Internet bank, and/or bank with “high interest” CD’s

[We be free if we try]

I’m looking to park some money in a high interest savings account, or (seems better, from my perspective) 12-month CD’s, for a year or 2 or 3. I’m used to the big name banks, and am trying to get comfortable with the idea of opening an account at Ally or one of the other internet banks (that I might have never heard of), or else a local bank with a higher CD rate (I.e., .6% or .8%, rather than the .03% available at Vanguard.) What is your experience using these banks? Any particular one you’d recommend? I’m in California. Thanks!

[Frankies Girl]

Very happy with Ally. Super easy to set up, website is very good, excellent customer service and very easy to get things done.

[We be free if we try]

Thanks Frankies Girl!

[nalor511]

deposit accounts.com has all the rate comparisons you are looking for. CDs are not paying much now. You can still get 2.5% on a 5 year MYGA, I think, but they are only insured to 80% of value in CA, so not as good as a CD if the provider goes bankrupt

[Morning Glory]

I use Discover for my emergency fund/ churning hub. Very happy with them so far. I haven't had CDs in years, so can't help you there. If you have a lot of cash to park you could churn savings bonuses.  Check out Doctor of Credit for those. I just do the checking ones because you don't have to tie up as much money.

[reeshau]

I like Ally, too, although I have been letting my 12 month CD's roll over to my mon3y market account, because the difference isn't worth locking up the money.  Hopefully once the vaccination program bites then the stimulus will wind down and CD rates will climb back to...something.

[Dave1442397]

I'm using Yotta Savings for my emergency fund. The current interest rate is 0.20%, but the added gimmick is that every $25 you have on deposit gets you a ticket to their weekly lottery, where you can win anything from a few cents up to $10MM.

The most I've won so far is a few dollars one week. This past week was a whopping 45 cents, but still, that's better than I'd get with my Wells Fargo account.

https://www.withyotta.com/

[sonofsven]

I also use Discover savings account as an emergency fund/slush fund; right now the interest rate is .5%.
The mobile app works fine, it's linked to my USAA checking and transfers back and forth take a few days to complete.

[DaMa]

I've been using Ally for my primary banking since 2009.  The only issue I've ever had is that you have to wait for a cashier's check to be mailed to you.  The one time I needed one, my son got one for me from his local bank, and I wrote him a personal check.

I have used https://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/cd-rates-survey/ to look for good CD's.  As far as I'm concerned, there aren't any right now, but the website really helped me in 2019 when I set up a CD ladder.

[Loretta]

I'm using Yotta Savings for my emergency fund. The current interest rate is 0.20%, but the added gimmick is that every $25 you have on deposit gets you a ticket to their weekly lottery, where you can win anything from a few cents up to $10MM.

The most I've won so far is a few dollars one week. This past week was a whopping 45 cents, but still, that's better than I'd get with my Wells Fargo account.

https://www.withyotta.com/

I just did a search to see if Yotta was legit, are you still using it successfully?  Any opinions on it?  A real life friend recommended it to me.

[lucenzo11]

I've been an Ally customer for a while and would also give them my seal of approval. Currently at 1.85% for savings so not bad for my efund. Especially in comparison to rates for the past bunch of years. It's not the highest savings rate out there, but Ally's met all my needs so it hasn't been worth it to switch. This also could be a feature of all banks now, but they allow you to put your money within an account into different buckets so it's a really nice way to keep track of any savings goals without needing a separate account or tracking it on your own.

Been out of the CD game for a while too, so not as familiar, but with rates continuing to go up probably best to look at one that has a rate adjustment or option to raise your rate, or keep the duration on the shorter side which seems to align with your goals anyways.

[Dave1442397]

I'm using Yotta Savings for my emergency fund. The current interest rate is 0.20%, but the added gimmick is that every $25 you have on deposit gets you a ticket to their weekly lottery, where you can win anything from a few cents up to $10MM.

The most I've won so far is a few dollars one week. This past week was a whopping 45 cents, but still, that's better than I'd get with my Wells Fargo account.

https://www.withyotta.com/

I just did a search to see if Yotta was legit, are you still using it successfully?  Any opinions on it?  A real life friend recommended it to me.

Yes, I still use it, although with low interest rates, I was only keeping a few thousand in there most of the time, usually money I know I'll need in the next six months or so.

No complaints - it works as expected, and the winnings keep it interesting.

[caracarn]

Ally hands down.   I've been with them or their predecessors before they got bought up (NetBank, WingSpan, etc.) since 1992 and never understood forgoing massively higher interest rates for the "convenience" of walking into a building.   People in my family are still afraid that and internet bank is somehow not secure.  They also have been one of the first large banks to give up on overdraft fees this year identifying them as not customer friendly.   Chase pays 0.01% vs. Ally's 1.85%.  Yes, it's worth it to pass on 185x higher interest to have a brick and mortar building *sarcasm in case it was not clear.

[Rusted Rose]

[...] it's worth it to pass on 185x higher interest to have a brick and mortar building [...]

Well, to be fair, it is kind of fun driving around town and seeing banks all over and going, "Oh, huh ... I have money THERE, and THERE, and THERE ... oh, and over THERE ..."

(from Confessions of a Bank Account Bonus Junkie)

Here endeth the threadjack that is immaterial to the subject under discussion. Carry on!