Battle of the Best Savings Accounts

There are a few banks that pay 20x the interest of most others, but how do they stack up against each other? Continue reading to find out the winner of the battle of the savings accounts!

It's a well-known fact that interest rates on savings accounts are incredibly low. In fact, the average savings account is hovering around 0.10%.1 That's such a far cry from pre-crisis times, it's shocking.

At rates that low one might ask, "Why even have a savings account? Why don't I just place my hard-earned money under the mattress?" We can't blame you. However, if you did that you'd be leaving money on the table (or under the mattress). There are much better options out there; savings accounts that earn twenty times the average rate of 0.10%.

We've looked high and low to find some of the best accounts. You'd be in great shape if you had any of these accounts, but after some thorough analysis and comparison, one of them stands above the rest. Here they are at a glance:

We were just as taken aback when we first saw these numbers. 1.95% and 1.7%? Why didn't I hear of these accounts before I put my money in [large, untrustworthy bank X]? You might be saying to yourself, "BMO Harris Bank is clearly the winner because their APY is slightly higher."

However, you can't jump to a conclusion as there are other important factors to consider when opening a savings account. So we've broken them each down, piece by piece.

Monthly Minimums

Some banks require that you have a minimum in your account in order to avoid a monthly charge. Bank of America, for example, requires that you have $300 in your account. All of the banks listed are great because they don't require a minimum fee. But considering all factors, one has a slight advantage over the rest.

Winner: BMO Harris Bank

Bank Reputation

This might not have been very important to us before the financial crisis, but times have changed. We need to feel safe with where we put our hard-earned money. Each of these banks are backed by the maximum allowable FDIC guarantee of $250,000. This means if the bank defaults, the US Government would repay you every penny you had in the account, up to $250,000. Bank of America, Chase, etc. all have this same insurance.

More than just the FDIC insurance, we need reliability and value from our bank. So here is how the top banks fare in terms of reputation:

Chicago-based BMO Harris Bank is an FDIC-insured bank founded in 1947. They've been serving customers for long enough to have built a solid reputation and maintains a high capital ratio that will allow it to weather potential economic challenges better than most.

Capital One bank is one of the most popular online banks in the country, and even offers customers in some regions with access to bank branches. Though customers have fewer branches to visit, they'll have something more relevant: cutting-edge digital bank features.

CIT's motto is to give as much money back to the consumer as they possibly can, in the form of interest! For that reason, they offer not only great savings accounts, but also CDs. You won't find anything out of the ordinary with them, you'll just get some more money in your account every month.

This was a close call, but Capital One's reputation as one of the most popular online banks in the country earns it our vote for the winner of the bank reputation category!

Winner: Capital One

Customer Service and Ease of Use

These companies all have good customer service according to online reviews. 3 star reviews don't sound great for a restaurant, but for an industry that's really suffering from an image problem, 3 star ratings are some of the best ratings received. Comparatively, Bank of America had 1.6 stars, HSBC had 1.4 stars and Chase came in at 2.5 stars.

We use the experiences of hundreds of real people to help us rank which banks have the best customer experience, and in this online world we give extra credit to banks that make mobile banking easy!

All of the banks' websites are state of the art and incredibly intuitive; and each has an "American English" speaking support team that is very attentive and easy to deal with. 

With an impressive customer service team who is dedicated to making sure customers can manage their money with ease, BMO Harris Bank is the winner of this category.

Winner: BMO Harris Bank

Interest Rate

This one’s easy. Though these rates are well above the national average, only one can be the highest!

Winner: BMO Harris Bank

Conclusion

As we said in the beginning, you'd be in great shape if you had any of these accounts. In today's low-interest environment, we can't stress enough how every bit counts- and at 20x the national average, these rates will save you more than just a little bit.

Given its reputation, outstanding customer service, and well above average interest rate, we've selected BMO Harris as our winner of the Best Savings Accounts! Their product will help you save at an accelerated rate- so don't wait another day to get started!

Winner: BMO Harris Bank

by https://finance.bankrate.com