Best high-yield savings accounts of November 2023
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BLUEPRINT
Updated 4:02 p.m. UTC Nov. 28, 2023
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The best high-yield savings accounts have high rates, no fees and affordable minimums, plus great customer service. If you’re looking for a safe, accessible place to store some funds and still earn interest in the turbulent economic ocean, a high-yield savings account could be your perfect port.
Annual percentage yields (APYs) and account details are accurate as of November 21, 2023.
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Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of banking products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.
- 250+ accounts from 135 financial institutions reviewed.
- 4 levels of fact checking.
- 70+ data points analyzed.
M1 High Yield Savings Account
Best high-yield online savings accounts
Quontic Bank High Yield Savings
UFB Secure Savings
Affirm Savings
First Foundation Bank Online Savings
Synchrony Bank High Yield Savings
SFGI Direct Savings
MySavingsDirect High Interest Savings Account
Sallie Mae High-Yield Savings Account
Capital One 360 Performance Savings
Bask Bank Interest Savings Account
Compare the best high-yield savings account rates
Best high-yield savings accounts for small balances
These accounts are best suited for those just starting to build up their emergency funds. The following accounts offer some of the highest rates we’ve seen, but restrict how much of your savings can profit from those rates. Therefore, once you’ve amassed enough savings, you should consider moving for funds into an account mentioned above.
Varo High-Yield Savings Account
Digital Federal Credit Union Primary Savings
Blue Federal Credit Union Accelerated Savings
Compare the best high-yield online savings accounts
Methodology
We believe that potential earnings reign supreme, so APY was the most heavily-weighed factor, followed by fees.
Non-APY factors still played a part, including customer experience and digital experience. But with a high-yield account, you want something that will deliver as much return as possible, and are thus willing to endure some tradeoffs.
We looked at over 250 high-yield savings accounts offered by 135 financial institutions. We evaluated them to create a star rating for each. An institution with a perfect score of 100 would get five stars. One with a score of 80 would get four stars and so on.
Here are the categories we analyzed and how we weighted each to determine the best high-yield savings accounts.
- APY: 75%
- Fees:10%
- Minimum deposit: 5%
- Minimum balance to avoid fees: 5%
- Customer experience: 2.5%
- Digital experience: 2.5%
National average for savings accounts
You may notice that our winners compare favorably to most savings accounts you see offered by banks. The national average rates for savings accounts, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as of November 20, 2023, are:
What is a high-yield savings account?
The term “high-yield” is more descriptive than technical; it’s a regular savings account that pays a high interest rate on deposits. The rate is subject to change depending on the overall financial market and the business needs of the bank or credit union.
“Savings accounts are best for money you might need in the next several months or an emergency fund,” said Seth Mullikin, CFP at Lattice Financial in Charlotte.
A savings account is a safe place for you to keep money that you don’t need every day. Holding savings in a separate account from your day-to-day cash, can make it less tempting to spend.
“It’s simply a safe place to put money,” said Nicholas Bunio, CFP in Berwyn, Pa.
By law, it used to be that you could only make up to six withdrawals each month, and even though the Federal Reserve relaxed Regulation D in 2020, many banks still keep this rule on their own books.
“Most banks have limits on how many transfers can be made from the savings account each month,” said Lisa Kirchenbauer at Omega Wealth Management in Arlington. “It is not a good account for bill paying.”
This limit on the number of withdrawals though doesn’t prevent you from liquidating the entire account in one withdrawal if you need to. A savings account can serve as a fund for a rainy day—a great way to collect some interest while preserving liquidity.
“Savings accounts are considered one of the safest investments,” said Mullikin.
Any cash you keep in a high-yield savings account is under the same protection as your other deposit accounts. The FDIC and NCUA guarantee $250,000 worth of deposits per depositor, per bank, per ownership category.Check out this FDIC tool to see how much of your funds are insured.
How does a high-yield savings account work?
A high-yield account works much like a regular savings account. You open the account and then deposit and withdraw funds when you want to, within what the rules allow. The biggest difference you may see between a traditional and a high-yield account is that a larger amount of interest is earned and deposited into your account at the end of each month.
The earned interest counts as taxable income for both state and federal tax filings. If you earn more than $10 in interest, you should receive a Form 1099-INT or a Form 1099-OID from the financial institution(s) with all the information you’ll need to file. Note that whether you receive the form or not, you’re still responsible for reporting your total income—you may need to request the form or, in the worst case, do some sleuthing.
Choosing the best high-yield savings account
Consider what’s important to you and do some research. It’s “best to compare rates and terms of use to get the best deal for you,” said Lisa Kirchenbauer, CFP, founder and president of Omega Wealth Management in Arlington, Va.
Do you want the highest rate possible? Or is a well-recognized brand name more important? Maybe it’s worth it to select a lower rate in exchange for a better mobile app? Write down factors that are important to you to help guide you as you look around. Elements could include:
- Minimum APY.
- Maximum balance requirements.
- Maximum fees.
- ATM access.
- Physical branch near you.
- Highly-rated mobile app.
- Established brand name.
- Automated savings tools.
- No monthly withdrawal limit.
Prioritize those elements that are important to you, and keep in mind that you’re not limited to one high-yield savings account. You can have as many as you want, perhaps each with its own specific purpose. So if you’re stuck choosing between a couple, you could always open both and split your funds between them.
How do I open a high-yield savings account?
You’ll need to fill out a form or two with your personal information, including your name, address and Social Security number, but it shouldn’t take too long.
You generally need to put money into the account within 15 days to finish the process of opening it.
Pros and cons of a high-yield savings
Overall, a high-yield savings account will typically provide an interest rate much higher than a traditional one while still allowing you to make withdrawals up to six times a month. However, if you’re after the highest rate of return possible, other deposit accounts and investments offer greater earning potential in exchange for more risk or less access to your funds.
Keeping some funds on reserve, but easily accessible, is a smart thing to do for most Americans.
“I think everyone should have one,” Brunio said. “Everyone should have at least three-to-six months’ worth of expenses in savings.”
That chunk of changes sitting on the sidelines serves many purposes.
“Goals might include an emergency fund, travel expenses, et cetera,” said Kirchenbauer.
Most banks let you easily create more than one savings account if you want to keep your goals independent, i.e. a Christmas savings account in addition to a vacation fund.
Alternatives to a high-yield savings account
Depending on how often you’d like to access your funds and the amount of risk you feel compelled to take, “good” alternatives can admittedly look very different. Here are a few alternatives to high-yield accounts that are still FDIC insured, plus one that’s not.
Money market accounts (MMAs)
A hybrid daughter of checking and savings accounts, MMAs are savings accounts that allow you to access your funds with checks. They typically have higher interest rates but more restrictions than checking accounts.
Certificates of deposit (CDs)
Certificates typically offer better rates of return than high-yield savings accounts. The trade-off is that you can’t touch your deposit while it’s earning interest without facing a financial penalty. The best CDs, however, can be worth it given their high rates.
Bonds
Bonds are when a government or corporation issues an IOU and pays you for your trouble. By purchasing a bond, you’re essentially giving a loan and you receive an interest payment twice a year until the bond matures.
They aren’t insured by the FDIC and aren’t as liquid as savings, but bonds are considered one of the safest types of investments and can provide a tax advantage. As an important part of your diversified long-term portfolio, they’re vital, but shouldn’t be used for money you may need soon.
Curious? Read about different government bonds and see current I Bond rates.
Checking accounts
Checking accounts are more of a compliment to high-yield savings than an alternative. They function as a type of financial home base to which most of your income is deposited and from which you can pay bills, split funds and buy investments.
While you could keep your savings in a checking account, it doesn’t make much sense to.
Yes, there’s nothing to stop you from having multiple savings accounts. You can have as many as you can keep track of and fund.
Yes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sees any interest earned that’s over $10 on any type of deposit account as taxable income. Your bank should send you a form 1099-INT each year, reporting the amount of cash your funds earned. But, even if the bank doesn’t, you’re still responsible for reporting any interest as income.
It can be more convenient to get a high-yield savings account online, plus, online-only banks typically offer better rates because they want to attract customers and they don’t have to pay for physical branches. However, there isn’t an ironclad rule. It’s not necessarily better to get an account online if you value in-person banking.
Rates can change at any time based on market conditions or the business needs of the financial institutions providing the accounts. You can expect a change after each Federal Reserve meeting, which occurs eight times a year.
The best high-yield accounts are often from online-only banks. Without the overhead of managing brick-and-mortar branches, online banks can offer higher rates. In the most recent World Retail Banking Report, 80% of customers valued websites as a vital part of banking and 77% considered apps critical while only 75% valued branches.
Editor’s note: This article contains updated information from previously published stories:
- Robinhood rocks banking with 3-percent savings interest rate
- Best savings accounts 2018: Switching from checking accounts can boost your cash
- Is your bank paying you enough interest on savings and CDs? Here’s how to find out
- Two weeks after debut, Betterment’s high-yield savings product takes a haircut
Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
