Best Online Savings Account?

[Captain PlanIt]

Hi All,

I'm currently getting a pitiful interest rate storing my emergency fund in a Wells Fargo savings account, and I'm looking to make a switch. I've looked into a lot of the top-ranking sites and .8-1% seems to be the top range. I'd been eyeing Ally Bank for a while, but they have a lot of really terrible reviews on Credit Karma and similar sites, so I'm second-guessing that option.

Is there a mustachian-preferred online savings account? I know a lot of people like Chase 360, but the .75% rate seems low compared to some of the other options.

[themagicman]

I have had Ally for my main bank account for over 4 years and I have no complaints about their customer service (And I am usually pretty hard to please on that) Maybe most people just don't like their bank in general and thats why they are getting bad reviews (As well as all other banks)

[MDM]

I was going to say GE Capital has worked well for us and pays 0.95% - but just checked and the rate on savings is now up to 1.05%. 

[Lifeblood]

I've had Ally for about a year and am very happy with the interest rates. I haven't had any real need to use customer service, but that may be a credit to their website's usability!

[gatorNic]

Never had a problem with Ally either.  Been with them about 3 years.  Mainly chat customer service, but have used the phone too.  Polite each time.

GE Capital is interesting at 1.05.  Hadn't heard of them before

[stuckinmn]

I've used ge capital.  No complaints.  You're looking for an fdic insured savings account that links to your checking account, there should not be much need for customer service.  Create account, link it to checking, log on to move money in, log on to move out.

I've also used cit bank (1%) and barclays (.95%), and they are all pretty much the same.  Pick the Fdic insured one with the best rate and go.

[MDM]

I've used ge capital.  No complaints.  You're looking for an fdic insured savings account that links to your checking account, there should not be much need for customer service.  Create account, link it to checking, log on to move money in, log on to move out.

I've also used cit bank (1%) and barclays (.95%), and they are all pretty much the same.  Pick the Fdic insured one with the best rate and go.

^
Exactly.

There can be some name confusion: GE Capital Bank vs. GE Capital Retail Bank (now called Synchrony - maybe to avoid the name confusion?).  The 1.05% rate is currently at https://www.gecapitalbank.com/en.html.  But I'll repeat stuckinmn's comment: "Pick the Fdic insured one with the best rate and go."

[Captain PlanIt]

GE Capital Retail Bank became Synchrony because it's no longer a part of GE. Synchrony has a pretty good rate too though.

I was all set to sign up with GE Capital, but I did a little more reading first and it seems that GE Capital Bank doesn't work with Mint. As a Mint addict, I find that kind of annoying, so I might go for one of the other options even though they're lower rates.

[neo von retorch]

For money that I "don't want to touch" except for emergencies... I put it in SmartyPig. It's 1.00% APY, and they have a Goal system. The good and bad of this is that you either close the goal and withdraw all the money, or you leave it open earning interest. (The exception is that you can create a new goal, transfer amounts between goals, and then close the new goal with just the smaller amount of money.) If it sounds inconvenient, that's the point. You only take money out of there because OMG my hair's on fire, there's an emergency. It's FDIC insured, and they have pretty charts to watch your money/interest grow.

[Captain PlanIt]

For money that I "don't want to touch" except for emergencies... I put it in SmartyPig. It's 1.00% APY, and they have a Goal system. The good and bad of this is that you either close the goal and withdraw all the money, or you leave it open earning interest. (The exception is that you can create a new goal, transfer amounts between goals, and then close the new goal with just the smaller amount of money.) If it sounds inconvenient, that's the point. You only take money out of there because OMG my hair's on fire, there's an emergency. It's FDIC insured, and they have pretty charts to watch your money/interest grow.

I hadn't even considered SmartyPig! I've heard good things about them, and the 1% APY would be a good in-between for the .95% CIT Bank and the 1.05% GE Capital. It sounds like the site is really more geared toward saving for purchases though.

Do you have any experience withdrawing money from them? How long does it take if you need to do it?

[FLBiker]

Do you have any experience withdrawing money from them? How long does it take if you need to do it?

I use SmartyPig, too.  I'd say it takes 3-4 days for the money to get back into my checking account when I close a goal.  I've only done it once, though, so I might be remembering wrong.  That said, I've been thinking about forgetting the whole "high interest" emergency fund for the time being and just keeping it all in savings at my credit union.  I feel like if I had my money all in one place, instead of having a separate emergency fund, I might be comfortable investing a bit more, which would make up for the ~.8% difference in interest.  The reason I say this is that I frequently have a bunch of "extra" money in my checking account, but the total doesn't look so high because my "emergency" money is elsewhere.

[neo von retorch]

I've closed goals and it takes about 2-3 business days for the money to transfer. It's not bad. I don't keep as much in my "emergency fund" any more. I have a dual triple purpose "escrow, irregular expenses, emergency fund" but in reality I'd probably put an "emergency" on a credit card which I'd have at least 25 days to pay off. I'm actually using GE Capital Bank now. But for an EF, I think SmartyPig is good. Yes, it's "extra good" if you're going to go spend money at Amazon or something because of the bonuses they give when you get a gift card, but I just liked how "inconvenient" it was to take money out. It prevented me from cheating.

[m8547]

I looked at Synchrony/Optimizer^{+PlusTM™®!!} a while back (shortly after it changed names), and I couldn't determine that it was a legitimate bank. It used the GE font, and it mentioned being related to GE Capital, but I couldn't distinguish it from a fake company. I think they had a phone number and PO box, but no real address. Plus, their security policy/implementation was lacking, and that's more important to me than a fraction of a percent interest. It looks better now, but I'd still rather go with GE capital. Why did they split off the retail bank and now they both offer the same services?

I don't like the color scheme of ING Direct now that they changed names, and they don't let me log in using the ING Direct URL any more, so I'm thinking of moving my money elsewhere.  Yes, a fraction of a percent interest (a few dollars a year) is not enough to get me to open a new account, but a bad color scheme is.

[Dodge]

Hi All,

I'm currently getting a pitiful interest rate storing my emergency fund in a Wells Fargo savings account, and I'm looking to make a switch. I've looked into a lot of the top-ranking sites and .8-1% seems to be the top range. I'd been eyeing Ally Bank for a while, but they have a lot of really terrible reviews on Credit Karma and similar sites, so I'm second-guessing that option.

Is there a mustachian-preferred online savings account? I know a lot of people like Chase 360, but the .75% rate seems low compared to some of the other options.

Ally bank is amazing, the best customer service of any bank I've ever experienced.  Literally every time I call they answer in under a minute.  Usually immediately.

[Megma]

I LOVE Capital One 360, interest rate is a little below 1% for savings. Transfers to my non-360 checking account take 2-3 days. I also have a 360 checking account which has instant transfers in case I need the money sooner (lower interest rate, normally only keep $20 in it).

You can also deposit checks with their phone app (I know other banks do this too) and it's an amazing way to 1) avoid going to the bank 2) save (instead of spend) the random, usually small checks I get from like my health insurance reimbursements 3) deposit the checks my tenant pays me for rent.

Though with everyone praising Ally, maybe I'm the one who needs to switch?

[Gen Y Finance Journey]

I've had Ally for about 5 years, and I have no complaints.

[ThatGuy]

I opened an account at https://www.mangomoney.com/ for my savings account.  The good is they pay 6% interest.  The bad is they have a $5,000 max limit for earning 6% after that it's .10% I believe.  It's an account that is linked to a debit card, which is fine, but I prefer using my credit card to earn points so I transfer the money from mango to my Ally checking account using Ally's fund transfer.  To get the 6% rate you need to have at least $25 a month direct deposited into your account.  There is a $3 a month fee.  There customer service in my opinion is horrific, I didn't understand what I needed to do to get the 6% rate so I emailed them a couple of questions.  Each time I emailed them they sent me an email saying that I needed to call, when I called I got a recording telling me they were having technical difficulties and try again later.  I did get everything setup so I'm leaving the money in the account for now.