NerdWallet’s Top 10 High

NerdWallet’s Top 10 High Yield Savings Accounts for the Digital Age

by Laura

The rumors are true: savings account interest rates are at an all-time low. Just looking at big bank accounts, you might well think that your best course is the tried-and-true mattress method. The numbers would bear you out: as of January 7, 2013, the national average is below 0.10%. But don’t give up on high-yield savings accounts just yet. You can earn up to 10 times the national average just by looking online.

If you bank online, you give up the ability to physically walk into a bank branch and talk to someone. But you can easily manage your account online, or speak with a customer service rep by phone or chat. You needn’t be Mark Zuckerberg to maintain an online account.

Here’s our list of the highest-grossing online savings accounts. Interest rates are accurate as of December 21st, 2012.

Bank	APY	Min. Opening Deposit	Min. Balance	Monthly Fee
1. Barclays US	1.00%	-	-	-
2. Ally Bank	0.95%	-	-	-
3. American Express	0.90%	$1	-	-
4. Sallie Mae	0.90%	-	-	-
5. CIT Bank	0.90%	$100	-	-
6. Bank of Internet USA	0.80%	$100	-	-
7. Discover Bank	0.80%	$500	-	-
8. EverBank	0.76%	$1,500	$5,000 to avoid fees	$8.95 if balance is below $5,000
9. ING Direct	0.75%	-	-	-
10. FNBO Direct	0.65%	$1	-	-

You’ll notice that most of these accounts don’t require a minimum balance or have monthly maintenance fees, which makes them a great deal for all levels of investors. We recommend all of them because they all have the same basic features. However, a few have special bells and whistles that make them extra convenient or unique. Read on for a brief review of each.

Barclays – Online Savings Account

The British banking giant, Barclays, launched an online bank for U.S. customers in May 2012. Their savings account rate is currently one of the best in the nation. There’s no minimum balance requirement or monthly fee, although they reserve the right to close your account if you have less than a $1 in there in excess of 180 days. You can make deposits via online transfer, snail mail or remote deposit capture using your smartphone or computer. It’s also worth noting that their overdraft fee is fairly reasonable at $5 per item, although we hope you never have to learn from experience.

Ally – Online Savings Account

Besides being a pretty shade of purple, Ally’s online banking system has some of the best perks in the business. In addition to sending checks by mail, you can scan and upload them yourself with Ally eCheck Deposit, or just take a picture with your smartphone and deposit the check via Ally’s mobile app. Ally also lets you link to an unlimited number of external bank accounts, just in case you happen to have, like, ten. No judgments here.

American Express – High-Yield Savings Account

American Express Bank has a nice, clean website that’s easy to navigate. Your account doesn’t come with anything special, but signup is a breeze if you already have an American Express card; they’ll just use your existing information. You’ll also have the added benefit of managing your savings account and credit card from the same site.

Sallie Mae – High-Yield Savings Account

The Sallie Mae savings account already has one of the top rates in the nation, but it gives you an even better value if you’re saving for college. If you have a Sallie Mae Upromise account, which is a cash back education rewards program, you can link it to your savings account to be eligible for a 10% match on your earnings. Sweet!

CIT Bank - High Yield Savings Account

CIT’s savings account offers a tiered interest rate structure, so while their regular yield is already competitive, you can boost your interest earnings even more if you can maintain $25,000 in the  account. At that level you’ll earn a whopping 1.00% interest.

Bank of Internet USA – High Yield Savings

If you hate entrusting your checks to snail mail, Bank of Internet is a great option. Like Ally, Bank of Internet allows customers to deposit checks to their savings account via mobile phone or home office.

Discover Bank – Online Savings Account

Like American Express, Discover makes it easy to manage your savings account and Discover card online. You can access both from the same mobile app, too. We also appreciate the ease with which you can set up automatic money transfers from non-Discover accounts.

Everbank - Yield Pledge Account

The Everbank savings account may have the most restrictions, but they’re also the only bank on our list that guarantees interest rates within the nation’s top 5%. Interest rates fluctuate all the time, and chasing the top rate is both exhausting and inconvenient. With Everbank, you’re guaranteed to always earn highly competitive interest, even if it’s not the absolute best. Just make sure you can meet their minimum monthly requirements, or you’ll be stuck with a maintenance fee.

ING Direct (to be Capital One 360 effective February 2013) – Savings Account

ING Direct is famous for having one of the first online high-yield savings accounts in the nation. They became part of the Capital One family earlier this year, where you can expect the same level of service and low fees that ING Direct proudly featured. Although they no longer have the highest rate, the  Savings Account still has nifty perks. Our favorite? You can split your account into multiple sub-accounts, give them names like “Christmas Fund”, and transfer money to them automatically. This is perfect for the highly organized super saver.

FNBO Direct – Online Savings Account

Like HSBC, an FNBO Direct savings account is a lot like a checking account. It comes with a free ATM card and online bill pay. Again, with the 6 withdrawal limit, you can’t take much advantage of either perk, but they’re still nice to have. The website is very simple, but effective and easy to navigate.

Why bank online?

Online banks save a ton of money on personnel and maintenance costs because they have no physical branches. The result is more money for you. Better yet, online savings accounts are surprising easy to maintain. You have to manage your account online, but you can access your money 24/7 and transfer it between accounts anytime. You can’t talk to a representative in person, but they’re always available online or over the phone. And, if you need to withdraw money or deposit checks, you can always do that via mail, usually for free. By federal law, you’re limited to six withdrawals a month with any savings account, online or otherwise, so you won’t need to worry about that much. Thus, if you’re tech-savvy, an online savings account is incredibly convenient.

Should you open a savings account?

A savings account is a good place to set aside money you might need to access quickly, but ideally would like to save. A savings account is great for building an emergency fund, for example, or setting aside money for a large purchase or vacation. At many banks, you can link your checking account to a savings account to make easy transfers, or transfer money automatically from one account to the other, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get a good interest rate. It pays to shop around.

Traditional wisdom holds that if you’re hoping to earn the maximum amount of interest on your savings, you’ll be happier with a CD or money market account, which require that you leave your investment alone for a set amount of time, often several years or more, to get the best rate. In normal times, both of these accounts give higher interest rates than savings accounts. But now, interest rates are so low that many CD’s don’t clear the 1% APY mark. Since CD rates are so low, why lock yourself in?