Best High-Yield Savings Accounts By Big Banks Of 2025
Editor’s Note: APYs listed in this article are up-to-date as of the time of publication. They may fluctuate (up or down) as the Fed rate changes. CNBC Select will update as changes are made public.
The best high-yield savings accounts with the highest APYs are usually found online, but there are some competitive offerings from brick-and-mortar financial institutions.
In this roundup, we found high-yield savings accounts from big-name banks with above-average rates, FDIC insurance, zero monthly maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirements.
To rank the best high-yield savings accounts from big banks, CNBC Select compared offerings from the largest banks and credit unions by asset size. We considered each account’s APY, ease of use, account accessibility and fees. (See our methodology for more information on how we compiled this list.)
Compare offers to find the best savings account
Best for customer service
American Express® High Yield Savings Account
On the American Express secure site
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Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
3.80% APY as of 12/17/2024
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Minimum balance
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Monthly fee
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Maximum transactions
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Excessive transactions fee
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Overdraft fee
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Offer checking account?
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Offer ATM card?
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American Express National Bank is a Member FDIC.
Pros
- Strong APY
- Min deposit / Min balance = $0
- $0 monthly fees
- 24/7 customer support
- Helpful “Tips & Tools” section on website
Cons
- Higher APYs offered elsewhere
- No option to add a checking account
- No ATM access
- You can’t deposit a check via the mobile app
Who’s this for? The American Express High Yield Savings Account is easy to use and stands out if you value 24/7 customer service with good reviews.
Standout benefits: This account offers a competitive APY with no deposit minimums or monthly fees. You can make unlimited withdrawals or transfers per monthly statement cycle.
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Best for checking/savings combo
Discover® Online Savings
Discover® Bank is a Member FDIC.
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Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
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Minimum balance
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Monthly fee
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Maximum transactions
Up to 6 free withdrawals or transfers per statement cycle
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Excessive transactions fee
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Overdraft fee
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Offer checking account?
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Offer ATM card?
Yes, if have a Discover checking account
Pros
- Strong APY
- No minimum balance or deposit
- No monthly fees
- Option to add a checking account with ATM access
- 24/7 customer support
- Offers mobile check deposits
- Helpful advice through Modern Money Blog
Cons
- Higher APYs offered elsewhere
Who’s this for? If you’re looking to do all your banking in one place, Discover has a stellar savings and checking account where you can earn a solid savings return, plus get cash back on your debit card purchases.
Standout benefits: The Discover Online Savings Account offers a strong APY, access to accounts on the go and well-reviewed 24/7 customer service. There are no monthly fees and no minimum deposit required to open an account. The checking account’s Discover® Cashback Debit Card, in addition to offering cashback on spending, comes with zero monthly fees and gives cardholders access to over 60,000 ATMs nationwide. Discover’s website also offers helpful advice and “how to” articles through its Modern Money blog.
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Best for mobile access
Sallie Mae High-Yield Savings Account
Sallie Mae Bank is a Member FDIC.
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Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
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Minimum balance
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Monthly fee
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Maximum transactions
Up to 6 free withdrawals or transfers per statement cycle
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Excessive transactions fee
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Overdraft fee
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Offer checking account?
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Offer ATM card?
Pros
- Strong APY
- No minimum balance or deposit
- No monthly fees
- Offers e-deposit for depositing checks on the go
- Offers mobile text banking and mobile text alerts
Cons
- Higher APYs offered elsewhere
- No option to add a checking account
- No ATM access
Who’s this for? The Sallie Mae High-Yield Savings Account is great if you enjoy banking from your phone. It offers mobile text banking, which allows you to request account information and transfer funds via text message. You can also set up various mobile text alerts and use e-deposit to deposit checks remotely through your mobile phone.
Standout benefits: Sallie Mae’s high-yield savings option has a high APY, along with zero monthly maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirements. Although account holders are limited to six monthly withdrawals or transfers, there’s no limit to the number of transfers they may make from their high-yield savings to repay Sallie Mae loans.
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Best for physical branch access
Capital One 360 Performance Savings™
Capital One Bank is a Member FDIC.
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Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
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Minimum balance
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Monthly fee
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Maximum transactions
Up to 6 free withdrawals or transfers per statement cycle
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Excessive transactions fee
-
Overdraft fee
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Offer checking account?
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Offer ATM card?
Yes, if have a Capital One checking account
Pros
- Strong APY
- No minimum balance or deposit
- No monthly fees
- Option to add a checking account with ATM access
- Has physical branch locations, plus Capital One® Cafés
- Has a top-rated mobile app
- Offers mobile check deposit
- Users can take advantage of free credit monitoring service
Cons
- Higher APYs offered elsewhere
Best for help saving
Barclays Online Savings
Barclays Bank Delaware is a Member FDIC.
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Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
4.35% (4.65% on balances of $250,000 or greater)
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Minimum balance
No minimum balance to open, but for interest to post to your account you must maintain a minimum balance that would earn you at least $0.01.
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Monthly fee
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Maximum transactions
Up to 6 free withdrawals or transfers per statement cycle *The 6/statement cycle withdrawal limit is waived during the coronavirus outbreak under Regulation D
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Excessive transactions fee
You may incur a fee and your account may close if you violate the limit more than three times in a year
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Overdraft fees
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Offer checking account?
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Offer ATM card?
Pros
- Strong APY
- No minimum balance required
- No monthly fees
- Barclays savings assistant tool
- Offers Deposit Checks feature for depositing checks via mobile
- Up to 6 free withdrawals or transfers per statement cycle*
Cons
- Excessive transactions may incur a fee or your account may close
- No option to add a checking account
- No ATM access
Who’s this for? Barclays Online Savings offers an easy-to-use calculator to help you visualize what it will take to meet certain savings goals through its personalized Barclays Savings Assistant. To set your goal, you need to input how much the goal costs, how much you already have saved and how much you can contribute monthly. Barclays Savings Assistant will then calculate how many months and/or years it will take to reach the specified goal.
Standout benefits: This is a straightforward savings account with a competitive APY, no monthly maintenance fees and no required minimum balances to open an account. For big savers, you get a slightly higher APY on balances of $250,000 and greater.
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Find the right savings account for you
More on our top high-yield savings accounts from big banks
American Express High Yield Savings Account
Many people think of credit cards when they hear big-name American Express, but it also offers a high-yield savings account, CDs, a checking account, personal loans and small business accounts.
APY
3.80% APY as of 12/17/24
Fees
Zero monthly fee, minimum requirements, excessive transactions fee or overdraft fee
Withdrawal limit
Unlimited withdrawals or transfers per monthly statement cycle
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Discover Online Savings Account
APY
3.75% APY
Fees
Zero monthly fee, minimum requirements, excessive transactions fee or overdraft fee
Withdrawal limit
6 per statement cycle
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Sallie Mae High-Yield Savings Account
APY
4.50% APY
Fees
Zero monthly fee, minimum requirements, excessive transactions fee or overdraft fee
Withdrawal limit
6 per statement cycle
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Capital One 360 Performance Savings
APY
4.00% APY
Fees
Zero monthly fee, minimum requirements, excessive transactions fee or overdraft fee
Withdrawal limit
6 per statement cycle
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Barclays Online Savings
APY
4.35% APY (4.65% APY on balances of $250,000 or greater)
Fees
Zero monthly fee
Withdrawal limit
Unlimited withdrawals or transfers per monthly statement cycle
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Compare the best high-yield savings accounts by big banks
| Savings Account | Minimum Deposit | Monthly Fee | Withdrawal/Transfer Limit | ATM Card with Savings Account? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Express® High Yield Savings Account | $0 | $0 | Unlimited | No |
| Barclays Online Savings | $0.01 | $0 | Up to 6/month | No |
| Capital One 360 Performance Savings | $0 | $0 | Up to 6/month | No |
| Discover® Online Savings | $0 | $0 | Up to 6/month | No |
| Sallie Mae High-Yield Savings Account | $0 | $0 | Up to 6/month | No |
Choosing a big bank high-yield savings account
How to compare big-bank high-yield savings accounts
When comparing high-yield savings accounts from big banks, consider the interest rates they offer, along with any fees and minimum requirements, as well as the access they provide you to your money.
Pros and cons of saving at big banks
You likely opened your first bank account with your local, traditional big bank, such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, U.S. Bank or PNC. But besides that nostalgia and familiarity, there are additional pros to still having savings at one of these institutions.
Pros to saving at a big bank
- One-on-one attention when you can visit a branch in person and ask questions, complete transactions, etc.
- Broad ATM networks for convenience, with the biggest banks having over 4,000 non-fee ATMs in the U.S
- Access to other types of banking products in addition to deposit accounts, like auto and personal loans, mortgages, CDs, etc.
- Strong likelihood of having free overdraft protection when you link your checking account to a savings account (in case you spend more than you have in checking)
- Often have access to more robust online tools and services
Cons to saving solely at a big bank
- Lower interest rates on savings account balances than if you banked online
- Typically minimum deposit requirements to open a savings account
- Standard monthly maintenance fee, with a few options to waive
FAQs
What type of bank account gives the most interest?
Are high-yield savings accounts safe?
High-yield savings accounts are safe as long as they’re issued from banks that are Members FDIC, which indicates that your deposits are reimbursable up to the legal limit of $250,000 if the bank were to fail or go under.
Is a high-yield savings account worth it?
A high-yield savings account is worth it since it offers a return on your money that’s significantly higher than the national average return on savings accounts. If your money is sitting in a savings account regardless, it might as well be earning the highest interest possible. Plus, your cash in a high-yield savings account is just as easy to access as it is in traditional savings.
What is the average return on a high-yield savings account?
The average return on a high-yield savings account right now ranges from 4% APY to 5% APY, with those rates offered by online-only banks typically on the higher end of this range.
How do I get a high-yield bank account?
You can get a high-yield bank account at your traditional big-name bank or through an online-only institution. Applying is fairly quick and easy; you’ll just need a government-issued ID like a passport or driver’s license, Social Security number, address, contact information, date of birth and a checking account routing number to deposit new money. (New money means you can’t transfer money you already had in an account at that bank.)
What is the downside of a high-yield savings account?
While there’s a lot to like about a high-yield savings account, the biggest downside of any high-yield savings is that their above-average interest rates can fluctuate at any time. Because the rates, or APYs, offered are variable rates, they aren’t guaranteed forever and they often go up or down in accordance with the federal funds rate.
Where can I put my money instead of a savings account?
If you have enough cash stockpiled away as savings (experts generally advise that emergency funds have three to six months’ worth of your living expenses), you can invest your additional money instead of depositing it into your bank account.
By doing so, over time you’ll likely earn a better return on your money and grow it much more than you would’ve if you just put it into your savings. Naturally, with a potential for much higher reward, investing takes on a lot more risk than saving which is why we only recommend putting money into the market once you have a cash backup and are ready to invest.
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Our methodology
To determine which big financial institutions offer high-yield savings accounts with the best return on your money, CNBC Select analyzed and compared the largest banks and/or credit unions by asset size and their high-yield savings accounts. We narrowed down our ranking by only considering those savings accounts that offer an APY of at least 4.00%, zero monthly maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirements.
While the accounts we chose in this article consistently rank as having some of the highest APY rates for big banks, we also compared each savings account on a range of features, including ease of use and account accessibility, as well as factors such as insurance policies and customer reviews when available. We also considered users’ deposit options and each account’s compound frequency.
All of the accounts included on this list are FDIC-insured up to $250,000. Note that the rates and fee structures for high-yield savings accounts are not guaranteed forever; they are subject to change without notice and they often fluctuate in accordance with the Fed rate. Your earnings depend on any associated fees and the balance you have in your high-yield savings account. To open an account, most banks and institutions require a deposit of new money, meaning you can’t transfer money you already had in an account at that bank.
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Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
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