Best Online Savings Account – Top 7 Banks to Start Making Interest Today!

Discover

“Ready, set, save!” With an online savings account, money is earned on interest and there are no minimum balance requirements.

An online savings account can be a great way to save for those larger purchases, such as a new car, home renovations, travel, or a special event. Or you can just continue saving for retirement.

Here is list of best savings account to open a new account with in 2018.

Discover Online Savings Account

{1}. Ally Bank Online Savings Account
{2}. Capital One Online Savings Account
{3}. American Express National Bank Online Savings Account
{4}. Alliant Online Savings Account
{5}. Bank of America Online Savings Account

CIT Bank

So you’ve decided to start making interest on your hard-earned money and have hopefully chosen to open an online savings account!

With so much choice out there, it’s hard to know which bank to go with.

So let’s cut to the chase. There are only seven banks that you should have in mind when it comes to online savings accounts.

And the winner is CIT Bank.

I’m sure you were expecting this to say ING Direct or Barclays Online Savings Account.

You’re not alone — they were both former winners. But times are changing!

Here’s why CIT Bank scores highly in all categories, and why you should start saving with them right now.

{1}. High Rate of Interest
{2}. No minimum deposit
{3}. No fees
{4}. No need to pay into a traditional checking account
{5}. High level of security
{6}. Superior customer service
{7}. Based in the US
{8}. Offers a checking account
{9}. Offers an ATM card
{10}. Offers a debit card
{11}. Offers secured accounts
{12}. Offers a website for small businesses

When it comes to officially naming the best online savings account of the moment, I'd say the "honor" largely goes to a financial institution that doesn't technically offer a savings account. (Well, it doesn't unless you have a checking or money market account with them.) And that institution is CIT Bank, which has a mobile-first, bank-lending-as-a-service business model.

The 7 Best Online Savings Accounts in 2022

An Online Savings Account (OSA) is the best way for you to make a meaningful saving for you to achieve your future goals. There’s a lot of benefits to having an OSA that’s why more and more people are opening a savings account to save their money.

If you are just starting out on the journey of saving and earning interest rates they are usually low, but once you start building your savings, you’ll be happy that you got a head start.

The best thing about OSA is that you can access them at any time, day or night, from home or from work. You can transfer money online to your friends, relatives or even to other bank accounts.

Discover Savings – Best Overall

CIT Bank Savings – Great Ongoing Interest Rates

Savings accounts should be your first port of call to save your hard-earned income for a rainy day. Because savings accounts mostly offer you high interest rates, they can prove more powerful than other saving alternatives in the long-run such as high interest bearing accounts or stocks.

Savings account interest rates haven’t been good in years. Yearly interest rates have dropped to less than 1%, and if you think they’re going to rise any time soon, you’re having a laugh.

But, thankfully, your option doesn’t end with taking a straight stick to your eyes and throwing yourself into the lake. There are still other high yield savings accounts out there, and they’re not difficult to score.

The internet provides an excellent resource to find the best online savings account. Here’s where and how to do it.

Ally Bank – Best User Experience

Are you looking for the top online savings account? Online banking has grown significantly in the past few years. And now the best online savings account is at your fingertips.

Online banking makes sense for almost all consumers and many businesses. In fact, more than half of all Americans have some sort of account at an online bank.

It’s much safer to use online savings accounts. Online banking offers these features that traditional banks cannot.

Online savings accounts have the best interest rates. Comparing interest rates is currently the best way to compare online savings account. Interest rates have dropped significantly since the recession, and many banks offer only 0.05% interest rates.
Online savings accounts offer flexible interest rates until the rate increase … you can change them up to 10 times per month.
Online savings accounts are new attractive to savers. They can earn a significantly higher rate of interest by holding the money in an online savings account instead of paying high fees and penalties on credit cards.

BBVA Bank – Best Variety of Products

Free ATM use for BBVA Bank customers.

HSBC – High Interest Rates, Low Minimums

HSBC has been one of the most popular banks in the UK for several years. They are currently holding the top spot in terms of mobile banking, and their website has been rated as the best in the UK with some great savings products available.

HSBC bank can be used for savings accounts, personal loans, car finance, mortgages, insurance and credit card. It cannot be used for business accounts.

HSBC has a variety of accounts available for savers. The good news is that you can open an account in the UK, but all the accounts can be accessed from outside the UK.

Basically, the variety of accounts is based on the interest rate paid, the number of withdrawals that can be made and whether or not there are monthly fees.

USAA – Best for Military

USAA is a financial services company that provides financial services to US military families and certain veterans. Its online savings account is an easy-to-use online savings account for USAA members.

USAA is essentially a mutual bank and a financial institution, meaning that it is owned by its members. You make deposits at USAA into your savings account, and USAA invests those deposits into loans to its other members.

You can set up your USAA savings account through its online banking website, and it is intended to supplement your existing account with regular direct deposits.

USAA only offers interest rates on savings accounts on a quarterly basis, and the rates change every 3 months. You can expect to receive 2.00% interest on your savings account from USAA in 2019. This is a low rate you should only consider for a very short-term deposit or a backup.

Capital One 360 Savings Account – Trustworthy

Simple, and Straightforward.

This simple money management service from Capital One is great for beginners. It has all the basic features you’d expect from a good savings account and a 30 day introductory rate of 3.50%.

Cons ‑ No Access to Your Account through a Mobile App

‑ No credit check for this account.

High Yield Online Savings Honorable Mentions

Bank of America
JPMorgan Chase
Capital One 360
Ally
HSBC
Chase Liquid
ING Direct
Discover
BBVA
HSBC Advance
USBank
Vanguard

U.S. Bank

Charles Schwab Bank

You can’t go wrong with any of the banks listed in the highest yielder choose box.

Digit.co – A New Option

When you open an online savings account, there are certain things you expect. You expect the bank to be secure and provide you with interest when you haven’t made a transfer out for a specific time period. You also expect the bank to be flexible with their fees and be as transparent as possible about what they’re doing with your money.

Digit aims to provide its users with these things along with some additional benefits.

The app works by holding a small portion of your money while transferring the rest into a savings account with an interest rate. What makes this app unique is that the account can work completely on autopilot and you can see how much Digit is holding at any time.

Like any bank, Digit has certain terms of service to abide by and fees associated with certain behaviors.

American Express High-Yield Savings Account

TIAA Bank – Great First Year Interest Rates

TIAA Bank is a publicly traded financial services company that was founded back in 1918 and started out with the goal of financing education for educators. In 1980, the company launched its online banking operation. In 2001, it transformed itself into a financial services company.

TIAA Bank offers some great 529 college savings plan options and has high interest rates as well. It offers a number of different savings accounts to meet the needs of different types of savers. These accounts offer some great returns and they’re worth a look for people who want to start earning interest on their savings today.

The Online High Yield Savings account has an interest rate of 0.75/0.10% Annual Percentage Yields (APYs). Four out of five customer review gave it a 5 out of 5 star rating, with one out of five reviewers giving it just a 4 out of 5 star rating. This is a savings account with some great perks. It allows for unlimited transfers to your own or third parties’ TIAA Bank accounts. It also allows you to transfer money into any of your TIAA Bank account(s) directly from your checking account.

You can also set up automatic withdrawals from your TIAA bank account(s) and from your TIAA securities account(s) as well. Your TIAA security account is linked to your online account.

Why You Need a Savings Account

Once upon a time a savings account and a checking account were one and the same. But in the modern world, with things like debit cards and online bill pay, it’s difficult to actually put any money in your bank account and still have it be accessible.

Today, almost every bank offers some sort of savings account. So if you’re like many people and are having trouble saving money, it’s likely because you haven’t set up a good savings account that fits your needs and makes it easy to save your money without incurring high fees.

Make sure your savings account is easy to access.

If your savings account has a minimum balance requirement, make sure you have enough money in the account to cover any fees. Or, consider moving your money to a bank that doesn’t have a minimum balance requirement and one that charges low or even no fees. Having to meet a minimum balance requirement is too much of a hassle, so you’ll likely keep your money in checking. And if you’re not using your savings, you might as well take the money out of the account because it’s doing you no good, earning no interest.

Make it easy to save more money without incurring high fees.

Liquidity

Savings accounts will be your most important financial tool. The ability to save money is one of the most important skills anyone can have. In our society, there is no shortage of things to buy, and banks and credit card issuers are eager to make it as easy as possible for you to spend money that you don’t really have.

With a little discipline, though, you can do a lot more with your money. Saving your money is the first step to accumulating wealth.

Savings accounts are the first step for anyone looking to improve their financial health. The best savings account is one that will help you grow your money while also keeping it easy to access when you need it. The key is to find a bank that will pay you enough interest to look after your savings while also providing you with quick access to the funds.

Safety

If you are in the search of a new online savings account, we strongly recommend you to read the bank reviews below before registering anywhere.

What To Look For In a Top Savings Account

You will find that there are hundreds of banks out there who will be more than willing to offer you a savings account. The important consideration here is to find a bank who offers a good interest rate on your money to make it worth investing with them.

In the short-term a good online savings account will benefit you by paying you interest on your balance. This may be a better idea than putting that money in a standard current account because you have the potential to earn much more interest than you would if you just left the money in your current account.

Secondly, a good online savings account will help you to save money for a fixed goal such as buying a new car or replacing the kitchen. If you can save some money and earn interest on it for a set period of time, it will definitely help you to get closer to that goal.

The Best Savings Accounts Available Online

Most of the current accounts that pay the highest rates are only available to customers who are eligible depositors. That means that you will need to work your way up the account types until you are eligible for the very best interest rates. That’s not to say that you will never be able to access the Best Savings Accounts. You could also consider getting an online savings account as a joint account with your partner/family.

Interest – High Yield

As I have mentioned before in many of my other articles, it is an investment in your future. Anything you put into a savings account is better than nothing.

Not all savings accounts are the same though – and that can make a big difference when you start calculating your interest. Why? Because most people have no idea how to calculate their interest on their savings account.

So let’s see how to calculate your interest.

One of the easiest methods to calculate the interest on your savings account is to get an old, empty piggy bank and take the amount out you want to calculate and put it in the piggy bank. Now take a calculator to it and start adding the interest to see how much you will have in a year.

As you can see, this is not the most time efficient way so let’s see a better way to do it.

The first step is to log in to the website of the bank that you have your savings account with and look up your current balance.

If you can’t find your balance you can also just put in what you think it is on the calculator. Try to be as close as possible but don’t worry if you are not exact. It is just an estimate.

Customer Service

No matter if we are talking about applying for an account online, refilling your prescription or taking care of your banking, the steps are generally the same – online or in person. However, your approach to them is different and when you face a problem, customer service will be your best friend to quickly solve any issue and have

Your smile back on your face while doing it.

Very first thought: Please, no call center in a foreign country!

Most of the financial institutions have their call center located outside of the country. So your first instinct when you want to make an inquiry about an account, a service or the interest rate on your credit card is probably to dial the toll-free number found on your bill statement. But before you do it please keep these five things in mind:

Do you really want to talk to a call center located in India that offices are open 24/7?
Do you know that in many countries in South-East Asia, you will not be able to reach anyone speaking your language?
Do you realize that a lot of money exchanges hands to the owners of the call centers located overseas? While this money stays in other countries, the job opportunities are created in your country, right?
Do you know that the call center service that you are paying is no better than that of a home telephone provider?

Access

To Your Hard Earned Money – 24/7!

The online savings account is an online banking product. It is a great product to complement your other banking products like a checking account, and for some people, it can even be a sole banking product.

You should consider an online savings account as an opportunity to save money and still have access to your hard-earned cash. You can access your money on a pre-determined schedule. It is also sometimes referred to as a CD (certificate of deposit).

The online savings account is sometimes called an online statement savings account. The best online savings accounts are FDIC-insured and offer a rate of return that beats CDs and the standard bank savings account.

An online savings account is also sometimes referred to as an online checking account, which is simply an online savings account with a checking component.

You can access your money in the case of an emergency. The money must be in the account for a specific period of time. This is very convenient for some bank clients. It is also important to have a product like this because the standard checking/savings account isn’t typically very accessible.

As with any bank account, interest rates are what will make consumers choose one savings account over another. Before you sign up for an online savings account, make sure to check interest rates.

Types of Savings Accounts

Bank Savings Accounts

Online savings accounts are simple, low-cost vehicles for families, individuals, and businesses to save money on a regular basis and eventually take advantage of the tax savings that they can offer.

A savings account doesn’t provide a high interest rate because the bank pays you for taking on the risk that the money they give you might be gone tomorrow. Banks are protected against this risk because they know that you’ll give them more money in the future but a savings account offers depositors the benefit of offering a stable place to deposit their money without paying any penalty for withdrawals. Interest rates on savings accounts go up and down based on current rates and the interest rate that your bank is willing to pay you.

A savings account, as the name suggests, should be used for saving purposes only and not for making purchases. The money should be used for savings goals. Some of the most popular goals for having a savings account include: buying a car, college tuition, buying a home, and retirement. If you need the money to make a major purchase, a savings account is not the right vehicle. To keep your interest high, always make sure to pay the bank in full at least every three months.

Online Savings Accounts

There’s a good chance that the bank your parents used to keep your savings is no longer the best option. Whether you’re looking for high interest rates, security features, free perks, or impressive customer support, there are a few things you should consider before stashing your savings in a traditional banking institution. You may be surprised to find that the best savings account for you is right where you are right now!

One of the easiest ways to earn more interest on your savings is to move it from a standard savings account to an online savings account. Online savings accounts are just like the traditional savings account you used to have, only they’re a little better. They come with online access and multiple savings options enable you to deposit and withdraw funds on your own, encouraging you to save more. They also have flexible liquidity options – commonly known as a “demand account” – that allow you to access your money at any time.

Savings Account for the Kids

About the Author

Riley Adams has been a writer for Money Making Monkey for just over three years. He is a now professional writer ‑ continuing study at the University of Canberra.

He writes content for several different finance sites, however his favorite topic is saving money, because he is a compulsive saver.

Riley has saved hundreds of dollars through cost-cutting tips because he is passionate about being financially savvy.