Fed Holds Rates Steady But Signals One More Rate Hike - Strategies for Savers
Latest Liquid Bank Account Rates
Fed Meeting Preview and Deposit Rate Forecast - Sep 13, 2023
There Are 6,458 (or 7.9%) Fewer US Bank Branches Now Than in 2020 — Here Are the States, Metros That Lost the Most
Synchrony Bank Raises High Yield Savings Account Rate
Synchrony Bank increased the rate of its Optimizer+plus High Yield Savings Account to a very competitive level. The APY went up by 5 basis points to 1.05%. After a few other banks have cut rates, it’s nice to see a rate hike. The last rate increase on this savings account was in November when Synchrony Bank increased the rate from 0.95% to 1.00% APY.
The High Yield Savings Account isn’t a free account, but it only requires a $30 minimum balance to avoid a $5 monthly service charge. The 1.05% APY applies to all balances.
| APY | MIN | MAX | INSTITUTION | PRODUCT | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.10% | - | - | Synchrony Bank | 12 Month CD | |
| 4.75% | - | - | Synchrony Bank | High Yield Savings |
This High Yield Savings Account became competitive in November 2013 when the rate increased from 0.15% to 0.90%. It has remained very competitive ever since.
Synchrony Bank offers an online bank-to-bank transfer service that allows you to initiate ACH transfers to and from your external account that you hold with another financial institution. According to the bank’s FAQs, you can register up to ten accounts at other financial institutions that sync up with your High Yield Savings Account.
In addition to online transfers, you can access your money over the phone or with an optional ATM card.
Certificates of Deposit
Synchrony Bank also has a history of very competitive CD and IRA CD rates. One of its most competitive CDs is the 1-year CD. The rate of the 1-year CD recently increased by 3 basis points to 1.23% APY for a $2K minimum deposit. This rate has been rising since November when the yield was 1.10%.
Money Market Account
If you want to write checks, you’ll need to open the Optimizer+plus Money Market Account. This offers limited check writing. The downside with this account as compared to the savings account is a lower rate (0.85% APY). Synchrony Bank did make an improvement to this account. It no longer has a $1,500 minimum balance requirement to avoid the monthly fee. Now it requires only a $30 minimum balance to avoid a $5 monthly service charge.
Free Identity Theft Protection
Synchrony Bank provides deposit account holders with complimentary Identity Theft Resolution Services through Identity Theft 911®. If you are ever a victim of Identity Theft, you'll have the assistance you need to help you get your life back to normal as quickly and easily as possible. A DA reader had told me he maintained the savings account just for this service.
Application Process
You can apply for an Optimizer+plus account with an online application (To open an IRA or Trust Account a call to the bank is required). Accounts are available to people in any state. At the end of the application process, the bank requires that you sign and mail the new account form.
Online Banking Interface
DA readers informed me that Synchrony Bank has made a change to its online banking interface. Unfortunately, the changes have disappointed many. One reader listed four negative changes:
- No account summary page
- No Account detail page
- Rates and APYs missing
- Missing beneficiary information
Hopefully, Synchrony Bank will do what Ally Bank did when it made changes to its online banking platform. After receiving many complaints, Ally fixed many of the issues. If you have a Synchrony Bank account, please provide your opinion in the comments of the online banking changes.
Bank Overview
Synchrony Bank has gone through three name changes in the last two years. Before 2013, it was named MetLife Bank. In January 2013 MetLife Bank officially became GE Capital Retail Bank. Then in June 2014, GE Capital Retail Bank became Synchrony Bank.
Synchrony Bank is part of Synchrony Financial which was spun off from GE as a public company.
Synchrony Bank is an internet bank, but it also has a branch office where you can visit in person. It’s located at 200 Crossing Blvd, Bridgewater, NJ.
The bank has an overall health grade at DepositAccounts.com of an "A" with a Texas ratio of 8.07% (excellent) based on December 31, 2014 data. Please refer to our financial overview of Synchrony Bank for more details.
How the Savings Account and CD Rates Compare
When compared to other savings accounts and similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that require a similar minimum balance and are nationally available, Synchrony Bank’s savings account and 1-year CD are shown to be very competitive:
To look for the best savings account rates and CD rates that are available in your state and nationwide, please refer to our savings account rates table and CD rates table.
Is this not them?
You were correct in saying that the intrest rate isn't shown, however, isn't it whatever they are showing on the main page when you log in? That is kinda hard to miss. It would be nice if they showed the user, somewhere in your account, exactly when the change in the interest rate happened and on what amount of money it affected.
which gave all account details, balanced Maturity date, Interest APY, Maturity Date, & listed the appropriate account title, including, if you had beneficiaries, those associated not overall, but on a per/account basis, and the POD title was clearly listed., also shown was next statement date +++ more. The new interface not only misses all these details but to print what is available covering my 15 or so accounts required 3+ sheets of paper per account and over 30 minutes! vs < 15 seconds on the prior sites...this is not progress. And just to make it clear! The current site "might" be nice if you use a smart phone...but IMHO is no way a bank presents customer financial data! By the way, the rate details, WERE for a short time shown on the new website, until Synchrony realized that the presented data was plain old wrong! Let';s hope Synchrony fixes this mess. But, to be fair to "Interested Party" I will check the Synchrony Site Thursday AM and see if they have fixed the mess or if the prior comments (#4) are or are not currently fact-backed.
As I promised, I checked the Synchrony Bank website this morning. As far as I can determine the only recent change was a notice on the initial (before login page) mention the new user-inspired website. As I suspected, one of the major points was that it was smart phone and tablet "friendly". As Ken originally mentioned, and I (comment #5) stated their are at least 4 major issues with the new website...it is no longer computer freindly, dropping much data in the process. I would like to further point out, perhaps an error in writing your blog post (#4) that the fact that the "Interest rate(APY) is not shown isn't "so" important as their current APY is listed on their webpage. I'm sure you know that CD rates take effect when a CD is opened and are in effect for the term of the CD...therefore the "currently advertized rates" are for the most part useless when following your investment...the rate & particular CD and term of your investment have nothing in common with their current offerings on new accounts. I thought about your logic and the only case in which your point might make sense is if you ONLY hold SAVINGS or MM accounts...in which case the rates are not locked but do float accordingly day by day, and WOULD be relevant to your non-CD accounts. Sorry, but all points mentioned in Ken's original post were and are still valid.
As I promised, I checked the Synchrony Bank website this morning. As far as I can determine the only recent change was a notice on the initial (before login page) mention the new user-inspired website. As I suspected, one of the major points was that it was smart phone and tablet "friendly". As Ken originally mentioned, and I (comment #5) stated their are at least 4 major issues with the new website...it is no longer computer freindly, dropping much data in the process. I would like to further point out, perhaps an error in writing your blog post (#4) that the fact that the "Interest rate(APY) is not shown isn't "so" important as their current APY is listed on their webpage. I'm sure you know that CD rates take effect when a CD is opened and are in effect for the term of the CD...therefore the "currently advertized rates" are for the most part useless when following your investment...the rate & particular CD and term of your investment have nothing in common with their current offerings on new accounts. I thought about your logic and the only case in which your point might make sense is if you ONLY hold SAVINGS or MM accounts...in which case the rates are not locked but do float accordingly day by day, and WOULD be relevant to your non-CD accounts. Sorry, but all points mentioned in Ken's original post were and are still valid.