Bank Deals Blog: Internet Banks

Goldman Sachs Bank USA (Marcus) has recently launched a new savings account promotion which allows you to earn up to $500. It’s similar to their March promotion, but this one allows you to earn a lot more. The only mention of this promotion is on this Marcus landing page, which has the following promotion summary:

With interest rates starting to fall, bonuses might become a...

With the odds of a July Fed rate cut high, banks and credit unions have been busy cutting their deposit rates. Both CD rates and savings account rates have been falling since the June Fed meeting. CD rate cuts have become widespread.

In the last two weeks, a few of the noteworthy cuts have occurred at the following banks: Ally Bank (5-year fell 10 bps to 2.75% APY), Synchrony Bank (1-year fell 5 bps to 2.50% APY), Comenity Direct (5-year fell 10 bps to 2.95% APY, 1-year fell 15 bps to...

The June Fed meeting continues to be having an effect on savings and money market rates. With a Fed rate cut now appearing to be very likely for July, more banks and credit unions have started to cut their online savings and money market rates. The rate cuts haven’t reached a widespread level, but they’re getting close.

There were a few rate hikes in the last two weeks, but these were primarily promotional offerings. Below are the noteworthy savings and money market account rate hikes and cuts that have occurred in...

The Georgia-based, Affinity Bank, has a new and unique online bank. It’s called FitnessBank, and it’s offering an online savings account, the Fitness Savings Account, which currently has the highest rate for a nationally available savings account (3.00% APY on all balances over $100.) The unique aspect of this savings account is that it has activity requirements to qualify for the rate, and they’re not reward checking requirements. These activity...

With the Fed changing course, banks and credit unions haven’t wasted any time in cutting their deposit rates. Both CD rates and savings account rates have been falling since the June Fed meeting. CD rate cuts have become widespread.

In the last two weeks, a few of the noteworthy cuts have occurred at the following banks: Comenity Direct (60-month fell 10 bps to 3.05% APY), First Internet Bank (60-month fell 10 bps to 2.92% APY), PurePoint Financial (60-month fell 50 bps to 2.50% APY, 13-month No-Penalty CD fell 50 bps to...

Just three days after Ally Bank cuts the rate of its savings account, Goldman Sachs Bank USA (Marcus) has done the same thing. Marcus' Online Savings Account rate was reduced by 10 bps to 2.15% APY. In addition, Marcus also cut rates on nine of its CDs. All rates went down by 10 bps. One noteworthy exception is the 13-month No-Penalty CD which continues to earn 2.35% APY. The new lower APYs are shown below in bold and are effective as of 6/28/2019. The previous APYs are noted inside parentheses.

Wealthfront Brokerage raised the APY of its cash management account, the FDIC-insured Cash Account, by 6 bps to 2.57% for all balances of $1 and above. This is now the rate leader when compared to online savings and money market accounts. It should be noted that this is not a bank account. It’s a cash management account. In this previous blog post I reviewed the question of how this account compares in safety to a standard savings account.

Last week’s Fed meeting is already having an effect on savings and money market rates. With a Fed rate cut now appearing to be very likely for July, a few banks have already responded by cutting their online savings and money market rates. Unlike CDs, widespread cuts haven’t begun yet.

For what might be the first time this year, there weren’t any rate increases or new accounts. There are only red down arrows in the list below. Below are the noteworthy savings and money market account rate cuts that have occurred...

Ally Bank is the first major online bank to cut its savings account rate after the Fed opened the door to rate cuts at its meeting last week. This morning, Ally Bank’s Online Savings Account APY fell from 2.20% to 2.10%. The same rate cut also took effect to the IRA Savings Account. No other rates changed at Ally Bank today.

I had not expected the online banks to cut their savings account rates before the Fed actually started to lower the federal funds target rate. Even before the...

Earlier this week, Discover Bank announced that it has ended fees on all deposit products. This won’t be a big benefit for most savers with Discover Bank accounts since its deposit products already had few fees. This appears to be a way Discover Bank is trying to compete with Ally Bank and other online banks which promote fee friendly policies. I think for most savers, interest rates are more important than fees, unless there are unusual fees.

Below are excerpts of the Discover’s press release which announced this change:

Elimination of the...