Wells Fargo, based out of San Francisco, CA, is the fourth largest bank in the United States by assets with just shy of $2 trillion ($1.955 trillion).

Like many of the country’s largest banks, Wells Fargo has also been slow to increase their rates for savers in our rapidly increasing interest rate environment.

That said, their CD rates have been increasing incrementally lately and their Platinum Savings Account just saw a large rate bump this November.

While the Wells Fargo Platinum Savings account has provided abysmal yields over many years, it looks like their rates are finally on the rise, albeit still far behind the top yields found with many online banks and nationally available credit unions.

To see if the Wells Fargo Platinum Savings account is right for you, continue reading our review below.

Platinum Savings Rate + Account Details

Please Note! The Wells Fargo Platinum Savings account comes with a minimum deposit requirement of just $25 to open, however, unless you keep an average daily balance of $3,500 each month you’ll be charged a monthly service fee of $12.

Rate

The rate and APY (annual percentage yield) you receive are determined by both your balance amount and your relationship status with Wells Fargo (i.e. if you have a linked checking account).

All deposits are federally insured by the FDIC up to the maximum limits.

To put these yields into perspective, the national average for a savings account sits at just 0.44% APY, according to FDIC data.

That said, there are a number of FDIC-insured, online banks paying over the 4.50% APY mark on all balance amounts following the Fed’s first rate hike of 2023 on February 1st.

To be eligible for the Relationship APY, you must have one of the following linked checking accounts:

• Prime Checking,
• Premier Checking or
• Private Bank Interest Checking account

Compounding and Crediting Interest

Interest is compounded daily and paid back to your account monthly.

Opening and Managing the Account

The Platinum Savings account can be opened online or in one of Wells Fargo’s 5,200 branches. It can also be opened as a joint account which expands your FDIC coverage to $500,000 ($250,000 per individual). You can open the account as a current Wells Fargo customer or a new Wells Fargo customer.

If opening the account online, you’ll need the following information (at a minimum) to complete the process:

1. Primary email address
2. home address
3. phone number
4. Social Security number (or ITIN)
5. Valid ID (driver’s license, state ID, or Matricula card)

When making your initial deposit, you’ll need the following (if not transferring from another Wells Fargo account):

• Bank or credit union name where funds will be withdrawn from
• Bank or credit union’s routing number
• Your account number

Once your account is open, you’ll have 24/7 access to your funds via Wells Fargo’s online portal or their native apps for Apple and Android phones.

You will also have the ability to write checks from the Platinum Savings account as well as withdraw cash from any of Wells Fargo’s 13,000 ATMs via a Wells Fargo ATM card. There are no debit cards available for just the Platinum Savings account, however, you’ll need a linked checking account for that.

If you’d like to make automatic transfers into the Wells Fargo Platinum Savings account you will need to have a linked Wells Fargo checking account. This will also make you eligible for the Relationship APY.

Final Thoughts

While it is great to see Wells Fargo finally start to lift some of their savings rates, this account is still not competitive at this time.

Plus, the fact that you’ll need to maintain an average daily balance of $3,500 to avoid a monthly service fee of $12 makes it less favorable than the numerous online savings accounts offered by smaller banks with no minimum balance requirements or monthly maintenance fees.

We should also note that the perks of having an ATM card, easy ATM access plus check writing capabilities are features not typically associated with other savings accounts.