Greetings! Perhaps I'm stuck in the 1970s when banks paid reasonable interest, but ...

This morning, I checked the savings account that I recently opened with Wells Fargo, and I was in a state of shock! My 30 day deposit of $1000 garnered the grand sum of $0.01 in interest!

Can anyone recommend a bank that actually pays better interest?

As always, thanks in advance for your help!

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Judge control not gun control!

I suggest putting your savings into a Fidelity Government Money Market account. Rates are close to an insured no-call CD, but you have access to it any time without penalty. Rate were over 5% last year, but are now at 4.03%. I believe interest accrues weekly.

You would have earned between $40 and $50 if you had that $1000 in their account for the past year. You would have earned about $4 over the past 30 days. That's not a lot, but it's better than a penny!

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"I also cook."

I use Ally Bank. Currently 3.8%. But mostly roll short term treasuries at my brokerage.

It is possible to get term CDs with interest rates over 4%. But your money is locked up for whatever the term is. There are many investments which have yields well over 5% that are riskier, but they are not insured. Regular “savings” and checking accounts at banks and S&Ls pay essentially nothing in the US. There are Federal treasury funds available through brokerages with 4%+ yields which are fairly safe, but still uninsured. Personally, I invest in nothing that does not have less than a 6% yield.

I am sure you have a Santander ( Sovereign ) bank in NJ. I am still getting 4.41% on Money market accounts, but a sizeable deposit.

Banks will give you nothing, if you do not demand it.

If you deal with Citi, JPM, Chase, Wells fargo, BOA etc. inherently you will get nothing. They must not borrow from the Fed. Reserve, and have their own funds to meet their obligations. Otherwise, it would be cheaper to pay you 4% than borrow for 5 %.

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

PNC was paying me 4.0% last month, this month 3.65%...Next month who knows......Ben

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Cogito, ergo BOOM!...

Put your money in CD’s and other financial instruments.
Savings accounts are barely worth having any more.
Have at least one CD other account you can get money out of on short notice without a penalty.
If you can afford it, get in the habit of keeping a few thousand dollars in cash in your house (hidden/locked up) or some other safe place. A safe deposit box maybe?
Pay for stuff in cash when practical to minimize having to deal with third parties in the banks.

I've had an on line account with Capital One for years and have always had good service with them .
Savings account pays 3.80% at present. Their CD's are at 4.00 % ...12 months.

Bank on Buffalo is still paying me 5.30% on my checking account. I keep expecting it to go down but it hasn’t. I closed out a 6.25% CD in July at a different bank.They offered me a six month rollover at 4.70%. I said no thanks.

I too remember those days of high interest rates for Savings accounts and CD's.
I also remember the 14% mortgage rates of the same era.

Agree. My Fidelity experience has been highly favorable. They have my IRA, and individual non-IRA money market account that I have used on my first Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) and I also have a rewards credit card with Fidelity. I made more money in interest than I expected last year, but as the OP said, the rates have dropped since then.

I'm in Pa. but I most of my banking with Community Wide FCU in South Bend, In.
High rate savings paying 3.93 apr (you can only take out monies the first five days of the month)
6 month CD 4.55 apr
12 month CD 4.36 apr
Anyone can join for a $5.00 fee
comwide.com

One other thing I would recommend is ABSOLUTELY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH BANK OF AMERICA on anything.
For all kinds of reasons.

That’s the kicker.
The when savings account and CD rates go up, loan interest rates go up even higher.
Me and the wife got lucky. In 2018 we got a 30 year house loan at 2.38% (Fixed). That’s only a dream for borrowers now.
We could pay it off tomorrow if we wanted to, but we take the money we are saving on home loan interest and plow it into Roth IRA, CD’s and existing Schwab accounts mutual funds.
We are not wealthy, but we are doing okay. I retired 15 July 2024.
One of the best things I ever did.

Another vote for Ally Bank. I've been using them for 7-8 years and have never had any problem. There are probably other places where I could squeeze out another 1/10th of a percent or so, but I'm very happy having my cash with them.

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Still Running Against the Wind

But NY taxes, being relatively high, will eat up more of your earned interest income than other states.

Fully agree. My wife's late aunt had what she thought was a revocable trust fund set up legally in FL. After she died (at 93), it took 10 months to even get close to sorting it out. It turned out that the "Trust Fund" was simply a regular savings account delivering all of 0.2% sometimes!! My wife met with the bank in Eastern FL and was simply told that she could not cash it in as they did not have enough funds at the branch to do anything!! As I said above, 10 months arguing with American until we were able to even begin to sort out the problems. Moral, as mentioned above "remove all monies from BoA as fast as you can!!" Dave_n

My bank tried that rate drop thing with me. I told them if the FED drops a quarter of a point, I do not expect to move any more than that, or I will move my money and you can borrow from the FED at 5%. They are not Gods. they really do want your money at a discounted rate below prime. They just won't admit how badly they want it

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

Not saying this condition applies to any of the banks mentioned so far, but some are offering higher than industry rates because they are failing and are desperate for the deposits.

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Common sense isn't so common.

I don't have any money! Easy Peasy!

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Waiting For The Sun.

If you have account with any of the online Brokerage Companies, they all have Money Market Funds.
Since they are ‘funds’ they are insured by SIPC, same as Stocks.
Most of my ‘cash’ is in 3 Charles Schwab funds.
Presently making 4+ %.
If you want to hold to the higher yields, these same folks have CDs, Bonds and Treasuries.
Nowadays, Bonds and CDs often have Calls. Recently I’ve had several called.
Depending on how much you have to invest, Treasuries are hard to beat.
Tax Free interest which rivals the other stuff which is taxed.
Starting small? You can open a Charles Schwab Money Market Account with $1!

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Besides sloppy and flat out dishonest handling of money, Bank of America management can be VERY anti American.
We all know about the practice in smaller towns of when a US service member is killed and returned home, local veteran and civics groups often locate the funeral procession route from the church where the funeral service will take place and the cemetery where the soldier is to be buried, and stick hundreds of miniature American flags in the grass by the road along the route.
On more than one occasion, if a BOA branch is along the route, the branch manager or their designated flunkie will go out before the funeral procession and Honor Guard comes by and pull up all the flags on bank property.
Some branches will not allow employees put up a large, or even small Christmas tree in the building anywhere because it is not “inclusive” enough, and is considered to be offensive to muslims and atheists.
I am not saying the above listed practices are universal to all their individual banks and employees, but the fact that at the corporate level such behavior is tolerated at all, would be a deal-breaker for me.

Real high interest rates offered are a sign of a weak financial strength

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

I belong to a credit union and for whatever reason my checking account accrues interest at a higher rate than my savings account.

I bank with a local bank and have two accounts there. One is a checking account that pays about .5% and the other is a money market account that was paying 4.75% but dropped to 4% recently. The money market account is fully FDIC insured and total liquid. So what is nice about this setup is I keep a very low checking balance and move money into it from the market account as needed with a simple transfer on line or with their app.

Being local I can walk in and speak to, or deal with, a real person anytime. Big plus IMO.

A bit off topic but, my daughter worked for Bank of America prior to the 2008 housing/banking crisis. During a performance review she asked why certain employees that were newer than her were getting promoted and she wasn't. Reason, they were making more and larger loans than she was. Daughter quit. Some loans that she had denied were made by the other employees. Daughter could foresee what was coming. Good job for a small town gal just a couple of years out of college.

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Super Snooper

Those reasons are precisely why I have dealt with PNC for over 20 years through at least two name changes that I can recall...Everyone at my branch knows me by name when I walk through the door......Ben

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Cogito, ergo BOOM!...

Could it be because you keep a larger balance in your checking account than you do in your savings account?


A lot of institutions will pay you a larger or smaller interest rate, depending on the balance in the account.

Stellar mortgage rate. I thought I did well in 2018 getting 3.625%. I could have gone for a refi, but I could not stomach the greed of the mortgage broker types and their percentage cut. I'm buying a house, not feeding half of Vegas.

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Release the Kraken

I'd run away from W-F. Our experiences with them have been ghastly.

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NHI, 10-8.

A: Mattress Mutual

Easier access.

Bekeart

I have a money market savings account with VIO Bank, the online division of Midfirst Bank in OK City. When I first opened it they were paying over 5%. I think it's around 4.3 now. Not great, but it's better than nothing and fully FDIC insured. It's easy to transfer money in and out whenever I need to. Transfers happen pretty quickly - within a day or two.

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Or something like that . . .

I am not a financial wizard by any stretch. My trust in banks to manage my money is nearly the same level of trust I have in doctors.... nearly zero.

But I like to have some "cash" more readily available.

I have a PenFed Credit Union "Premium Online Savings" account that pays 3.00% APY, and it has a reasonably quick access if I need to get a chunk of cash or make a transfer to one of my other financial accounts.

There is risk, but some of the money center banks have investment grade preferred stocks yielding 6 to 7%. Plus there are tax advantages. But the stock price can fluctuate both up and down. I have quite a bit in a Morgan Stanley preferred that yields around 6-6.5%. I do not worry too much about its price fluctuations. Ditto for an M&T Bank preferred with an approximate 7% yield.

Could be, I’m not much of a money man. I’ve spent the last fifteen years paying off a lot of debt (without going bankrupt) thanks to a divorce so I don’t have much in savings but I do have a roof over my head, food to eat, and my plan is to be debt-free in a couple years. (My credit rating has jumped ~ 200 points in the past decade.)

Local banks and credit unions always pay better than online investments and nationals that spend a lot on advertising and emails.

My bank pays interest on my checking, and a good rate on savings, but I was not getting the returns I needed, and had too much in my checking. At the first of the year, I moved balances from checking and savings into higher yield CD's, leaving myself with what I feel are enough liquid assets. When the first CD's roll over later this year, I may move more savings to them.

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Heavily armed old man.

The past few years have been an interesting learning experience.

I have been a member at one credit union for 51 years, another credit union for 42 years, and a third one for 15 years. Occasionally I see tellers and customer service reps come and go, but I've also been dealing with the managers and officers since they started on the job. When I call by phone I ask for a specific person by name. When I walk into the office I am usually recognized.

Last month I dealt with a CD account at maturity I asked for a check to redeem. Why? Another credit union was willing to pay significantly higher interest. A new CD was issued quickly, at the rate and term offered by the competition.

Sure, I'm talking about a fairly good chunk of change, not a smaller account. But the point is that many places will be competitive when offered the opportunity. Most of them don't like to see large deposits walking out the door. They all spend a lot of time, effort, and advertising budget to generate deposits.

Another CD account due to mature next month. I need a new insulated coffee mug so I will be driving a hard bargain.

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Life of the party until 8:00PM

I've avoided banks. I have my money in a local credit union. For the month of Jan. I received a dividend of $2.77 on the $1073 in their money market account.

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Bill

OpenBank, an online bank, is paying 4.75% on savings account. FDIC insured. It was paying 5% when I opened an account a few months ago. CitiBank online saving is paying 4.45%. You have to be comfortable with strictly online transactions. At 79 it has taken me awhile to get comfortable with online banking, but I manage fairly well at this time.

I do the same thing you are talking about.
Money Market accounts are easy to access for withdrawals.

You can buy treasury bills, notes, or bonds from Home — TreasuryDirect for periods ranging from a few weeks to 30 years. They always pay competitive rates and you never pay state or local taxes on income. These typically pay 0.2-0.4% mote than bank CDs of the same duration.

Fidelity Money Management Account

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Smith & Wesson Novice

A bank savings account is only good for access to quick cash. It is not an "investment" by any means. You want an investment? Get into the market and don't pay attention to the daily ups and down. The baseline always goes up. Get into it for the long haul.

Nope.
But I can recommend ditching your commercial bank and moving your money to a credit union.
Commercial banks are all about making money off your deposits.
Credit Unions are all about making money for the members and "spreading the wealth" in the form of higher interest rates on your deposits, and giving you lower interest rates on loans.
I have a savings account with one of my local credit unions that pays 3.75% on all deposits. No fees, no minimums.
I think you'd be pretty hard pressed to find that at any commercial bank.
FWIW, I ditched commercial banks and started doing all my banking with credit unions over 40 years ago - and I have never regretted that decision.
YMMV...

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Send lawyers, guns & money...

With the interest rates so low - the banks spend more for the postage mailing you statements than the interest they pay you.

bekeart

I moved my savings to FDIC insured CD’s 2 years ago, interest rates between 4% to 5.5%.
I’ve been very pleased with them since I can redeem them anytime with a reasonable penalty. Currently have 8 in rotation.

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Birds like shiny new toys too.

If you want a fixed income relatively safe investment, Treasury Bonds, CD's and money markets are good. The problem is they will only pay you about 4.3% as of today unless you go out to 10 or 30 years. Muni bonds are very low now unless they are rated very low. Corporate bonds will usually pay higher rates but who knows what their stability is.....

I'm pulling 4% locked in on a MM account in my small town bank. Minimum to get that rate is 25K. Money from that account is available to me anytime the bank is open.

The first best step is to reduce debt; most of ours has been paid monthly.

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NHI, 10-8.