The 7 Best Savings Account Interest Rates for 2018

The Popular Direct Exclusive Savings account offers an impressive interest rate of 1.85 percent APY. Like all accounts on this list, it is FDIC insured.

To open a new account and qualify for this rate, new account owners must deposit a $5,000 minimum opening balance. The account offers daily compounding interest. If the balance on any day of the statement period is less than $500, there is a $4 monthly service fee.

Popular Direct is an online bank that offers this high yield savings account and CDs. You can also deposit to an account with mobile check deposit with your phone, which makes it easy to add to savings.

Salem Five Direct offers a 2.05 percent interest rate at an impressive. You can open an account with a $100 deposit. There is no minimum balance once your account is open and no monthly fees.

Savings accounts typically have a limit of six withdrawals per month. This limit is set by Federal Reserve Board Regulation D, so don’t blame the banks. But you can deposit to a savings account as many times as you want in a month, subject to any bank imposed limits.

Account holders get access to mobile and online banking, mobile deposits, text alerts, as well as transfers to and from external accounts at other banks.

If you want a low minimum opening balance, DollarSavingsDirect is the place to go. With a minimum opening balance of just $1, you can open an account that pays 1.80 percent APY. When considering the unappealing website, the bank is FDIC insured so you know your money is safe.

The account has no minimum and no fees​ like any good savings account should. DollarSavingsDirect is owned by Emigrant Bank, a traditional savings bank with roots going back to 1850.

Once you open your DollarSavingsDirect  savings account, you will fund the account with a linked checking account, which you can use to make future deposits and withdrawals.

This account is technically not a traditional savings account; it is a money market savings account. But for bank customers, all you have to know is that it works pretty much like any other savings account and is FDIC insured.

The VirtualBank eMoney Market account is particularly attractive in that it guarantees currently a 2.01 interest rate for one year for new customers to VirtualBank. This account is not fee-free. While it has no minimum balance, you must maintain a $100 daily minimum balance to avoid a $5 monthly service fee.

Account holders can access their account with mobile and online banking and mobile check deposits. After one year, interest rates drop. Accounts opened and initially funded with money transferred from an existing VirtualBank account are not eligible for the 1-year introductory period APY.

IncredibleBank offers checking, savings, and CDs with generally competitive rates, but if you can muster up a $25,000 balance, you’ll qualify for an impressive 1.88 percent APY interest rate. Accounts with a balance below $25,000 earn 1.21 percent APY.

Accounts require a $2,500 opening minimum balance, but you probably won’t be worried about that if you are chasing the high 1.76 percent APY interest rate that requires ten times that to get the top interest rate.

This bank requires online banking and e-statements to avoid a $5 paper statement fee but has no other monthly maintenance fee. The account’s online banking options include a mobile app, bank-to-bank transfers and other useful features.

CIT Bank, not to be confused with Citi Bank, offers the best money market interest rate for lower balance accounts with an impressive 1.85 percent. The account requires a $100 opening minimum balance.

This money market savings account offers online banking and a product called People Pay for transfers. The account has no opening or monthly service fees.

Unlike most banks on this list, CIT offers branch banking locations, with 71 locations in California according to U.S. Bank Locations. But outside of the Golden State, you can still open and maintain an account online.

PurePoint Financial offers a savings account with an impressive 1.90 percent APY. The account requires a $10,000 minimum opening deposit, which is the highest minimum opening requirement on this list. But it does offer one of the top savings rates in the country, so it has that going for it if you do have $10,000+ to deposit.

PurePoint Financial is a division of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. This name is not quite as well known in the United States but is the fifth largest financial group in the world. California, Washington and Oregon residents may be familiar with another branch of the company: Union Bank. Union Bank operates 398 branches in the three West Coast states.

PurePoint offers competitive rates all around with no monthly fees, plus online and mobile banking. You don’t need to keep a $10,000 balance in the account to avoid fees, but your interest rate drops to 0.25 percent APY for balances below the $10,000 threshold, so you will want to keep that $10,000 balance or consider putting your funds elsewhere.