Oak Bank’s 1.75% APY.
So, if you start with $10,000, you’ll make $175 every year just for opening an account. Conservatively speaking, you’ll earn $1,894.44 after ten years, which is close to 20% of what you started with.
Perhaps best of all, you only need $0.01 in your account to start earning interest, and there are no monthly fees. You can withdraw up to six times per month for free as well.
Learn more about Live Oak Bank Savings Account.
1. Fitness Bank
The Fitness Bank Online Savings Account is by far the best account for active individuals who want to save money and live a healthy life. The best interest rate of all the online savings accounts comes from Fitness Bank, which offers 1.90% APY to its members. However, you should take the name of this online savings account extremely seriously: you need to accomplish a minimum number of steps every day to earn that APY.
And that number is 12,500 steps per day, which is over six miles.
But if you’re hoping to stay motivated in terms of both physical and financial fitness, then the answer is in the name of this savings account.