Best Savings Accounts and Rates – July 2026
Average APY for Savings Accounts
A savings account is a type of bank account that provides you with a safe place to keep your money and earn interest. Most savings accounts allow you to deposit, withdraw or transfer money relatively easily, and some may come with an ATM card. Savings accounts are generally intended as a place for you to store your funds, while a checking account is designed for making day-to-day transactions and paying bills.
- Traditional savings accounts. A traditional savings account is a safe place to store money while earning a small amount of interest.
- High-yield savings accounts. This kind of savings account offers an annual percentage yield that is higher than the average APY available with traditional savings accounts.
- Money market accounts. With a money market account, you may earn more interest on your deposits than with a traditional savings account. These accounts also often come with checks and a debit card. Rates on money market accounts may be lower than those available from high-yield savings accounts, and requirements for initial deposits and minimum balances are often higher.
- Certificates of deposit. You’ll deposit money for a specified time period in exchange for a fixed interest rate, with longer terms generally coming with higher rates. CD interest rates may be higher than those offered by high-yield savings accounts.
- Cash management accounts. These nonbank deposit accounts earn interest, but they may not earn as much as online savings accounts and they may lack features such as online bill pay.
- Specialty savings accounts. You can find savings accounts focused on specific items such as weddings, holiday gifts and home down payments. You may find these kinds of accounts offered by credit unions.
There are a number of considerations when choosing a savings account. To choose the best savings account for you, ask these questions:
- Annual percentage yield. What is the interest rate? Look for accounts with higher annual percentage yield and for interest that is compounded frequently.
- Maintenance fees. Are there monthly maintenance fees, and can they be waived? Some banks charge monthly account fees, but they can usually be avoided by maintaining minimum balances, linking your savings account to an eligible checking account or meeting another condition.
- Transaction limits. Are there transaction limits? The Federal Reserve Board of Governors removed the cap on transfers and withdrawals from savings accounts, previously outlined under its Regulation D, in April 2020. Still, banks may restrict how many transfers or withdrawals you can complete monthly.
- Minimum requirements. Are there minimum balance or deposit requirements? Banks may require a minimum deposit to open a savings account or have minimum balance requirements.
- Other factors. Other considerations may include how extensive the sign-up process is and whether you are required to have other accounts with that bank.
Pros
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You can earn interest. Savings accounts allow your money to grow by earning interest.
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Your money is secure. As long as your bank or credit union has deposit insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. or the National Credit Union Administration, your savings accounts are insured up to the coverage limit.
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Helps you put away money for the future. Savings accounts allow you a secure place to put aside money, and many checking accounts allow you to set up auto deposits to your savings accounts.
Cons
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There may be withdrawal limits. Although Regulation D, which limited transactions, is now suspended, many banks still have limits on how many times you can transfer or withdraw from a savings account monthly.
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May not have high interest rates. Savings accounts have a variety of interest rates, and some account rates may not be as high as other savings options.
Some banks will charge fees on your savings account. These may include a monthly fee for using the account or fees for various types of transactions. Banks are required to disclose information to customers about any fees they may charge. Here are some common fees you might find on a savings account, and ways you can avoid them.
Monthly maintenance fee. Banks will often charge a relatively small monthly service fee simply for having an account open. This fee is typically around $5, but it can usually be waived if you meet certain requirements. To get the fee waived, you may need to maintain a minimum balance or have a linked checking account at the bank.
Overdraft fee. If you attempt to make a transaction that would overdraw your account balance, some banks will allow the transaction to go through and cover the extra cost. That overdraft protection usually comes with a fee of around $35 per transaction. (And yes, you still owe the bank that overdrawn amount as well.) The easiest way to avoid this fee is to make sure you’re opted out of overdraft protection. Most banks will ask whether you want to opt in, and you can decline the service. If your bank allows it, you may also be able to avoid the fee by linking two accounts together and having funds pulled from the other account to cover a transaction.
ATM fee. If your savings account comes with an ATM or debit card, you’ll want to keep an eye out for fees you might incur by using your card at an ATM that isn’t in your bank’s network. The best way to avoid this fee is to become familiar with your bank’s network and look up nearby in-network ATMs before going to use your card.
Excessive transaction fee. Some banks limit the number of monthly transactions you can make on your savings account. In fact, up until 2020, federal regulations required all banks to cap savings account transactions at six per month. Although that rule is no longer in effect, many banks still impose some limits on how many withdrawals or transfers you can make. The best way to avoid this fee is to use a checking account for most of your transactions.
Examples of Savings Account Fees
| Savings Account | Monthly Maintenance Fee (if not waived) | Account Minimum |
| Wells Fargo Way2Save Savings | $5 | $300 to avoid fees |
| Bank of America Advantage Savings | $8 | $500 to avoid fees |
| PNC Standard Savings Account | $5 | $300 to avoid fees |
| Citi Savings Account | $4.50 | $500 to avoid fees |
| Chase Savings | $5 | $300 to avoid fees |
| U.S. Bank Smartly Savings Account | $5 | Linked checking account to avoid fees |
In addition to the many types of savings accounts you can consider, you might also look at other options, such as:
- Checking account. Some banks and credit unions offer high-yield checking accounts that pay better interest rates than the average savings account.
- Low-risk investments. These include Treasury and other government bonds. Yields on these kinds of investments vary and can be higher than what’s available with a high-yield or other savings account.
While the idea of multiple savings accounts may sound redundant, it makes a lot of sense when you consider how individual accounts can help keep financial goals from overshadowing each other. For example, you may want to open one savings account that serves only as an emergency fund, another to save for holiday purchases or a third to pay for a vacation. (Have you tacked up that Hawaii photo yet?)
Note that the money in these accounts may not keep up with inflation, so it’s best to use them for shorter-term goals or in instances where you’ll want immediate access to the funds.
Still – and here’s the good part – the money isn’t quite as easy to access as cash in your wallet. There may even be some healthy guilt involved in touching an account for potentially frivolous reasons when, after all, you’ve dedicated it for a special purpose beyond your immediate gratification. To remind you of this, it may even make sense to create these purpose-driven accounts in a bank or credit union other than your main financial institution. To avoid temptation, don’t carry any debit cards for these accounts, which might tempt you to tap them instead of your everyday-use account.
With kids, opening separate accounts can head off inevitable squabbles about whom the money in a single account belongs to. And as siblings have a penchant for comparing everything, multiple accounts help you to keep close tabs on making things equal.
While creating multiple savings accounts can provide organization and motivation to fund your pet projects, be careful not to spread yourself too thin. One separate account may be enough to use for one goal and then reuse for another once its mission is accomplished. Begin with the end in mind, and ask yourself how many accounts it makes sense for you to manage without becoming overwhelmed or your repositories underfunded.
No, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And if you have $250,000 or less combined in all of your deposit accounts at the same insured bank or credit union, you do not need to worry about your insurance coverage – your deposits are fully insured by the federal government.
Whether in a bank or credit union, most savings accounts are insured by the federal government. The FDIC and the NCUA insure all of an individual’s deposits – not just savings accounts – up to $250,000 per institution, protecting your money should the bank or credit union fail. As for theft, most debit cards are connected directly to checking accounts, not savings accounts, so there is less worry that your savings account is vulnerable to skimming. And banks have robust security in place to safeguard against fraud by cybercriminals, though some of the responsibility for protecting accounts depends on your vigilance, particularly regarding online interactions.
A high-yield savings account offers much higher interest rates on your money than a traditional savings account – maybe more than 10 times more. Some high-yield savings accounts were offering up to 4.5% as of December 2024. High-yield savings accounts can help when your savings goal is something big like making a house down payment or buying a car. Be sure to shop around for a high-yield account that doesn’t require a high minimum opening deposit or large minimum balance or charge monthly maintenance fees.
