Best Bank Interest Rates March 2020

Fed rate cut will definitely impact online savings and money market rates. Online banks will likely start to respond in the next two weeks with their own rate cuts. As we have seen since last July when the Fed began rate cuts, online banks generally will follow a Fed rate cut with two or three small rate cuts over a period of a month or two. With this cut being 50 bps, it’s likely that we’ll see three to five rate cuts at each online bank over the next couple of months. If we don’t see another Fed rate cut in the next few months, we should expect most online savings account yields to settle close to the new upper limit of the federal funds range. Best Bank Interest Rates.

Rate changes that have occurred in the last two weeks

Below are the noteworthy savings and money market account rate changes that have occurred in the last two weeks (All percentages are APYs):

FitnessBank Fitness Savings 12.5k+ steps (2.20% -> 2.10%)
CFG Bank High Yield Money Market (2.15% -> 2.05%)
Rising Bank High Yield Savings (1.90% -> 1.80%)
MutualOne Bank Online Savings (1.81% -> 1.76%)
CNB Bank Direct Premium Money Market (1.91% -> 1.76%)
Live Oak Bank High Yield Online Savings (1.85% -> 1.75%)
Simple Protected Goal Account (1.90% -> 1.75%)
Salem Five Direct eOne Savings (1.85% -> 1.75%)
MemoryBank Money Market (2.00% -> 1.75%)
iGObanking/BankPurely Money Market (1.85% -> 1.75%)
Citizens Access Online Savings (1.85% -> 1.70%)
Bank5 Connect High-Interest Savings (1.85% -> 1.70%)

The top rate tier is now 2.10% APY – Best Bank Interest Rates

FitnessBank lowered the rates of its Fitness Savings account for March. The top rate tier is now 2.10% APY (down from 2.20% APY). Due to rate cuts and the end of promotions at other banks and credit unions, the Fitness Savings account remains the rate leader.

FitnessBank’s top tier APY of 2.10% requires that the customer average 12,500 steps per day for the month as measured by a step tracker app. The rate falls to 2.00% APY when the step average is between 10,000 and 12,500, and 1.75% APY when the step average is between 7,500 and 10,000. The rate falls significantly for lower step averages. There are lower step requirements for customers over 64.

Highest rate without special requirements

The highest rate without special requirements is now 2.05% APY. Two accounts share this rate. CFG Bank’s High Yield Money Market earns 2.05% APY for a $25k minimum balance. Sun East Federal Credit Union continues to offer a promotional rate of 2.05% APY on its MAX-Yield Money Market Account. There’s a minimum balance of $5k. On the plus side, this rate is guaranteed for 13 months from account opening.

There is now a 2-way tie for the highest rate for a low-minimum savings account that is available without activity requirements. Both offer 2.00% APY without balance tiers. Two weeks ago, MemoryBank was in this group, but its Money Market yield fell to 1.75%. The two accounts that still hold this spot are BrioDirect High-Yield Savings ($25 minimum to open) and Patriot Bank Online Money Market ($100 minimum to open). Patriot Bank isn’t making it easy to find this Money Market account. The bank has this special landing page which details the offer.

Rate guarantees without withdrawal penalties

When rates are falling, the best savings and money market deals are specials that guarantee a rate for a period of time. There are currently three accounts with rate guarantees that are worth mentioning.

There used to be four accounts with rate guarantees, but Elements Financial Credit Union Helium Savings Account’s promotion has ended. This promo had guaranteed 2.10% APY for a year.

In September was reported on the MAX-Yield Money Market Account promotion at Sun East Federal Credit Union. This is still available with a promotional rate of 2.05% APY on balances from $5k to $250k.The rate is still guaranteed for 13 months from account opening. Withdrawals are much more limited than the average money market account. Fee-free withdrawals are restricted to only one per calendar quarter.

Patriot Bank is currently offering a promotion on its Online Money Market account with a 2.00% APY that’s guaranteed through 7/31/2020. As mentioned above, the minimum opening deposit is only $100. The rate and guarantee have changed a couple of times since first reported.

The third rate guarantee is the Yield Pledge Money Market Account at TIAA Bank. The new-customer rate continues to be 1.75% APY for balances up to $250k. This is guaranteed for the first year of account opening. A version of this offer has long been available at TIAA Bank/EverBank. After the 1-year intro period, a tiered-rate structure takes effect. The current ongoing APYs range from 1.01% for under $10k to 1.55% for over $100k (down from 1.60%).

No-penalty CDs – Best Bank Interest Rates

No-penalty CDs have some of the liquidity of savings and money market accounts, but like CDs, they offer a rate lock which can be useful when rates are falling. No-penalty CDs have become more common at online banks in the last year, and they are something to consider, especially if you already have a savings account at the bank. The main issue now is that their rates have been falling. If their rates are higher than the savings account, these can be good deals in this falling rate environment.

Some banks like Ally make it easy to open and close the No Penalty CDs. You just lose access to the money in the No Penalty CD for the first six days from account funding. After that, you are free to close the CD without penalty. Ally makes it very quick and easy to move the CD funds into your savings or checking account.

Below is a list of noteworthy no-penalty CDs. Three banks lowered their no-penalty CD rates. These three are Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Citizens Access and Colorado Federal Savings Bank.

2.00% APY 11-month Flex Time Deposit ($100k min) – M.Y. eBanc
1.90% APY 11-month Flex Time Deposit ($10k min) – M.Y. eBanc
1.90% APY 11-month No-Penalty CD ($500 min) – Goldman Sachs Bank USA
1.90% APY 11-month No Penalty CD ($25k min) – Ally Bank
1.85% APY 11-month No Penalty CD ($5k min) – Ally Bank
1.80% APY 7-month No-Penalty CD ($500 min) – Goldman Sachs Bank USA
1.80% APY 6-month No-Penalty CD ($500 min) – Investors eAccess
1.70% APY 11-month Liquid CD ($5k min) – Citizens Access
1.70% APY 11-month No-Penalty CD ($1k min) – CIT Bank
1.65% APY 13-month No-Penalty CD ($500 min) – Goldman Sachs Bank USA
1.65% APY 11-month No Penalty CD (no min) – Ally Bank
1.60% APY 11-month No Penalty CD ($5k min) – Colorado Federal Savings Bank
1.30% APY 11-month No-Penalty CD ($10k min) – PurePoint Financial
1.25% APY 13-month No-Penalty CD ($10k min) – PurePoint Financial
1.20% APY 14-month No-Penalty CD ($10k min) – PurePoint Financial

Remember that when talking about no-penalty CDs (that function like Ally’s No Penalty CD), a longer term is always better. Since you can close these types of no-penalty CDs at any time after the first six days, I can’t think of a reason to choose a shorter-term no-penalty CD if the rate is the same.