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The New High-Yield Savings Account Leader

Back in October, high-yield savings account rates climbed to a new record high of 5.40% APY. But since then, the leading savings account rate has marched in place. Until today, that is. You can now earn 5.50% APY on your savings with Milli, an app-based account backed by the brick-and-mortar First National Bank of Omaha. Anyone in the U.S. can apply for a Milli account, but note that if you're accepted, you can only do your banking via Milli's mobile app. There is no online banking via a website. For anyone comfortable with app-based banking, offers its record rate with the added perks of no required minimum balance and no monthly maintenance fees. Milli also offers the handy feature of setting up special savings "jars," which allow you to earmark certain funds for specific savings goals.

Like all the institutions in our daily ranking of the best savings account rates, your deposits with Milli are federally insured. Because Milli is run by an FDIC-insured parent bank, your Milli deposits of up to $250,000 are also FDIC-insured.

Prefer to Bank With Your Computer?

Our runner-up, the previous leader, is another good option—particularly if you don't want to rely only on app-based banking. 's high-yield savings account pays an almost-as-high rate of 5.40% APY, also with no required minimum balance. You do have to open the account with an initial deposit of at least $100, but you're not required to leave the money there. Popular Direct also does not charge a monthly maintenance fee. In addition to offering web-based banking, Popular Direct also provides , something that Milli's app does not. So if you think you'll want to deposit paper checks to your high-yield savings account, Popular Direct is your best-paying option.

Many More Options for Earning a Historically High Rate

You have plenty of other stellar options to choose from, too. Our daily ranking of the best savings account rates includes almost 20 additional accounts that pay 5.15% APY or higher. So it's easy to find one that pays many times more than the national rate average of 0.46% APY.

You may find that the savings account at the "big bank" where you perhaps have your checking account is paying pennies. By moving some of your cash to an outside high-yield account, you can earn much more interest every month.

If you're not used to holding money somewhere other than your primary bank, you might worry that it will be inconvenient. But online banking makes transfers between institutions extremely easy these days. And though the transfer process can take one to three days, you can plan for this by not moving every penny of your savings to the new account. Just keep some portion in reserve where you have your checking account, in case you need immediate access to some of your savings.

Earn Even More by Putting Some Savings in a CD

Another smart option for your cash savings is to stash some of it in a top-paying certificate of deposit (CD). Though you won't have access to funds put in a CD for months or years, depending on the term you choose, you stand to earn even more with one of the options in our daily ranking of the top nationwide CDs than you could in a savings account. That's because the best CD rates—which currently reach up to 5.88% APY—tend to be higher than the best savings account rates.

CDs are an excellent option when rates are high because they allow you to lock in one of today's record rates and extend it far into the future. Just remember that cashing out your CD before its maturity date will incur an early withdrawal penalty, so it's best to think carefully about how much you can lock away and for how long.

Account Type	Today's Top Nationally Available Rate	National Average Across All FDIC Banks
High-yield savings account	5.50% APY	0.46% APY
Money market account	5.35% APY	0.63% APY
3-month CD	5.66% APY	1.62% APY
6-month CD	5.88% APY	1.43% APY
1-year CD	5.77% APY	1.85% APY
18-month CD	5.80% APY	Not tracked
2-year CD	5.50% APY	1.55% APY
3-year CD	5.50% APY	1.39% APY
4-year CD	5.13% APY	1.32% APY
5-year CD	5.25% APY	1.39% APY

Will Savings Account Rates Go Higher This Year?

Savings rates closely follow the federal funds rate, the target interest rate set by the Federal Reserve. In an effort to combat decades-high inflation, the Fed has been rapidly raising the federal funds rate since March 2022. The Fed implemented seven bold and rapid rate hikes in 2022, totaling 4.25%, and has more modestly raised the fed funds rate four times in 2023. This has brought the central bank's total increase to 5.25% so far.

This aggressive campaign of hikes has pushed banks and credit unions to raise savings, money market, and certificate of deposit rates to record levels. In fact, today's top savings account rate of 5.50% APY is likely the highest we've seen since 2001, as that's the last time the fed funds rate has been this high.

But it's appearing increasingly likely that the Fed is finished with its rate hikes and will hold rates steady for some uncertain amount of time. Though it's difficult to predict Fed rate moves several months down the road, it's reasonable to expect that savings rates will likely hold somewhat stable for the time being—but will begin to decline once it appears the Fed is ready to consider a rate cut.

Rate Collection Methodology Disclosure

Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rates of almost 100 banks and credit unions that offer savings accounts to customers nationwide, using that data to determine daily rankings of the top-paying accounts. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the savings account's minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000.

Banks must be available in at least 40 states. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don't meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don't live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best high-yield savings accounts, read our full methodology.