6 Banks for the Best Online Savings5.052

It’s Easy to Start Saving Online

Whether you have $10 or $10,000 to save there is a magical place where you can get better rates on your money. It’s called… dun dun dun… the Internet.

If you don’t have an online checking or savings account, it is likely that most of your money is sitting in a traditional bank account making jack squat. Your money is lonely and the 0.1% interest rate is all the love it is getting unless you…

WAKE UP TO THE 21ST CENTURY!!!

Here are 6 reputable FDIC insured banks that consistently pay out the highest interest rates for checking, savings, CDs, and money market accounts according to Bankrate.com.

From what I have observed these rates fluctuate as the banks continually try to one-up each other and each bank has their own unique products to offer.

Discover has good rates on their IRA CDs not offered elsewhere, Everbank has the highest guaranteed rate for 1 year, and Ally has a good variety interest checking, CDs, and savings products.

Ally Bank

Ally Bank, formally known as GMAC, is great for anyone just starting out savings as they have no minimum balance requirements and great yields on both their money market, online savings, and newly added interest checking accounts.

There are no gimmicks with Ally and they now offer 24 hour telephone support. A real person will actually pick up the phone whenever you call!

I started out with them back when they were GMAC bank and they have definitely changed for the better. Their rates are always on top and there are zero account fees!

American Express Savings

American Express offers 2 savings products that I recently found out about; a high yield savings account and CDs of varying lengths.

Their interest rates are consistently in the top 6 on Bankrate.com and the they are FDIC insured like everyone else mentioned here.

 
 

Capital One Direct Banking

This one surprised me, but the Viking’s at Capital One are doling out some of their treasures with a high yield savings account.

Their “Interest Plus” savings account requires a $2,500 minimum balance, but pays you a rate in line with the other banks listed here + an additional 10% bonus on the interest you earn. To get the 10% bonus on interest you must do one of 2 things. Either have a $15,000 minimum account balance or use a Capital One credit card one per month.

As the Vikings say… What’s in your wallet?

Discover Bank

Discover Bank is probably one of the best options out there to keep some of your retirement money safe in an IRA CD. I’m not sure where else you can get one of these with a competitive interest rate.

Discover also has regular CD’s, money markets, and one the the best savings accounts out there.

EverBank

Everbank is currently offering the best rate around with an initial rate of 2.25% on their “Yield Pledge” money market account. The 2.25% rate is good for 3 months and you get the rest of the year at 1.51%. Then the yield pledge guarantees that you will still get an interest rate in the top 5% nationwide.

The highest rate any other national bank is currently offers on a savings product is 1.40% at Sallie Mae, but like I said before these rates change frequently.

Everbank does pay a higher rate than anyone else, but you need to maintain a $5,000 minimum balance or they charge an account fee of $8.95/month. In order to get the best rate out there you need to have a little something saved already.

If I had 5K sitting in another bank then I would move it here. If not I would look at another high yield savings account that has no minimum like Ally, American Express, Discover, or Sallie Mae.

The high rate for Everbank mentioned here will not show up on Bankrate.com because it is a 1st year intro rate. That said, Everbank’s regular money market rate still ranks in the top 6 banks nationally on Bank Rate’s website.

Sallie Mae

Sallie Mae (the student loan people) just came out with an interesting high yield savings account that pays good interest and currently tops most other banks APYs.

This is a great account to look into if you have children or are saving for college because you can get an additional 10% match on your Upromise earnings. Upromise is a program that gives you a shopping rebate that can be used for investing in a 529 plan, paying down student loans, or assisting with college expenses.

For more information on how Upromise works a complete review is available here on epinions.com.