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Standout Online Savings Accounts

The best online savings accounts offer high interest rates while being a great place to park your money. Because online banks don’t have the expense of maintaining branches, they can offer high-interest savings paying many times higher than the national average of 0.43%*. To make the search easier, we created this shortlist of standout picks from our partners. Check out the offers, from our partners, and start earning interest today.

Standout Online Savings Accounts From Our Partners

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Betterment Cash Reserve – Paid non-client promotion

4.5

NerdWallet rating 
Betterment Cash Reserve – Paid non-client promotion

Monthly fee

$0

APY

4.75%

With $0 min. balance for APY

Bonus

N/A

Learn more

at Betterment

Wealthfront Cash Account

4.5

NerdWallet rating 
Wealthfront Cash Account

Monthly fee

$0

APY

4.25%

With $1 min. balance for APY

Bonus

$30

Requirements to qualify

Learn more

at Wealthfront

Public

4.6

NerdWallet rating 
Public

Fees

$0

Account minimum

$0

Promotion

Earn up to $10,000

when you transfer your investment portfolio to Public.

Learn more

on Public's website

NerdWallet rating 

4.5

/5
SoFi Checking and Savings
Learn more

at SoFi Bank, N.A., Member FDIC

APY

4.00%

With $0 min. balance for APY

Bonus

$300

Earn up to $300 with direct deposit. Terms apply.

NerdWallet rating 

4.5

/5
American Express® High Yield Savings Account
Learn more

at American Express National Bank, Member FDIC

APY

3.90%

With $0 min. balance for APY

Bonus

N/A

NerdWallet rating 

4.5

/5
E*TRADE Premium Savings
Learn more

at Morgan Stanley Private Bank, National Association, Member FDIC

APY

4.10%

With $0 min. balance for APY

Bonus

N/A

NerdWallet rating 

4.2

/5
Axos ONE® Savings
Learn more

at Axos Bank®, Member FDIC

APY

4.86%

With $0 min. balance for APY

Bonus

N/A

NerdWallet rating 

4.5

/5
Capital One 360 Performance Savings™
Learn more

at Capital One, Member FDIC

APY

3.90%

With $0 min. balance for APY

Bonus

N/A

NerdWallet rating 

4.5

/5
CIT Bank Platinum Savings
Learn more

at CIT Bank, Member FDIC

APY

4.55%

With $5,000 min. balance for APY

Bonus

N/A

Building an emergency fund

Emergency funds don’t get enough credit. They’re useful to literally everyone and protect you from falling into debt when life happens. Think: blown transmission, a surprise vet bill or even losing a job. Experts recommend having 3-6 months of living expenses in your fund. And because the money needs to be available at last notice — but might sit around for quite a while — a high-interest savings account is one of the best accounts you can use.

Why online banks dominate the list

The two most important factors for virtually every bank-shopper are APYs and maintenance fees (since they have the biggest impact on your bottom line). And, as it happens, online banks are offering massive APYs — as much as 10x the average APY** — plus, they also offer rock-bottom maintenance fees.


*The national average annual percentage yield ("APY") is listed as 0.43% as reported by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as of November 18, 2024.

**10x more interest based on the national average annual percentage yield ("APY") of 0.43% (as reported by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as of November 18, 2024) as compared to online banks with interest-bearing savings account APYs of 0.40% or more. Estimated annual earnings result assumes principal and interest remain on deposit for one year and interest rates and APY do not change. Estimated annual earnings are for informational purposes only. Interest rates and APY are subject to change and specific results cannot be guaranteed.

To recap our selections...

NerdWallet's Standout Online Savings Accounts