MagnifyMoney 
Some savings accounts are designed to provide the best possible interest rates on the balance. These high-yield savings accounts are often featured by online-only banks and credit unions, which may have fewer physical branch locations and banking services than traditional banks.
Why trust us: MagnifyMoney is a free service providing information on bank accounts and other financial products since 2014. We maintain editorial independence to ensure that readers will be presented with the best possible recommendations. Read our methodology for choosing the best high-yield savings accounts.
| Account | High-yield savings APY | Minimum deposit to open an account |
|---|---|---|
| DollarSavingsDirect Dollar Savings | 3.00% on all balances | $1 |
| Bask Bank Interest Savings | 2.75% on all balances | $0 |
| First Foundation Bank Online Savings | 2.75% on balances up to $5 million | $1,000 |
| UFB Direct Rewards Savings | 2.61% on all balances | $0 |
| BrioDirect High-Yield Savings | 2.61% on all balances | $500 |
| USAlliance Financial High Dividend Savings | 2.50% on balances $500 and up | $1 |
| CIT Bank Savings Connect | 2.40% on all balances | $100 |
| CIBC Bank USA Agility Savings | 2.32% on balances up to $1 million | $1,000 |
| Prime Alliance Bank Personal Savings | 2.26% on all balances | $0 |
| My Banking Direct High Yield Savings | 2.20% on all balances | $500 |
DollarSavingsDirect Dollar Savings |
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APY: 3.00% on balances $1 and up DollarSavingsDirect is a division of Emigrant Bank. It only offers a few products, including CDs and home loans, but they’re leading the way with the highest APY among high yield savings accounts. After the small initial deposit into the bank’s Dollar Savings account, there is no required balance to keep it open or earn interest. Interest is compounded daily and credited at the end of each month. Although the bank doesn’t offer physical locations, a mobile app or many features on its website, you can access your account 24/7 through its online portal. Customer service is available all week between 8:00 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. ET. |
Bask Bank Interest Savings |
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APY: 2.75% on all balances Bask Bank is a division of Texas Capital Bank. Bask offers only two accounts — this Interest Savings account with a 2.75% APY on all balances, and a Mileage Savings account that earns you American Airlines AAdvantage® miles with every dollar you save. |
First Foundation Bank Online Savings |
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APY: 2.75% APY on balances up to $5 million This First Foundation Bank Online Savings account is for new First Foundation customers — meaning this account cannot be funded through existing First Foundation Bank accounts. There is no fee for transfers to or from any digital bank accounts, but if you close the account within 90 days of opening, there will be a $20 fee. After depositing the opening balance into this high-yield savings account, you’ll start earning the 2.75% APY. Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly. Customers can request an ATM card with this account, which can be used at 30 branches across California, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada and Texas, as well as ATMs nationwide (they’ll reimburse any ATM fees up to $20 per visit). |
UFB Rewards Savings |
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APY: 2.61% on all balances UFB Direct is an online bank that offers standard deposit accounts and home loans. It’s a division of Axos Bank, so all your deposits are held with Axos. For the UFB Rewards Savings account, you earn 2.61% APY on all balances. Access your account via online banking, SMS banking and mobile deposit. The account also features a complimentary ATM card. It should only take about 15 minutes to apply for the account online. |
BrioDirect High-Yield Savings |
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APY: 2.61% on all balances BrioDirect is a division of Webster Bank. The BrioDirect High-Yield Savings account offers 2.61% APY on all balances with no monthly fee. Account holders can access their money via BrioDirect’s mobile app, which has a 4.9-star rating in the Apple App Store and a 4.6-star rating in the Google Play Store; although there are very few reviews. |
USAlliance Financial High Dividend Savings |
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APY: 2.50% APY on balances $500 and up USALLIANCE Financial is a credit union headquartered in New York that offers broad membership eligibility if you join one of their partner associations. In addition to the High Dividend Savings account, which offers one of the highest APYs at the moment, it has lending services, insurance products and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). If the minimum balance requirement of $500 is met, USALLIANCE has other savings options, including a standard savings account (MyLife Savings), the MyLife Money Market account and CDs. |
CIT Bank Savings Connect |
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APY: 2.40% on all balances CIT Bank, a division of First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, offers various savings and checking accounts, a high-yield money market and a wide range of CDs. With CIT’s Savings Connect account, you can deposit checks remotely and make free transfers with the mobile app, which has 4.6 stars in the Apple App Store and 3.3 stars in the Google Play Store. CIT Bank is reasonably fee-free, with no overdraft or insufficient funds fee, no online transfer fee and no fees for outgoing wire transfers or return items. |
CIBC Bank USA Agility Savings |
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APY: 2.32% on balances up to $1 million CIBC Bank is the third largest bank in Illinois, headquartered in Chicago. It offers several private wealth management services, as well as loans, personal banking, commercial banking and small business banking products. The CIBC Agility Savings account earns a high 2.32% APY on balances up to $1 million, and to earn the APY you just need to keep $0.01 in your account. You can sign up online and then access your account 24/7 through the CIBC NetBanking portal or the CIBC U.S. mobile app, which has 3.5 stars in the Apple App Store. |
Prime Alliance Bank Personal Savings |
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APY: 2.26% on all balances Prime Alliance Bank is headquartered in Woods Cross, Utah, and has been offering personal and business checking, savings, retirement and loans products since 2004. While Prime Alliance Bank isn’t as well-known, it stands out for its decent APYs, low balance requirements and no monthly fees on most of their accounts. The bank’s personal savings account is offering 2.26% APY on all balances. You can make unlimited deposits and deposit checks for free via Prime Alliance’s mobile banking app. |
My Banking Direct High Yield Savings |
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APY: 2.20% on balances of $1 and up My Banking Direct is an online-only division of New York Community Bank, and it offers checking accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs) in addition to the High Yield Savings account. There are no monthly maintenance fees, but you do need a minimum opening balance of $500 to open an account. Interest is credited to the account monthly with this account, and you can access it anytime through the app, which has 4.7 stars in the Apple App Store. MyBankingDirect also has a free online resource center of financial education videos, called NYCB $MART. |
Savings accounts are a type of deposit account designed to store money and earn interest. A “high-yield” account doesn’t necessarily have different features than a standard savings account (which comes with some withdrawal limits) but they tend to offer better interest rates on the balance.
Even in an environment of low interest rates, high-yield accounts are built to pay out the best possible rates. Often, the financial institutions that offer those types of accounts tend to pare down the rest of their services, including those for in-person banking, in order to boost interest rates and limit fees.
Currently, the average rate on a savings account is just 0.17%, and the best high-yield accounts identified by MagnifyMoney earn at least 10 times that amount. If your primary goal with a savings account is to earn the best possible interest rate, a high-yield account offered by an online-only bank, fintech or credit union is probably a better option than the savings accounts offered at the largest banks.
Interest accrues to savings accounts on a regular compounding schedule. On a daily, monthly or even quarterly basis, banks will pay the interest earned on a savings account balance into the account. That account will then start earning interest according to the new balance.
For example, if an account earns 1.00% APY on a $10,000 balance over the course of a year, it will start earning 1.00% APY on a balance of $10,100 at the start of the next year (as long as no money was deposited or withdrawn during that time).
Some financial institutions set certain conditions for earning the top APY, such as requiring a direct deposit from an employer, though generally savings accounts don’t have those requirements. However, some financial institutions offer tiered or blended APY rates, meaning that different balances earn different interest rates. Be sure to check whether the advertised APY will actually apply before opening an account.
Beyond the interest rate offered on a high-yield savings account, there are some other factors to consider when choosing which account is best for you:
Ultimately, there are considerations that go beyond the interest rate when you’re deciding which high-yield savings account to open. If you think you might have more unique banking needs, be sure to check which features are available with a financial institution and their savings account offerings.
Using information from DepositAccounts, which surveys more than 11,000 banks and credit unions, we sourced a list of the best high-yield savings rates for balances of $15,000. These accounts are all available nationwide and have reasonable minimum balance requirements. Each institution also has FDIC or NCUA insurance.
There is nothing inherently unsafe about a high-yield savings account. As long as you make sure you’re depositing your money into an FDIC-insured bank or NCUA-insured credit union, your money will be insured up to legal amounts in case your institution fails.
The primary difference: money market accounts tend to have higher rates than traditional savings accounts. Some money market accounts offer a debit or ATM card and/or check-writing capabilities –– better access to your money than with regular savings accounts.
Savings account earnings are taxed. Typically, if you made $10 or more in interest, your institution should send you and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a copy of Form 1099-INT, which details the interest you’ve earned in a year. Even if you don’t receive that form, the IRS will, and they will expect you to report your interest income on your tax return.
Thanks to the Federal Reserve’s Regulation D, you can withdraw up to six times per statement cycle from a high-yield savings account. This includes pre-authorized and automatic withdrawals and transfers, and transfers made by debit card, check or other similar ways. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those limits are currently waived, but banks still may choose to enforce them.
Online banks don’t incur the costs of maintaining brick-and-mortar branches. These costs include rent, building maintenance, staff salaries and the cost of keeping physical cash safe. Without these expenses weighing them down, online banks reap big savings — savings they then pass on to their customers in the form of high interest rates.
Alex Cook
