Compare Highest Yield Savings Accounts
The Feds keep reducing rates like they are blind to people with money in Savings accounts but there are still some good deals out there to soak some high interest checking or savings. There are many banks that claim to offer the highest money market rates or savings rates but there are only a few that stay consistent. These banks are most likely just offering promo rates which can be good in some cases for short term revenue. When you are comparing money market or savings rates you want to make sure that you get the absolute highest interest but with no fees that some traditional banks try to impose. Who really cares if its a savings or checking account as long as you are earning a big yield.
Top 8 High Interest Yielding Accounts:
- ING Direct (Now Capital One 360). This is the company that says no to “too much customer service” which may work well in times of a recession and they also have no fees. ING Direct is best to use as an account for depositing your left over money after $100,000 is already deposited in HSBC and E*Trade Bank. Current rates are 0.84% APY Orange Savings and up to 0.84% on Orange Checking accounts.ING Direct is now offering a $50 Bonus if you open an Electric Orange and make a total of 3 Card purchases or Person2Person Payments (or any combo of the two) within 45 days of account opening.
- American Express Personal Savings – Currently has a 0.90% APY Rate.
- HSBC Advance, (formerly called HSBC Direct) the best online bank to work with with an easy to use site and a name you can trust. Household bank which also has great credit cards. Advantages: One of thehighest consistent rates, high security. Disadvantages: to make transfers you must use your mouse to type in another security password which is a big hassle and hard to get right (but this can also be a good thing for the id theft paranoid people). Current Rate: 0.80% APY
- Discover Bank – Our favorite credit card brand now offers a competitive bank paying 1.00% APY on an Online Savings Account which is far above what your local bank may offer.
- CIT Savings – The president of this bank says that online banking is ripe for growth and they want to grow your money too! They have one of the highest rates right now with balances over $25,000 at 1.05% (if your balance goes under it will drop to 0.90%).
- EverBank – Was offering a 2.25% APY bonus rate on new accounts for 3 months on their MMA Savings and high interest checking. Must have a $1,500 minimum deposit to open an EverBank account. We are no only seeing a 0.76% APY rate listed.
- Ally Bank – This new online bank pays you a high .89% APY Effective 12/07/2011 for their Online Savings Accounts with interest compounding daily and .89% for their Money Market Accounts.
- E*Trade Bank – A favorite bank when it comes to transferring deposits and easy bill pay. E*Trade Bank does not tell you all of the names of the ACH deposits which is the only negative I found. Now that the feds let you keep up to $250,000 in an account then E*Trade is safe from any bank runs thanks to the FDIC backing. The current rate at E*Trade for a Complete Savings Account is 0.05% APY. This bank has to be the most hassle free transfer on the planet and their checking pays a high interest rate with free bill pay and UNLIMITED FREE ATM usage.
Bankrate.com and High Yield Checking and Savings
It seems that Bankrate.com is not what it used to be in regards to telling you the true rates earned by banks these days. If you really want a breakdown of the rates you almost have to look up each banks website or really pay attention to billboards and ads in your local area. Bankrate seems to only list the banks that they profit from or get paid from on their site.
Honorable Mentions for High Yield Interest Accounts:
You may also try Virtual Bank, Netbank, and E*Trade Bank for promotional high yield savings accounts.Countrywide Bank has a high yield savings account worth checking out but I would make sure it’s not just a promotional rate. For more information on the Citibank eSavings account click here.
Everbank Checking (yes, checking). This is to be used as a promo offer and get their high checking rate which pays higher than most money market rates or savings account rates. Get in on the offer for three months then move your money to one of the 4 accounts listed above. You won’t regret the extra cash in your account.
Capital One – The “What’s in your Wallet” bank Capital One offers a Direct Banking product that pays 1.35% APY even after the recent Fed Rate cuts. This Online Savings Account for 1.35% for balances over $10,000 but has no minimum balance requirements or fees and you get a 10 percent bonus if you use a Capital One Credit Card once a month or keep $10,000 in your account each quarter. If you’re a CostCo member you get a higher rate at 1.40% plus a $60 bonus but have to start off the account with $5,000.
Citibank, they have the name that everyone can “trust” but were late to the game so a lot of people do not realize they now pay high interest on new e-savings accounts. Advantages: You can walk into a Citibank and use their ATMs for free Disadvantages: You must open up a Citibank checking account to get the high interest rate offered on an e-Savings account. These accounts are now called the Ultimate Savings and the Ultimate Money Account. Current Rate: 1.75% APY. Offer code: CSAX. Comment: Citibank has been under attack for their Federal taxpayer bailout and a recent protest against big banks. People are now moving their money into smaller banks with better interest.
GE Interest Plus – Link your GE Interest Plus investment to your bank checking account and easily add to your investment or redeem it electronically at no charge or write an unlimited amount of checks for a yield of 1.31% under $15,000 and for those with an account balance of $50,000 or more you can earn up to a 1.61% yield. GE Interest Plus is a direct investment in GE Capital Corporation and is a higher rate than most of these Savings accounts listed but keep in mind it is not FDIC insured compared to the others.
Emigrant Direct, they are consistently the highest or 2nd highest savings account online. Advantages: No Fees, Higher paying APR than most banks including online banks. Disadvantages: They only allow you to setup a few bank accounts to transfer money. Current Rate: 1.00% APY.
Dollar Savings Direct – A subsidary of Emigrant Direct happens to pay out a 1.10% APY. It still does not take away the hassle of transfering money in and out of Dollar Savings Direct or Emigrant Direct. There is a minimum of $1,000 with this account compared to the $0 minimum with their sister bank.
Bank of Internet was paying 3.40% a year ago but that went down to around 0.80% APY with their online money market or a high interest checking account with free ATM fees.
Viewpoint Bank offers a full 4% APY for deposits up to $50,000. This works out good if you do not have a lot of money to put in a bank and want to earn a higher interest than most any bank in the nation. You may also qualify as one of the smartest people on earth with this checking account if you can read through their fine print and obstacle course.
If you have over 100,000 to invest and want to go somewhere besides our top five high interest accounts you may want to try these banks (not anymore since we updated the rates):
1. E-Loan – They are claiming to offer a 3.50% APY on a $100,000 balance. This may be a promo for a few months and then go back to the normal rate. Their rate was the highest rate listed on Bankrate on 10/24/06 at a whopping 5.50% APY.
2. AmTrust Direct – These commercials are all over CNBC lately. Minimum balance is $1,000 to open but no fees for minimum balances. The e-money market account rate from AmTrust Direct was 5.30% APY (5.175% Rate) but it has since dropped in 2008 to 1.50% APY. I do not see any maximums for this e-money market account.
3. FNBO Direct is offering 3.25% on FDIC-insured savings accounts. You must keep $500.00 to maintain the high interest rate.
4. WT Direct – owned by Wilmington Trust they offer a rate they can prove since they have offered it for several months and it is no promo rate. If you have lots of money this is the account for you because they do not decrease your interest if you have over $100,000 in your account like some banks pull on the consumer. Keep in mind this is a high interest savings account so you will have your typical maximums on withdrawals and minimums on account balance of $10,000. Impressive is that you get this high rate without having to open a checking account or without limits on linked accounts. This WT Direct rate continues to be in the top 5% of all banks. WT Direct is now M&T Bank and are no longer listing their interest rates readily on the page.
Learn More about high yield savings accounts including which account is best for you and your family. Start out by comparing the amount you will fund the account, how many checks you plan on writing against the account, and the daily minimum balances required to earn interest. Also, learn about what banks have no ATM fees.
Are high interest savings a risk?
Make sure you check that your bank is listed with the FDIC. Furthermore, make sure that you investigate each banking site before making an investment since the rates have been changing on a daily basis with the latest FED rate cuts. You no longer need to worry about the $100,000 Rule: We suggest if you have more than $250,000 to invest then you send this amount in different named bank accounts so they will be FDIC insured. Beware also that some online and walk-in banks have fees or lower interest if you put in more than $100k in your account. None of these banks listed below have any of these rules but offer plain and simple guidelines.
Do you mind keeping a non-liquid account?
Try bank certificates of deposit which look attractive with lower bank rates where you can keep the money in your account for a longer term and make more in interest.
Should you invest in a Mutual Fund or a CD?
Scam and Fine Print Warnings from Local Banks
- Viewpoint Bank Financial Group offering 4% Checking