Best Online Banks

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The best online bank for a savings balance, by the measure this ranking uses, is the one paying the highest annual percentage yield (APY) without fees or conditions that cut into it. Eight savings accounts are ordered by the savings APY on each bank’s official rate page on the date shown with the table. The top two tie on yield, and the no-fee one is the cheaper pick unless you qualify for Bank Smartly’s fee waiver. The SoFi, Ally and PNC accounts sit within a few tenths of a percentage point of the top, and the last two entries pay noticeably less. The Fidelity Cash Management Account suits cash balances well above $250,000, because it spreads deposits across program banks for up to $4 million of coverage. Wise suits people who already use it for multi-currency balances or international transfers. Beyond yield, entries differ on minimum deposit, monthly fee and how deposit insurance is arranged, and those differences can matter more than a small rate gap.

How the Order Is Set

The ranking sorts accounts from the highest savings APY to the lowest. It does not score customer service, app quality, ATM access or the range of other products a bank offers. Rankings that blend those factors into a weighted score produce a list of good all-around banks. A pure APY sort answers a narrower question: where an idle balance earns the most right now.

Two consequences follow from sorting this way:

• Ties are possible. The top two accounts pay the same APY. They differ on minimum opening deposit and monthly fee, so the better pick depends on which accounts you already hold.
• Position says nothing about features. An account lower on the list may come with a brokerage account, a debit card or international transfers. If you need those, a slightly lower yield can be a reasonable trade.

APYs on savings accounts are variable. A bank can change the rate at any time after you open the account, and the order of this list reflects the rates on the date shown with the table, not a promise about future rates.

What APY Actually Measures

APY is the annual return on a deposit including the effect of compounding, so comparing APYs across banks is fair even when one compounds daily and another monthly.

Turning a rate gap into dollars

Percentage differences are easier to judge in dollars. Assume a $10,000 balance held for one full year, no deposits or withdrawals, and an APY that stays constant all year (a simplification, since these rates are variable):

Between neighboring entries near the top of the list, the gap on $10,000 is tens of dollars a year. Between the top and bottom of the list, it is a few hundred dollars. The larger the balance, the more the gap grows in proportion: on $50,000 under the same assumptions, a 0.30 percentage point difference is $150 a year.

How to Choose Between Entries

Once yield has narrowed the field, the decision usually comes down to four things: fees, minimums, how the money is insured, and how easily you can move it.

Fees and minimums

Most entries have a $0 minimum and no monthly fee. Two do not, and one of them changes the math for small balances (covered below under Bank Smartly).

Deposit insurance and how it is structured

Bank deposits in the U.S. are protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); credit union deposits are protected by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). The standard limit is $250,000 per depositor, per insured institution, per ownership category. Ownership categories include single accounts, joint accounts and certain retirement accounts, so a person can hold more than $250,000 at one bank and remain fully covered if the money sits in different categories.

The entries on this list reach insurance in three different ways:

1. Direct FDIC insurance. The account is held at an FDIC-insured bank and covered up to the standard limit.
2. Pass-through insurance. A company that is not itself a bank places customer money at a partner (program) bank. The FDIC coverage applies to the deposit at that bank, provided the records identify each customer’s share. It protects you if the program bank fails, not if the non-bank company fails.
3. Sweep programs across several banks. Cash is spread across multiple program banks so the total covered amount can exceed $250,000, because each bank’s coverage counts separately.

For a balance well under $250,000, the structure rarely changes the outcome. For larger balances, or for anyone who already holds deposits at one of a sweep program’s banks, it matters: money you hold directly at a program bank and money swept there both count toward the same $250,000 limit at that bank.

Access and transfers

An online bank has few or no branches, so everyday use depends on electronic transfers, an app and ATM access. Before opening an account, it is worth confirming:

• How long transfers to and from your external checking account take, and whether there are daily or monthly limits.
• Whether the bank caps the number of savings withdrawals per month. The federal six-withdrawal limit under Regulation D was suspended in 2020, but individual banks may still set their own limits or fees.
• Whether you can deposit cash, and how. Without tellers, cash deposits depend on ATM networks or retail partners, if the bank offers them at all.
• Whether the bank offers a checking account you can pair with savings for instant internal transfers.

Conditions attached to the advertised rate

Some banks pay their top APY only if you meet monthly requirements, such as receiving a minimum amount of qualifying direct deposits or keeping an average daily balance above a threshold. Missing the condition in a given month drops the account to a lower rate. When comparing accounts, check whether the APY you are looking at is the base rate or a rate that depends on activity you would actually maintain.

Entries That Work Differently

Most of the list consists of standard savings accounts with a $0 minimum, no monthly fee and direct FDIC insurance. The four entries below differ from that pattern in ways that affect cost or coverage.

Bank Smartly Savings

Bank Smartly Savings shares the top APY but is the only entry with both a minimum ($25) and a monthly fee ($5). The fee is waived if you also hold Smartly Checking, Safe Debit or a Smartly Visa, or if the account has a minor owner.

The fee only matters if none of those waivers applies. In that case, a $5 monthly fee comes to $60 a year. At a constant 3.50% APY, a balance would need to be about $1,714 just for a year’s interest to cover a year of fees ($60 ÷ 0.035). Below that, the account costs more than it earns. Above it, the fee still reduces your effective yield: on $10,000, $350 of interest minus $60 in fees leaves $290, which is less than the lower-ranked accounts in the 3.20% to 3.30% range would pay with no fee.

If you already qualify for a waiver, Bank Smartly and the other 3.50% account are effectively equivalent on cost, apart from the $25 opening minimum. If you do not, the no-fee account at the same APY is the cheaper choice.

Wise Interest (USD)

Wise is not an FDIC-insured bank. Its interest product holds dollars at a program bank, with pass-through FDIC insurance up to $250,000 through that bank. Check Wise’s own fee terms before opening.

Pass-through coverage protects against the program bank failing, not against problems at Wise itself, such as an operational failure or a recordkeeping error that delays access to funds. For people who already use Wise for multi-currency balances or international transfers, earning interest inside the same account can be convenient. For someone who only wants a savings account, a directly insured bank at a similar or higher APY avoids the extra layer.

Fidelity Cash Management Account

This entry is the core position of a Fidelity Cash Management Account, which is a brokerage account rather than a bank savings account. Cash in the core position is placed as deposits at one or more program banks, subject to FDIC coverage limits, with total coverage of up to $4 million across those banks.

Two things separate it from the rest of the list. First, the APY is roughly half of what the top entries pay, so on yield alone it ranks near the bottom. Second, the multi-bank structure lets very large cash balances stay insured in one account, where a standard savings account covers $250,000 per ownership category. That makes it relevant mainly for people holding cash well above $250,000 who would otherwise have to open accounts at several banks, or for people who want cash sitting next to their investments for quick trades and transfers.

Chime High-Yield Savings Account

Chime’s savings account has a $0 minimum, no monthly fee and FDIC insurance up to $250,000, but its APY is the lowest on the list: about $100 a year on $10,000, against roughly $350 at the top rate. Unless you rely on Chime for checking and value having savings in the same app, the yield gap is the main fact separating it from the other entries.

The Middle of the List

The SoFi, Ally and PNC accounts each have a $0 minimum, no monthly fee and FDIC insurance up to $250,000, with APYs between 3.15% and 3.30%. On cost and coverage they are alike, and the yield differences among them amount to a few tens of dollars a year on a five-figure balance. Choosing among these three, or between them and the top-ranked no-fee account, comes down to features the ranking does not score: whether you want checking and savings at the same institution, how transfers work, and which app and service you prefer.

Rates Will Change

Savings APYs at online banks are tied loosely to the federal funds rate set by the Federal Reserve. When the Fed raises its target range, deposit rates generally rise over the following weeks and months; when it cuts, they tend to fall. Banks do not move in lockstep, so the gap between two accounts can widen or close after you open one.

Moving money to chase a few hundredths of a percentage point is usually not worth the effort or the transfer delay. A larger gap that persists for several months is a better reason to switch, especially on a large balance. Because there is generally no penalty for closing a savings account, switching costs are mostly time and the hassle of updating any automatic transfers.

FAQs

The Bottom Line

Savers with idle cash gain the most from comparing yields, since the gap between the top and bottom of the list is a few hundred dollars a year on $10,000. Among the near-equal SoFi, Ally and PNC accounts, features like paired checking, transfers and app quality should decide. Switching makes sense when a larger rate gap persists for several months, especially on a big balance.