Highlights: FNBO Direct, E*TRADE Bank, ING Direct, HSBC Direct, Ally Bank.
There are two main criteria I use to determine the best online savings account and to choose where to put my money when it comes to short-term savings: interest rates and customer service. Interest rates are important because I don’t want my money to lose purchasing power. I’m looking to beat inflation, and many banks do not offering a savings option with high enough interest rates.
In terms of customer service, I look for two important aspects. All account maintenance and transfers should be available through a professional and reliable website. The site should be easy to navigate. It’s rare that I have to call or email a customer service representative, but when I do, I like for them to be knowledgeable, helpful, and available.
Based on my own experiences and reviews from other Consumerism Commentary readers, here are our favorite places for short-term savings. All of the listed interest yields are as of December 9, 2009 and are subject to change by the banks. And here’s a secret: You don’t need to have accounts with many different banks. One or two good banks will do.
FNBO Direct. No fees, no minimum balance. Recently rated best online savings account by Kiplinger, FNBO Direct is the online arm of First National Bank of Omaha. Since opening this account in September 2008, I’ve been directing most of my new deposits here. 1.40% APY.
E*TRADE Bank. No fees, no minimum balance. I’ve been a customer of E*TRADE for several years, mainly for my company stock purchase plan. 0.50% APY.
ING Direct. No fees, no minimum balance. ING Direct has a great website and I’ve never had any customer service problems. My favorite feature is the ability to split your account into several labeled subaccounts. 1.2% APY.
Note: ING Direct offers a $25 bonus to new customers who deposit $250 or more. Once you have an account you can earn $500 by referring other customers.
HSBC Direct. No fees, no minimum balance. HSBC Direct entered the race with one of the highest interest rates ever available on a high-yield online savings account, 6% APY. That was about two years ago. Since then, HSBC Direct has continued to be towards the top of any list of online bank accounts. 1.35% APY.
Ally Bank. GMAC Bank is now Ally Bank, and the company has started a marketing campaign and using high interest rates to draw in new customers. Savings accounts, CDs, and money market accounts at Ally Bank are insured through the FDIC so as long as you don’t go over the FDIC limits, GM’s bankruptcy should not affect your deposits. 1.49% APY.
What is your favorite online savings account? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Here are a few more banks to round out the selection.
- Discover Bank is offering 1.35%.
- Presidential Bank is offering up to 1.25% APY.
- VirtualBank is offering up to 1.2% APY.
- DollarSavingsDirect is offering 1.50% APY.
I’ve received a number of requests to add EverBank to this list. Please read my thoughts about EverBank so far.
For more, see this list of high-yield savings accounts. I have been tracking the rate changes for almost a year, and this list gives you an idea of who has been consistently offering high interest rates.
About the Author
{ 59 comments… read them below or add one }
I have three high interest savings accounts. I tend to move my savings around based on interest rates. The money I keep on hand in cash is generally for my emergency fund. You’ve listed solid savings options. :)
If I may add my two cents… I have had some TERRIBLE experiences with HSBC’s customer service…its hard to get someone on the phone, several times I’ve been transferred to a dead line or transferred to someone who says they can’t help me nor can they transfer me to anyone else. Also, they don’t keep their website current (and not just one forgotten page, several pages, linked from the homepage! inexcusable…) and its hard to find someone who knows what’s current and what’s not. I’d take my money elsewhere.
That being said, I’ve had good experiences with GMAC and ING. GMAC has a pretty good rate and I haven’t had any problems with them. If it had a better rate, my ING account would be my handsdown favorite… love the automation and subaccounts feature… because of the low rate though I mostly use it to fund my sharebuilder account on short notice.
I completely agree. HSBC’s customer service is second to none in terribility. Absolutely horrible system to get into your account and zero accountability or knowledge of how to work their horrible system.
Same horrible experience with HSBC. They screwed up my application, and after 3 weeks of trying t o get it sorted out, I just gave up.
All of their so-called customer service responses were just scripted replies that didn’t even come close to solving my issue.
Not worth the time and frustration.
Do you know something we don’t yet about E-Trade? Their savings account rate is 3.3%, has been for a while now. I also have FNBO, but keep more in ETrade still just because of the slightly higher rate. If they drop to 3.01 I’ll be moving, but I can’t find that anywhere on their site or recent announcements.
Brian: Yes, E-Trade Bank’s savings account interest rate will drop to 3.01% as of the end of the day today (Friday, December 19) according to my contact at the bank.
Venture Bank Direct’s Wise Choice Savings is still at 3.6% APY. I emailed them this morning because I was concerned that they’d dropped their rate and that their website hadn’t reflected it, but they replied and said their rate has not changed. Which is good, it means I don’t have to move my money to another account and/or create a new savings account! My Emigrant Direct American Dream Savings account dropped from 3.0% to 2.75% today, bummer! Also my Schwab Investor checking dropped from 1.5% to 1% which is better than ING’s Electric Orange: 1.5% –> 0.5%.
Hi ratbert2003
05/8/2009
I also have a Venture Direct account and the current rate is now
1.43 %. So, I was wondering have you found a better rate at another
on-line bank?
Bill C.
Bill: A number of banks listed in the article above have rates higher than 1.43%.
I like E*Trade, very fast transfers, i have my checking account there and love it, never had any problems.
I’m quite happy with GMAC & have the vast majority of my cash there, both in savings and CDs. They have very good rates on both types of accounts. I use the savings account as a funding source for Sharebuilder and so far no hiccups. I talked to a CSR on the phone about a month ago regarding CD funding, and that went smoothly, no hassles.
I also have a HY eOne checking account at salemfivedirect dot com, and that has worked out well too. The almost-3% rate isn’t as good as some HY savings accounts, but it beats a 0% checking account elsewhere (hear me, Wamu, Wells?). They give you checks, a cash card, and ATM rebates. Their bill-pay is OK too.
Be with GMAC for about 3 yrs. Love it , have 2 MMA at 3.25% with no min. (My college kids use ATM to withdraw money with the fee rebate automaticly at billing cycle). 1 online saving for 3.75% (most my money stay in this account). 2 CD with good rate also. Don’t use bill pay, My WAMU taking care of that. I had ING before. They rate just too low now !
I’ve had an Etrade account for over six months and I really like it. Easy to deposit funds, funds are credited the same day they’re desposited, and of course I can do it all online, which is nice. I am disappointed that their rates have dropped to 3.01%, as they had the highest rate out there for about three months. Customer service is OK — they had an issue recently where their computer system kept automatically sending out letters asking for a signature for your initial deposit. After I received the second letter I called them and they apologized, said that it was a bug. That’s the only problem I’ve ever had. Overall I really like the account. Grow, money, grow!
I also had a very bad experience with HSBC direct. I bellieve it is the worst customer service I ever had with a bank. I love GMAC bank.
I’m very disappointed that E*Trade has dropped their rates to 1.95. I open with them at 3.01, and it promptly began dropping. Very quick and easy money transfers though.
Having a bad time with UFB Direct: Min Bal on accounts has jumped to $10,000 to avoid a $5.00 “Low Balance fee”. Have had Much better times with INGdirect, Etrade, EmigrantDirect, Capitalonedirect, FBNO, Flagstar, WAMU, WescomCreditUnion, ShorebankDirect, UnionFSBDirect, ONBank IgoBanking, CNBbankDirect, AmtrustDirect. Been looking over a Odd one called “Redneck Bank”. It’s a Real bank! Nice looking money market account for $1.00
Well, started the ball rolling on getting a “Mega Money” account at Red Neck Bank. They seem to be able to handle the Overload on interest in a Oddly named bank and are taking new accounts again.
Ken N.
FNBO will not allow initial account funding by electronic transfer. They will only allow mailing in a check, at which point they say that will open the account “within 5 days.” In other words, a week of interest that I would miss out on.
Chris: FNBO Direct does allow initial account funding by electronic transfer with your routing number and account number for the funding account. It will take a few days to confirm that you own the account you would like to link, but it’s faster than sending a check. In fact, when you begin the account opening process, FNBO Direct’s website says:
fnbo does allow transfers…are you sure you are banking with fnbo.?
Some of these rates are out of date, according to RateBrain
I’ve updated the post to reflect today’s rates, thanks for the reminder!
Just wondering if you’ve checked out SmartyPIg. I’ve been using them to save for specific goals and their rates are very very good foor a savings account. Also, they do customer support via twitter and Phone. Seriously the best banking experience I’ve had in a long time. No phone hold time or anything. I wish I could open a checking account with them. Just my $.02.
SmartyPig has turned out to be the worst banking experience for me. They doubled up may transfers and overdrew my bank account by $30K, thier customer support cannot answer any questions that are not the website FAQs and their real bank people are never available to answer real questions. I’m looking for somewhere to put $100K, but these folks are not proving to be worthy.
We use Emigrant Direct, great customer service, APY is 1.5% right now.
I just tried opening an online savings account with Ally bank, but unfortunately I was denied due to my bad credit. I was extremely disappointed since I wanted to take advantage of their outstanding products.
Noy sure you would have any better luck with them, but American Express just started a Savings account online as well. Had to read a bit into the details file before I found that they state that there is no mininum starting account to open a account. Have not tried it yet. Maybe next month, if funds are avaliable for me to do so.
Ken N.
Got the account open at American Express Bank. Looks good so far. Even found the ABA number so I can do transfer by ways other that the “Inhouse” way at american express.
Ken N.
Felix
What is your opinion on opening an on-line account with Ally Bank (formerly GMAC Bank)
with GM on the brink of bankruptcy?
I have been using Ally Bank for 3+ months now and have had no complaints. Everyone I have spoken to within customer service has been very polite and easy to understand. I have not had a problem to speak of so I can not comment on their conflict resolution… but that is not a bad thing not to be able to rate. Only downside I have experienced is that my interest rate has dropped by a point so far, but most banks promoting the online savings accounts have done the same. I wouldn’t worry about GM’s financial woes, accounts are FDIC insured.
Just opened a savings & a Money Market account at Ally. That was the easiest time of opening a online account I have EVER had! I think I’m going to be here awhile…
Ken N.
I was with Shorebank for the past 3 months because of the rate, but it’s not worth it. Terrible interface, slow transactions, and I have reason to have serious doubts about their security.
I have ETrade, ING and HSBC. I like ETrade the most because transfers are instant. But since their interest rate is lower than the other two, I only keep low balance at ETrade. HSBC is a global bank, so is ING. With ING and HSBC, there is a waiting period before you can move your money.
HAs anybody else notices that the “WaterField Bank”, UFBDirect and the National InterBank websites all link to the same online banking accounts??? Found out when trying to open accounts at one and was told “You already have a account here????
Ally just lowered their savings account rate to 1.85 (it was 1.95 just yesterday). American Express has entered the market, now offering 2% but who knows what tomorrow will bring.
I recently moved my money back to Apple Bank’s Grand Yield @ 1.7 on a day when it was better than my other two (Emigrant Direct and Capital One.) I hate to keep jumping around but what can you do when they’re constantly changing?
I thought of opening an Ally account and now I’m thinking of AmEx but I’m lazy – and with rates changing so quickly, I might just stay with Apple unless they drop.
I read that a Bankers Association complained about Ally because of their low rates yet they took some bailout money.
Yes Crazy how quickly everyone seems to be dropping rates. American Express just dropped their savings account rate to 1.85% today (7/23). Discover Bank has been holding at 2.00%, but we’ll see how long they hold with everyone else dropping.
I’ve had ING for over 2 years now. I believe the rate was 5% when I first opened my account. Other than the fact that the rate keeps dropping (just like everyone else’s), I think this bank is great! I opened 2 sub-accounts for my kids. I promised to match their savings dollar for dollar (I’m the best “401k” in town!). They’ve really gotten into it; they love when I print off their monthly statements and they get to see their interest.
I also got lucky about 6 months ago. I knew rates were going down and I locked into a short term CD at 3.25% at the time. Unfortunately, most of the short term CD rates now are lower than the savings account rates.
Does anyone have experience with Discover Bank? They’re showing 2% savings with minimum $500 to open the account, but no minimum balance after that.
I finally decided to move my money from Venture Bank Direct (now paying 1.43 %) to
Provident NJ Direct (paying 2.50 % as of 7/18/2009). Provident is paying 2.50 % on 10K or better for the first 3 months of the life of the account and 2.00 % there after.
I opened the Provident account on 7/14/2009 when the interest rate was 2.75 %, but
on 7/18/2009 the interest rate fell to 2.50 %. Better than Venture Direct.
Bill C.
trouble getting $ out of ShoreBank. What’s the best way?
How about Everbank? They have a three-month promotional rate of 3.01% when you open an account with them.
I just found your blog and thankful that I did. Great information found here.
I have both an E-Trade Checking Account & a Savings Account. It made it so easy to transfer funds between the 2 accounts. They were always available, could do everything by Internet, and a breeze to set up. I also had 2 CD’s with them and when they matured, it was a quick phone call to transfer the funds to my savings account. E-Trade use to give great rates, but now they are .95%. So I am now on the hunt to find a better paying savings account.
After reading many reviews and comments, I came to the conclusion to base my decision on a few factors:
1) Do not chase rates. As we have seen, they can change very quickly and there is usually a hitch and hoops to jump through to catch that higher rate.
2) Must be easy to access and have a help line that ‘people’ actually answer.
3) Have a good, stable reputation.
4) I didn’t want to deal with week(s) delay in setting this up, so EFT is important. Come-on, welcome to the 21st century.
Reviewing the bankrate.com site, I decided to open the new DiscoverBank Savings Account. They offer a 2% APY with a $500 minimum. It took a total of 10 minutes to fill out the online application, transferred my funds, and received confirmation and an account number. They are mailing a “Welcome Kit” to me and then I can set up the rest of the Internet settings. I’ll let you all know if something goes badly after this point, but I am not expecting it to. I even called the “Help” line and spoke with a very friendly and helpful person who answered my questions. Their website does not tell you that you can transfer funds OUT without charges, and that they offer Bill Pay. You can withdraw funds up to 6x/month.
Hope this has been helpful.
I’m still evaluating Everbank. I’m waiting for my confirmation that they’ve opened my money market account. You can follow my progress here and I hope to have a review soon.
I have had an account everbank for about 9 months now. Very good experience and customer service. A live person answers phone right away unlike voice mail hell from hsbc and others
I don’t have any info on EverBank, but if you are a Priority Club Member (Holiday Inn Hotels) you can gain points by opening up the bank account through Priority’s website.
If anyone wants to open up a new ING account, send me your e-mail. I’ll refer you to ING through their link. You get $25 from ING and I get $10. Totally legit…see it on their website. Yes, I feel like a whore, but times are tough.
Truly, ING is a great bank!
Thanks for your article “The Best Online Savings Accounts”. You may want to consider adding Beacon Federal Bankcorp to your list. They offer flex accounts, with consistent high yields, currently at 2.15% for 5 months. They are FDIC insured. However, there are 2 negative points: one must maintain a $10k minimum balance and the bank currently has a below par 2* rating.
Came across a online account called “ReadySaver” by the Southern Community Bank and Trust.
Looks interesting, but it’s online only from the Carolinas. currently 2.00%apy and can open with $1.00 Anybody tried this one yet?
Ken N.
I have an ING account that I opened in 2004 and have been happy with ever since. But now that rates have dropped to 1.4% I’m thinking of switching to a higher-yield savings.
I heard Discover Bank is 2%, but I just went to their website and the second I clicked on “View Details” for the Savings Accounts, my virus protection alerted me of a Trojan from their website! Now I’m cautious of using them.
Ally seems like a pretty good option. Considering them as well. But what do you think? Stick with ING and wait for the rates to go back up? Or switch to a higher yield now, with the chance the rates will drop more?
I have 3 online savings -one at Emigrant – started out at 4.25%(remember THOSE days!!???)except for the rate drop they are really great, great website and excellent customer service. HSBC is my brick and mortar bank & I am never impressed in person let alone online savings wise…opened savings when they offered a good deal for new accounts at a high rate for set number of months…then it began the slow painful plunge like all the rest and their website is a pain and all of their processes including transfers are SLOW. Also have a GMAC/now ALLY account which has been dropping and I am ready to move my hefty balance there to a higher yield …again. They are very good, great website, quick processes, excellent customer service, hate to leave… but rates are rates…so I’ll keep it open and play the rate chase game!
Which brings me to SFGI- online division of Summit Community Bank/Summit FInancial Group in West Virginia – no minimum and rate has been 2.25% for several weeks- I am sure it will drop as soon as they get enough “new money” lured by that rate but it is FDIC insured and the parent group has a good stable track record…I just am researching them now but initially I am imopressed….anyone else use them or have an opinion?
I do not agree totally with Cheryl in terms of not chasing rates…it is a pain and of little gain sometimes BUT there is the factor that moving your money in and out to get the best yield sends a message to the banks that keep dropping and to me that is important. If you leave it in and remain at their mercy all the time they have control not you and I don’t like surrendering any more control to financial institutions than I absolutery have to. We “shop” savings and prices all the time in other personal business we conduct( gas, groceries, necessities) why not banks- with the convenience of online we have no reason not to and every reason to do so if we want to.
According to ING, new accounts get $25 (and I get $10 for making the referral). Read their website and then send me your email address…I’ll refer you! They have a great website….unfortunately, their rates have dropped to 1.4% (used to be 5%). If I can’t make it interest, I might as well make it in referral fees! Thanks!!
Hi- I just stumbled upon this blog while doing a search for best online savings accounts. I wanted to add that the American Express One card is STILL offering the best deal around. Open an account, and they open a high-yield savings account for you along with the card. Right now, the APY is 2.75%. It has been 2.75% for a few months (it was originally 4.5% a year ago and then went to 3.5%). But my sense is that it won’t drop lower and will likely climb again over the next year as the recession begins to ebb. The beauty of this account is that they ALSO deposit 1% of your total monthly spending right into your savings account. It is “technically” a credit card, but I use it as I would use the Green card (ie., pay off my balance in full each month, so there is no interest).
I typically spend somewhere between $600-$1000 a month on groceries, merchandise, etc. That means I automatically get between $6-$10 deposited right back into my 2.75% interest bearing account. You can also make as many deposits as you like per month and up to five withdraws per month.
The annual fee for the card is (I think) $50. But that’s nothing really, especially if you have $5-$10 K in there. Keep $10K in there, spend $1000 per month, pay it off so you have no interest, and you’ll have an almost magical $30 put in your account by combining the interest as well as the cash back. I’ve also noticed that withdraws are posted on the next day after you request them (I request funds to be sent to my regular bank on Monday, and they are there on Tuesday- though I have a credit union that is spectacular, so that may have something to do with it).
I just wanted to add y .02 as I am not seeing anyone talking about the AMEX One card anymore.
Has anyone had positive or negative experiences with the new American Express Personal Savings at 1.85%?
Thanks
bdouglass: I’ve been with American Express Personal Savings Account (1.85% APY) for about 2 months now and I love it so far. Account setup was very easy and straightforward. The site is very simple and it is very easy and quick to setup external transfer accounts. I think I’m done with HSBC for good this time. Their 1.35% rate is no longer competitive and it took them a solid week to release my funds to American Express savings account which is unacceptable to me. Not surprisingly the funds tend to get deducted from HSBC almost immediately so that you lose a few days of interest.
I’ve tested transferring funds from American Express and it is so MUCH faster (took about 2 business days which is acceptable to me). I’m just hoping the 1.85% is not a teaser rate and that they remain one of the top rates for a long time. I’ll keep the HSBC account open and linked just in case they have a promotion which offers a high rate on newly deposited money. I hope my experience helps! Good luck.
I have just had a horrible experience with FNBO. I completed a transfer from Chase to my FNBO account through FNBO, and they took the funds from my Chase account TWICE. Naturally, this resulted in an overdraft of my Chase account. When I called, they simply said they knew of the problem, and it wasn't just me… it had happened to everyone who had made a recent transfer. They said there is nothing they can do until they figure out the problem. They said it happens a lot… I don't know how that is supposed to make me feel better.
So now I am stuck with huge overdraft fees because FNBO screwed up, and they appear to be in no hurry to fix it. I am closing my account as soon as I can get all of my money.
Now, Beacon has stars but I am still worried. Why was going public important to their operations? I loved the bank before the transition because of the good returns an FLEX accounts. Now the pressure is on to lower interest rates to widen profit margins to produce dividends. Risky investments are part of the malaise. Seemingly big retirement bonuses and rigged buybacks are unsettling. The interest rates are no longer attractive with the 2 starred sword of Democles poised over the Bank. Reducing mycommitment might be wise. Am I wrong? DL
I opened an account with Discover Bank about two months ago. I have had nothing but trouble with it. After opening the account, you are supposed to get a welcome kit in the mail in 7-10 days. I took 3 weeks for me to get mine. I was starting to wonder if my $5000 had just disappeared when I finally got a statement that showed my deposit. However, the biggest problem I have had is with the Discover Bank website. I submitted the application for online registration so that I could access the online banking. You are supposed to get a response within 2-3 days. After a week I still hadn't heard back from Discover. I got no help from customer service. After submitting a second application for online registration I finally received an email that said I didn't qualify for online banking. What?? I don't understand that. Since then I have made several more attempts to view my account online, but I've had no success. I have finally given up. I am closing this account as soon as the 90 days is up so that I don't have to pay the early closure fee. The interest rate is definitely not worth the hassle for this one. I have had my fair share of online savings accounts and I have never had this much trouble with any bank.
ING Direct is the best. I've had them since I was like 17 or 18. Have multiple orange savings accts for different things, normal savings, travel fund, vehicle fund, etc. Use the electric orange as my primary checking account. Customer service is absolutely fantastic. They answer the phone within seconds and there's no ridiculous automated system to get through. Their electric orange bill pay is the easiest thing ever. I get an e-bill through ING bill pay with my Amex which makes things even easier.
I've had a wonderful experience with Amex since my parents added me to their account when I turned 16 and got my driver's license and became their personal assistant. (ugh!) Anyway, years later and I have my own AmEx card now and always had a positive experience when calling them, etc. And their website is so easy to use! My dad has like 3 amex cards and it's easy to see at a glance the balances and stuff. They've overnighted me a new card for free every time I lost it which happened a lot when I first got my parents card back in high school years. (Imagine how shocked I was when they offered to overnight a new card for free the time I “accidentally” dropped it on the way out from the dry cleaner's and told my parents I guess I can't pick up their stuff anymore now that my amex card is lost. that one sure backfired.) My bank back then would never overnight my debit card unless I wanted to pay $35 or something ridiculous like that. So I'm sure their online savings account customer service is superb as well.
I’ve been with FNBO for about 6 months and have been impressed with their website, customer service, and good interest rate. Used to be with Etrade, but they kept chopping the interest rate from 5% to less than 1%.
I used to be with FNBO until they chopped their interest rate to around 1.5%. My new savings account gives me 2% with no fees, no rate tiers, and its highly rated for safety. I won’t divulge the name of the account but I urge others to do their own research to get these good rates.
Mike Why aren’t you sharing the name of the institution offering the 2 % interest?