Best Banks for Savings Accounts for 2024 (2024)

Personal Finance
Banking

Our Guide to Finding the Best Savings Account Interest Rates at Banks

Sabrina Karl

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Sabrina Karl has over two decades of experience writing about savings, CDs, and other banking topics. She is currently a staff writer at Investopedia and one of the country's top experts on how to earn as much as possible on the money you hold in the bank. She previously wrote for Bankrate.com, CreditCards.com, DepositAccounts.com, and RateSeeker.

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Updated March 07, 2024

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Michael J Boyle

Reviewed byMichael J Boyle

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Michael Boyle is an experienced financial professional with more than 10 years working with financial planning, derivatives, equities, fixed income, project management, and analytics.

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Fact checked by

Michael Rosenston

Fact checked byMichael Rosenston

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Michael Rosenston is a fact-checker and researcher with expertise in business, finance, and insurance.

In the News

Savings account rates reached higher in 2023 than we’d seen in more than 20 years, pushed up by the Federal Reserve’s rate-hike campaign that began in March 2022 to tame decades-high inflation. For its last four meetings, however, the Fed has held the federal funds rate steady, and signaled on Jan. 31 that the committee’s rate-hike cycle has almost certainly ended. While most Fed members expect two to four ratedecreaseswill occur in 2024, the Fed has cautioned that it could be some timebefore the first cut is implemented. Savings account yields closely follow the fed funds rate, so the Fed’s holding pattern has caused savings rates to plateau. But once it appears the Fed is ready to make a rate cut, saving account rates are expected to fall.

Best Savings Accounts

Poppy Bank – 5.50% APY
My Banking Direct – 5.35% APY
BrioDirect – 5.35% APY
Vio Bank – 5.30% APY
Ivy Bank – 5.30% APY
TAB Bank – 5.27% APY
TotalDirectBank – 5.26% APY
Jenius Bank – 5.25% APY
Newtek Bank – 5.25% APY
UFB Direct – 5.25% APY
Evergreen Bank Group – 5.25% APY
CFG Bank – 5.25% APY
North American Savings Bank – 5.24% APY*
Upgrade – 5.21% APY
Popular Direct – 5.20% APY

This week's top nationally-available savings account rates are listed below in order of APY. Where more than one institution has the same rate, we've ranked accounts by those requiring the smallest ongoing balance.

Note that some banks call their savings accounts "money market" accounts. Money market accounts traditionally offer the ability to write checks, while savings accounts do not. The accounts listed here all lack check-writing privileges, even if the name might suggest otherwise. It's smart to also check our ranking of the best money market accounts, many of which pay comparable interest rates while also offering the ability to write checks.

Poppy Bank – 5.50% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $0
Minimum ongoing balance: $1,000 to earn stated APY
Monthly fee: None with electronic statements; otherwise $5
ATM card: Yes
Mobile check deposit: No
Checking accounts available: Yes
CDs available: Yes

Note: This rate is guaranteed for 90 days from the date the account is opened.

My Banking Direct, High Yield Savings Account – 5.35% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $500
Minimum ongoing balance: Any amount
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: Yes
CDs available: Yes

BrioDirect, High-Yield Savings Account – 5.35% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $5,000
Minimum ongoing balance: $25 to earn stated APY
Monthly fee: None; $5 with paper statements
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: No
CDs available: Yes

Vio Bank, Cornerstone Money Market Savings Account – 5.30% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $100
Minimum ongoing balance: Any amount
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: No
CDs available: Yes

Note: Although this account has "money market" in its name, it offers no check-writing privileges and instead operates like a savings account.

Ivy Bank, High-Yield Savings Account – 5.30% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $2,500
Minimum ongoing balance: $2,500 to earn stated APY
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: No
CDs available: Yes

TAB Bank, High Yield Savings Bank – 5.27% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $0
Minimum ongoing balance: Any amount
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: Yes
CDs available: Yes

TotalDirectBank, Money Market Account – 5.26% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $25,000
Minimum ongoing balance: $2,500 to earn stated APY
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: No
CDs available: Yes

Note: TotalDirectBank is available to customers nationwide except for Florida residents.

Note: Although this account has "money market" in its name, it offers no check-writing privileges and instead operates like a savings account.

Jenius Bank, Savings – 5.25% APY

Required opening deposit: $0
Minimum balance requirement: Any amount
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: No
Checking accounts available: No
CDs available: No
Bank details: Jenius is the digital banking division of SMBC MANUBANK, part of the SMBC group, which has offices worldwide and U.S. headquarters in New York.

Newtek Bank, Personal High Yield Savings – 5.25% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $0
Minimum ongoing balance: Any amount
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: No
Checking accounts available: No
CDs available: Yes

UFB Direct, Secure Savings Account – 5.25% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $0
Minimum ongoing balance: Any amount
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: Yes
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: No
CDs available: No

Evergreen Bank Group, High-Yield Online Savings – 5.25% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $100
Minimum ongoing balance: Any amount
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: Yes
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: Yes
CDs available: Yes

CFG Bank, High Yield Money Market Account – 5.25% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $1,000
Minimum ongoing balance: $1,000 to earn stated APY
Monthly fee: None with $1,000 ongoing balance; otherwise, $10/month
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: Yes
CDs available: Yes

Note: Although this account has "money market" in its name, it offers no check-writing privileges and instead operates like a savings account.

North American Savings Bank, Interest Savings - 5.24% APY*

Minimum opening deposit: $25,000
Minimum ongoing balance: Any amount
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: No
CDs available: Yes

*Not available to residents of Kansas and Missouri

Upgrade, Premier Savings – 5.21% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $0
Minimum ongoing balance: $1,000 to earn the stated APY
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: No
Checking accounts available: Yes
CDs available: No

Popular Direct, Select Savings – 5.20% APY

Minimum opening deposit: $100
Minimum ongoing balance: Any amount
Monthly fee: None
ATM card: No
Mobile check deposit: Yes
Checking accounts available: No
CDs available: Yes

Pros and Cons of Savings Accounts

Pays interest on your balance
Allows you to add or withdraw funds at any time
Extremely safe, with virtually no risk
When rates are rising, your savings APY could increase

Scoring a high yield may require opening the account at another bank
Earnings will be lower than on riskier investments
Easy access to your money could make it tempting to spend it
When rates are falling, your APY could drop

Pros Explained

Pays interest on your balance: Unlike your checking account, the balance you hold in a savings account earns interest, in the form of an annual percentage yield (APY). But rates vary widely from bank to bank, from almost zero to rates that are quite high, so definitely shop around.
Allows you to add or withdraw funds at any time: Savings accounts are liquid, meaning you can take cash out anytime you want, including emptying the account and closing it. You can also add funds anytime you like.
Extremely safe, with virtually no risk: If your savings account is at an FDIC bank, you are protected on up to $250,000 in deposits at that bank should it fail.
When rates are rising, your savings APY could increase: Savings accounts pay variable yields, so if we're in a rising interest rate environment, your bank may boost your APY.

Cons Explained

Scoring a high yield may require opening the account at another bank: The bank where you have your primary checking account may pay next to nothing in interest on its savings accounts, so earning a competitive yield may require opening an outside savings account somewhere else.
Earnings will be lower than on riskier investments: Investing in the stock market can potentially return much more than a savings account. (But stocks and other riskier investments can also lose money.)
Easy access to your money could make it tempting to spend it: The ability to withdraw funds whenever you like may make it too easy to spend your savings on unplanned purchases. Accounts that make access more difficult or have restrictions, like CDs, can better thwart temptations.
When rates are falling, your APY could drop: If the federal funds rate is going down, your bank is likely to lower your savings account rate, and they can do so at any time.

Alternatives to Savings Accounts

Other Liquid Accounts

Instead of a bank savings account, you have other liquid options that still provide ready access to your funds. Another product that's offered by some banks is a money market account. These work almost exactly the same way as savings accounts, but with the added feature of allowing you to write paper checks. And if you shop around, you can find money market accounts pay rates that are competitive with high-yield savings accounts.

Another liquid option is a cash reserve account at a brokerage firm. If you have an investment account at Fidelity, Vanguard, or any other brokerage, you can hold cash that's not invested in either a cash reserve account or a money market fund (not to be confused with a bank money market account). Though withdrawing funds will require an electronic transfer to your bank, it is easy to do and will only take one to three days before you can access the money.

Certificates of Deposit

If you can live without some of your savings for months, a year, or even much longer, you can sometimes earn substantially more by putting some of your savings into a certificate of deposit (CD). These bank and credit union accounts allow you to lock in a fixed rate for the full duration of the CD term, making them great options when rates are high but likely to fall in the near future, as you can prolong the amount of time you earn the current high rates. But in exchange, you'll be charged an early withdrawal penalty if you withdraw the funds before maturity.

The most common CD terms range from 3 months to 5 years, and you can always find the top nationwide rates for any term in our daily ranking of the best-paying CDs.

Bond Products

Various types of bond options exist as well, from those issued by the U.S. government to those issued by corporations.

I Series savings bonds, known as I bonds, are issued by the U.S. Treasury, with a yield that is indexed to current inflation rates. Though I bonds can sometimes offer very attractive rates, your return is unpredictable because the interest rate is recalculated every May and November.

You can also lend money to the U.S. government by purchasing a T-bill, which is a Treasury note with a duration of one year or less. Treasuries are considered one of the safest investments in the world, but their rates are not always as high as the best high-yield savings accounts.

You can also put savings into bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are available in brokerage accounts and represent a bundle of various types and durations of bonds. Though you can easily enter and exit a bond ETF, bond returns are not guaranteed, and losses in value could erode your principal investment.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Are the Advantages of a Bank Savings Account?

Opening a savings account helps you maximize what you earn from the money you keep at a bank or credit union. While it's true that some checking accounts pay interest, the vast majority don't, and even many of the ones that do pay only pay a pittance.

If you have more money in the bank than needed to cover the daily transactions that go on in your checking account, a savings account lets you earn interest on that surplus cash.

Another benefit of opening a savings account is that it can help you organize your money according to your needs and goals. For instance, you can use a savings account to hold your emergency fund or to collect money you're accumulating for a large financial goal, like a home purchase or future vacation. By keeping these funds separate in a savings account, you can easily distinguish them from what's available for monthly bills and day-to-day spending in your checking account.

Why I Don't See My Bank's Name in Your Ranking?

You can see in our ranking of the top savings account rates that many of the best APYs come from online banks, whether those are online operations of brick-and-mortar banks or outright internet-only banks. You also may notice an absence of the biggest bank names you know. Chase Bank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo—three of the country's four largest banks by assets—offer savings account rates far below the national average. Competing heavily for deposit funds is something they simply don't do, as their business model and size enable them to secure sufficient capital from other sources.

What you can count on from our rankings is that these are the very highest savings account rates offered in the country from institutions that are open to customers nationwide. We do not rank them according to advertising or sponsorship relationships, or any criteria other than APY, nationwide availability, and a minimum deposit of $25,000 or less.

Are Online Savings Accounts Safe?

Though opening an account online can feel less safe than walking into a traditional brick-and-mortar bank to open an account, online banking is just as safe. That's because online banking operations that belong to a physical bank, as well as those that are internet-only banks, carry the same FDIC coverage. If the website for the online bank you're considering says "FDIC member" or carries the FDIC logo, its protections to you as a depositor are identical to the FDIC coverage at a brick-and-mortar bank.

When you bank at an FDIC-member bank (or an NCUA-insured credit union), up to $250,000 of your funds are safe even if the bank or credit union fails.

The 6 Best Online Banks for March 2024

Can I Open More Than One Savings Accounts?

Most banks that offer savings accounts allow you to open more than one. Why would you want to do this? Let's say you want to stash $15,000 in an emergency fund, but you're also making monthly deposits from your checking account to save for a big trip. By opening two accounts, you can keep these two different pots of money visually and mentally separate, making it easy to see how much you've accumulated toward your vacation goal. Some banks even let you give each account a nickname of your choosing.

It can also be smart to keep different savings accounts at different banks. For instance, you can keep some funds in a savings account at the same bank where you have your primary checking, so that you have some surplus funds on hand if you need to make an instant transfer to checking. But then you can keep a larger portion of your savings in a high-yield account elsewhere, so it can earn a much higher return. Having funds at an outside bank may also help lessen the temptation to spend those funds.

Are Savings Account Rates Guaranteed?

Unlike a CD, which has a guaranteed rate that's locked in for the full CD term, interest rates on savings and money market accounts are variable. That means a bank can raise them when the general interest rate environment is rising, or lower them when rates are declining. In fact, the bank can alter the rate it pays you at any time, for any reason. What's more, the bank is not required to give you any advance warning.

Rate Collection Methodology

Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of about 100 banks and credit unions that offer high-yield savings accounts to customers nationwide. We determine daily rankings of the top-paying savings accounts first and foremost by the annual percentage rate (APY) offered. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the savings account's minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000.

Banks must be available in at least 40 states. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don't meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don't live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. If the savings account is accessible only through a mobile app, we require that the app be available on both the iOS and Android platforms.

For more about how we choose the best high-yield savings accounts, read our full methodology.

Best Banks for Savings Accounts for 2024 (4)

Article Sources

Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in oureditorial policy.

FDIC. "National Rates and Rate Caps."
FDIC. "Deposit Insurance."
Federal Reserve. "Large Commercial Banks-March 2023."