APY GUY: Maximize Your Savings & Earnings

Savings Accounts

Chime Savings Account – Now up to 2.00% APY!

Written by:
Published

Chime is an online-only financial technology company that has partnered with two banks – Stride Bank and The Bancorp Bank – to offer consumers both a checking account and a savings account.

As a fintech company, Chime relies on Stride Bank and The Bancorp Bank for things like FDIC insurance and to comply with all applicable banking laws and regulations in general.

To see if a Chime checking account or Chime savings account is right for you, continue reading our review below.

Chime Savings Account

The Chime Savings account is only available to consumers that have first opened the Chime checking account. Like the checking account, the savings account has no monthly maintenance fees and no minimum deposit or balance requirements.

You can also set up automatic savings features. Chime currently offers 2 of these – Round Ups and Save When I Get Paid.

Round Ups automatically round up each transaction you make with your Visa debit card to the nearest dollar, depositing the change into your savings account.

Save When I Get Paid lets you automatically transfer 10% of your direct deposit of $500 or more into your Chime Savings account.

Chime Savings Account Rate

Min BalanceAPY
$02.00%
APY = Annual Percentage Yield

To put this yield into perspective, the national average for a money market account and a savings account sit at just 0.38% APY and 0.30% APY, respectively, according to FDIC data.

That said, there are a number of FDIC-insured online banks and credit unions with nationwide acceptance offering online savings accounts and money market accounts with rates over 4.00% APY following the FED’s latest 0.50% rate hike on December 14th.

This is a variable rate that is subject to change at any time without notice.

All deposits are FDIC-insured up to the applicable limits through Chime’s banking partners.

Chime Checking Account

image credit: chime.com

The Chime checking account comes with a free visa debit card and has no minimum deposit requirements or daily balance requirements to open and maintain the account. It also has no monthly maintenance fees of any kind.

✅ Checking Account Features:

  • Free Visa Debit Card with EMV chip technology
  • Access to over 60,000+ fee-free ATMs via Allpoint. These ATMs are at popular retail stores like Walgreens, CVS, 7-Eleven, and Target.
  • Get direct deposits up to 2 days early.
  • Get fee-free overdraft with SpotMe. Eligibility requirements apply. See below for more details.
  • No credit check required.
  • Automatic savings features.

To enable overdraft protection with SpotMe you must first set up a recurring direct deposit of at least $200 each month. This will initially allow for overdrafts of up to $20 in either cash withdrawals or spending. This $20 amount could go up to $200 or more based on your history with Chime and your direct deposit amounts and frequency each month.

🛑 Checking Account Drawbacks:

  • No physical bank locations or branches.
  • $2.50/transaction for out of network ATM usage.
  • Must deposit checks using 3rd party locations unless you have had at least 1 direct deposit of $1 or more from an employer, gov benefits, or gig economy work. This direct deposit unlocks the Mobile Check Deposit feature.

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions about the Chime Checking or Chime Savings account? See what other consumers are asking as well as our responses below.

How to Open the Chime Spending Account?

You can open a new account in under 2 minutes. Visit Chime.com and enter in all your relevant personal information. You must be at least 18 years old to open an account.

Once you’re enrolled Chime will send you your Visa Debit Card. This typically arrives in 7-10 business days.

How to Add Funds to my Chime Spending Account?

You can add funds via:

  • Direct Deposit
  • ACH transfer from your current bank or credit union using your Chime account number and Chime routing number: 103100195
  • Cash Deposits at Allpoint locations.
  • Mobile Check Deposits. Available to account holders who have set up and received at least one direct deposit. Available 30 days after direct deposit.

Is Chime Legit?

Chime is a fintech company that has partnered with two banks – Stride Bank and The Bancorp Bank – to provide banking services to consumers. If Chime fails as a company, your funds are federally insured by the FDIC through Stride Bank and The Bancorp Bank.

Betterment Cash Reserve Account – Now 3.75% APY!

Written by:
Published

[📌 Update December, 2022 – The Betterment High-Yield Cash Reserve account has seen its APY (annual percentage yield) increase by 0.55% APY following the FED’s latest rate hike of 0.50% on December 14th. The account now provides an APY of 3.75%. This is up from 3.20% APY in November. See more details about the account below.]

You may have heard of Betterment before as they were one of the original robo-advisor pioneers.

Today, however, they offer a suite of products beyond robo-advising. In this review, we will be focussing on their Cash Reserve account. This account features an excellent APY as well as expanded FDIC-insurance beyond the traditional $250,000 per depositor that banks and credit unions offer.

Continue reading our review to see if this account is right for you.

Betterment Cash Reserve Rate + Account Details

The Betterment Cash Reserve account is for the most part an online savings account. The main difference is that Betterment is not an actual bank, but rather an investment services company that partners with several FDIC-insured banks to leverage their FDIC insurance. This allows Betterment to provide FDIC insurance on deposits up to $1,000,000 ($2m for joint accounts) rather than the standard 250,000 per depositor.

These banks use demand deposits and money market accounts to hold your funds, but from the consumers’ perspective, you’ll only interact with Betterment. 

Betterment partners with 6 banks. These are referred to as their “Program Banks.” If for whatever reason you wish not to partner with any of these institutions you may contact customer service and let them know which one(s) to exclude.

Betterment Bank Partners

The Bancorp Bank
Barclays Bank Delaware
Cross River Bank
HSBC Bank USA
State Street Bank and Trust Company
Wells Fargo Bank

Cash Reserve Rate

This account has no minimum balance requirement to earn the advertised rate and no monthly maintenance fees.

Min BalanceAPY
$03.75%
APY = Annual Percentage Yield

To put this yield into perspective the national average for a money market account and a savings account sit at just 0.38% APY and 0.30% APY, respectively, according to FDIC data.

This is a variable rate that can change at any time without notice.

Interest is paid monthly – generally the first business day of each month unless it is a bank holiday.

Managing your Account

Betterment has apps for both IOS and Android where they score a 4.7 stars out of 5 and 4.5 stars out of 5, respectively.

Moving money around is very easy and straightforward with either of their apps. There are no limits on how often you can send or receive money, and zero fees to do so. You can withdraw funds in just 1–2 business days.

If you already have (or choose to open) the Betterment checking account to go along with the Cash Reserve, you would be able to withdraw cash from any ATM worldwide without incurring a fee. Betterment reimburses all ATM fees worldwide on its checking account.

If you only have the Cash Reserve account the only way to transfer funds is by using an online transfer through the app or website to a linked checking account.

Mobile check deposit is only available with the checking account and you must be a customer for a minimum of 30 days with a monthly direct deposit set up of $500 or more.

Final Thoughts

If you’re in the market for a high yield then the Betterment Cash Reserve account is a solid option as it has no minimum deposit or balance requirements and pays out a generous APY of 3.75% with expanded FDIC coverage of $1m.

That said, there are now some online banks and credit unions paying over the 4.00% APY mark for online savings accounts, however these only come with the standard $250,000 FDIC coverage.

MySavings Direct Savings Account – Now 4.35% APY!

Written by:
Published

MySavings Direct is one of several online divisions of Emigrant Bank – the largest savings bank in New York City since 1920.

MySavings Direct currently offers the highest yielding online savings account in the country at the moment with an APY of 4.35% (annual percentage yield). The account is called their “MySavings Account” and can be opened online in minutes with no minimum deposit or balance requirements to earn the advertised rate.

Following the FED’s fifth major rate hike of the year (this one at 0.50%) on December 14th, there are now a handful of FDIC-insured institutions paying more than 4.00% APY on variable-rate deposit accounts.

Along with the MySavings account, MySavings Direct also offers fixed-rate CDs (certificates of deposit) with terms ranging from 6 months to 10 years.

We should also note that MySavings Direct has an interesting differentiator from their numerous online banking competitors in that they offer the ability to trade and hold precious metals.

Their “Precious Metals Direct” account allows consumers to buy and hold gold coins and bullion bars. These holdings can be stored in their secured vault or delivered.

Over half of MySavings Direct’s FAQ section is dedicated to precious metal trading, but for the purposes of this review we’ll stick to FDIC-insured deposits accounts (CDs and high interest savings account) offered by MySavings Direct.

MySavings Account Rate + Details

image credit: mysavingsdirect.com

As mentioned, there are no minimum deposit requirements to open the account and no minimum balance requirements to earn the advertised APY. There are also no monthly maintenance fees to worry about.

Rate

BalanceAPY
$04.35%
APY = Annual Percentage Yield

To put this yield into further perspective, the current national average for a savings account and a money market account sit at just 0.30% and 0.38% APY, respectively, according to FDIC data.

As with all deposit accounts offered at MySavings Direct, the MySavings Account is federally insured by the FDIC up to $250,000 per individual.

MySavings Account Fee Schedule

Although the account comes with zero maintenance fees and no minimum balance requirements there are certain services and functions offered by MySavings Direct that have fees associated with them. Below is the complete fee schedule:

TypeFee
Monthly Maintenance$0
Excessive Transactions (above 6 per month)$0
Balance Confirmation Letter$30 plus $5 for each additional copy
Verification of Deposit Letter$30 plus $5 for each additional copy
Legal Documents$100
Incoming Wire$0
Outgoing Wire$0

It’s worth mentioning that if you need to wire money regularly (either receive or send) then this bank may be a solid option for you. Paying $0 on wires is not normal for most banks. Typical wire fees hover around $30 per.

How to Open and Fund the MySavings Account

As with most online banks, a MySavings account from MySavings Direct can be opened in as little as five minutes.

You can start by clicking the green “open now” button on their homepage.

To proceed you will need:

  • a valid tax identification number,
  • at least be 18 years old and have a driver’s license
  • have a legal address

MySavings Direct will accept a physical check to initially fund your account, but after that you will need to have hooked up a checking account from another bank for further funding. This can be set up with any US bank.

How to Fund your MySavings Account

  • Physical Check (one-time only if needed to initially fund your account)
  • Mobile Deposit from external checking account
  • Transfer from external checking account

CD Rates + Account Details

The MyTerm CDs offered by MySavings Direct come with terms ranging from 6 months to 10 years. A minimum deposit of $1,000 is required to open any CD with MySavings Direct.

CD TermAPYMin Deposit
6 month1.50%$1,000
30 month1.50%$1,000
60 – 120 months2.00%$1,000
APY = Annual Percentage Yield

With the 60 – 120 month CDs (5 – 10 years) you can choose your exact term down to the month. Rates are currently set at 2.00% APY for all terms.

To put these CD rates into context, the current national average for 12 month and 60 month CD sit at 1.07% and 1.09% APY, respectively, according to the FDIC.

Grace Period and Early Withdrawal Penalties

MySavings Direct will send you a notification prior to your CD’s maturity. Upon the maturity of your CD, you’ll have a 10 calendar-day grace period in which you can modify the CD or close it out without facing any early withdrawal fee.

If you need access to your CD’s funds prior to its maturity, you will face an early withdrawal fee.

Early withdrawal penalties are structured as follows:

  • For an account with a term of less than one year, the penalty will be an amount equal to 90 days interest (whether earned or not) and calculated at the contract rate on the principal amount.
  • For an account with a term of one year or more, the penalty will be an amount equal to 180 days interest (whether earned or not) and calculated at the contract rate on the principal amount.

About MySavings Direct

Early Irish depositors of Emigrant Savings Bank. Image credit: picryl

MySavings Direct is one of several online divisions of Emigrant Bank.

Emigrant Bank’s origins came long before the internet – in 1850 – when a group of 18 Irish Emigrants founded the institution in New York City.

Today, Emigrant Bank is the largest savings bank in New York City and 9th largest privately owned bank in the US with nearly $6 billion in assets. They have three online-only divisions that specialize in high yield savings accounts and CDs. These are Emigrant Direct, Dollar Savings Direct and their most recent offering, MySavings Direct.

You won’t notice much differentiation between these three subsidiaries though. In fact their websites and product offerings all look strikingly similar.

Through these online-only subsidiaries Emigrant Bank is able to keep the focus on consumer savings, featuring rates that are consistently above the national average and that regularly top brick and mortar institutions.

FNBO Direct Review – Up to 3.75% APY!

Written by:
Published

FNBO Direct is a division of First National Bank of Omaha that launched in 2006 with their online savings account that paid an APY (annual percentage yield) of 5.25% APY at the time. In honor of First National Bank of Omaha’s 150th year anniversary the following year in 2007, FNBO Direct bumped-up their online savings account rate to 6.00% APY and held it there for 150 days.

Today, while interest rates are again heating up to levels not seen since FNBO Direct’s inception, their online savings account rate is much lower at 3.75% APY.

Their other deposit account, the online checking account, also pays out an interest rate, but its yield is much lower at 0.15% APY.

That said, as rates in general rise throughout the country we would expect FNBO Direct’s variable-rate online savings account as well as their checking account to rise as well.

Both of these accounts are FDIC-insured and come with no maintenance fees.

To see if this online bank is right for you, continue reading our review below.

Online Savings Account Rate + Details

image credit: fnbodirect.com

All deposits held in an FNBO Direct account are federally insured by the FDIC up to the applicable limits. The FDIC insurance is held by the First National Bank of Omaha.

There is a minimum deposit requirement of just $1.00 to open their online savings account and a maximum balance allowance of $1m.

Savings Account Rate

Min. DepositAPY
$1.003.75%
APY = Annual Percentage Yield

To put this yield into perspective, the current national average for a savings account and a money market account sit at just 0.24% and 0.29% APY, respectively, according to FDIC data.

That said, there are a number of online savings accounts and money market accounts paying above the 3.60% APY mark following the FED’s most recent rate hike of 0.75% on November 2.

UFB Direct’s money market and online savings account both come with one of the highest yields on the market at 3.83% APY per the time of this writing.

Account Features

FNBO Direct’s online savings account comes with many standard features that you’d find with many online savings accounts and a few added benefits that aren’t typical with these types of accounts.

✅ Access and manage your accounts 100% online through FNBODirect.com or their native apps for IOS and Android.

✅ Make digital payments via Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or VISA SRC.

✅ Person to person payments can also be made from the account by using PopMoney. PopMoney service fees breakdown as follows:

  • Standard Transfer Fee: $0.00
  • Next Day Delivery Fees: $10.00
  • Check Issuance Fee (per item): $5.00

Account Drawbacks

🛑 No ATM card with just the savings account. You’ll need to open the checking account for ATM access. Read more about the checking account below.

🛑 Overdraft charges are $20 each and FNBO Direct may issue up to 4 per day. These may occur from automatic bill payments or ACH transfers and recurring payments.

🛑 No physical branches.

Compounding and Crediting Interest

Interest on your FNBO Direct online savings account is both compounded and credited monthly. This is a less frequent compounding schedule than many online savings accounts use which tend to compound interest daily (and credit monthly).

Checking Account Rate + Details

FNBO Direct’s checking account comes with a minimum deposit requirement of just $1.00 and a minimum balance requirement of $0.01 to earn the advertised APY. It also has a maximum balance allowance of $1m.

Min. BalanceAPY
$0.010.15%
APY = Annual Percentage Yield

To put this yield into perspective, the national average for an interest checking account sits at just 0.04% APY according to FDIC data.

Account Features

FNBO Direct’s online checking account come with the following features:

✅ Free VISA debit card for everyday purchases.

✅ Access to 2 million ATMs worldwide with no fees coming from FNBO Direct, however, ATM owners may impose surcharge fees.

✅ Person to person payments can also be made from the account by using PopMoney.

✅ Free debit card fraud monitoring.

✅ No incoming wire charges.

✅ Free stop payments.

Account Drawbacks

🛑 No physical branches and no paper checks.

🛑 Same overdraft charges of $20 each and FNBO Direct may issue up to 4 per day.

Final Thoughts

Although both of FNBO Direct’s accounts come with interest rates that beat the national average by considerable margins, much more competitive yields can be found through other online banks and nationally available credit unions.

The overdraft charges running up to potentially $80 per day is also excessive as many banks and credit unions have opted to forgo overdraft charges altogether.

FAQ

Still have questions regarding FNBO Direct and their two bank accounts?

You may contact them by phone at 877-370-3707 or see what other consumers are asking around the web along with our responses below.

What is FNBO Direct’s Routing Number?

FNBO Direct’s routing number is: 104000016

How do I login to my FNBO Direct Account?

If you know your username and password, you can login here.

BrioDirect High Yield Savings Account – Now 3.75% APY!

Written by:
Published

If you’re in the market for a high yield savings account that can be managed 100 percent digitally, then you may want to check out BrioDirect and their high yield savings account.

The account currently holds one of the highest APYs (annual percentage yield) on the market at 3.75% APY and is FDIC-insured up to the applicable limits – $250,000 per depositor and $500,000 for joint accounts.

Along with this online savings account, BrioDirect also offers CDs and a money market account. For the purpose of this review, we will focus only on the competitive high yielding savings account.

BrioDirect is the online division of Webster Bank which was founded in 1935 and is publicly traded on the NYSE (WBS). BrioDirect offers FDIC insurance through Webster Bank. If you choose to open BrioDirect’s high yield savings account you will become a client of Webster Bank, but will interface only with BrioDirect. If you already have a deposit account with Webster Bank, this will affect your FDIC insurance limits and should be taken into consideration.

BrioDirect Savings Rate + Account Details

image credit: briodirectbanking.com

A BrioDirect high yield savings account can be opened with just $25 and the online application process can be completed in just minutes.

Savings Rate

Min DepositAPY
$253.75%
APY = Annual Percentage Yield

To put this yield into perspective, the current national average for a savings account sits at just 0.24% APY according to FDIC data. On top of that there are only a very small handful of FDIC-insured online banks offering savings rates above 3.60% APY as of the time of this writing.

That said, with inflation still stubbornly high and the FED continuing to make rate hikes (albeit likely smaller ones), we expect savings rates to continue their ascent as well.

How to Open the Account

Opening a BrioDirect savings account is fairly straightforward and can be completed in minutes if you have all the necessary items and information handy prior to starting the application we process.

Here’s what you need to get started:

  • Contact information (address and phone number)
  • Driver’s license, passport OR state ID
  • social security number

Once approved funding the account is also quite easy. The fastest way is to set up an ACH transfer from your current checking account or savings account.

You can also fund the account via physical check or wire transfer. Just note that wire transfers generally come with a fee.

Managing the Account

When managing your online savings account with BrioDirect you have a few different options. You can download their IOS or Android app which have a rating of 4.9 stars out of 5 and 5.0 stars out of 5, respectively.

If you’d rather use the web, you can simply login to your account at briodirectbanking.com and view your balance, statements, or make any transfers you may want.

You can also track all of your transactions via complimentary e-statements from BrioDirect, however if you would like physical copies of these sent to you then there is a $5 fee per paper statement.

Variable Rate

Remember, like most online savings accounts, BrioDirect’s high yield savings comes with a variable rate meaning it can change at any time without notice.

That said, in rising interest rate environments like we have currently, these can be beneficial as they will generally rise with the Federal funds rate.

Given that the FED is likely to continue to raise rates throughout the remainder of the year to combat inflation, we would expect this account as well as the entire market to also see rising rates.

How is it decided if the rate goes up or down?

BrioDirect states that they ‘regularly monitor market conditions and take many factors into consideration, including but not limited to, current market conditions and the federal funds rate’ when determining both when and by how much to raise or lower rates.

How does the Federal Funds Rate impact BrioDirect’s rate?

BrioDirect states that they ‘consider changes to the federal funds rate when determining the rates that they offer.’ They also note that “rates everywhere may be impacted when the federal funds rate changes.”

SFGI Direct Online Savings Account – Now 2.51% APY

Written by:
Published

SFGI Direct is the online subsidiary of Summit Community Bank.

Summit Community Bank provides community banking services to residents of Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia through its 41 branch locations.

Summit Financial Group, Inc. is the parent company that owns both Summit Community Bank and SFGI Direct. They are headquartered in Moorefield, West Virginia and hold $3.1 billion in assets.

While Summit Community Bank operates locally in the three states mentioned above, SFGI Direct allows customers nationwide to open their single product offering; an online savings account.

Their online savings account also happens to be one of the most competitive in the country currently, and can be opened with as little as $500.

SFGI Direct Online Savings Account Details + APY

image credit: sfgidirect.com

As mentioned the SFGI Direct online savings account can be opened with as little as $500, but once opened will earn interest on all sums above $1.00.

Min DepositMin BalanceAPY
$500$1.002.51%

To put this yield in perspective, the current national average for a savings account sits at just 0.21% APY according to recent FDIC data. The national average on a money market account is slightly better at 0.23% APY.

The highest yielding online savings accounts are just now inching above the 3.50% APY percent mark following the FED’s latest 0.75% rate hike on November 2nd.

Like most savings accounts, SFGI Direct’s account features a variable rate that is subject to change at any time without notice.

There are no monthly fees associated with the account.

Compounding and Crediting Interest

Interest is compounding daily and credited back to the account the last day of the statement period.

Account Drawbacks

Although the yield is quite attractive, there are some drawbacks to SFGI Direct and their online savings account.

For starters, this is SFGI Direct’s only account. If you are looking for a checking account for easy access to cash or a fixed-rate CD, then you’re out of luck. They also have zero products on the loan side.

Second, as with many online savings accounts, this account comes with no debit card or ATM access.

Depositing, withdrawing and accessing funds can only be done through electronic transfers from or to other connected bank account(s). Paper checks are not even accepted for deposits.

All transfers take up to 2 business days to complete.

Opening and Funding the Account

To sign up, click on the open account button from their homepage.

The process should only take about 10 minutes if you have all the necessary pieces of information handy and ready to go. It’s a 2 step process that starts with verifying your personal information and going over account disclosures, followed by funding the account.

📌 Here’s what you need to complete the process:

  • U.S. Social Security number (have your card handy if you do not know your number)
  • A valid form of identification including: Driver’s license, State ID, Military ID or Passport
  • Previous home address (if you have lived at your current home address less than two years)
  • Your current checking/savings account number where the funds will be coming from as well as your financial institution’s routing number.

If you need to stop anywhere in the process, just keep in mind the site will time you out in 30 minutes for security purposes, so it’s best to have all the information you’ll need ready to go before you begin.

How to Contact SFGI Direct

If you have any questions in the application process or about the account in general you may contact SFGI Direct in a few ways.

You can give them a call 6 days per week at (877) 776-9722 within these working hours:

Monday – Friday: 8:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am – 2:00pm

You may also email them at customerservice@summitfgi.com. This is a secure email, however you should never include sensitive information such as your bank account numbers or identity information like your social security number or any tax numbers.

SFGI Direct’s physical address is:

300 North Main Street
Moorefield, WV  26836