Whether you’re building an emergency fund, saving for a big expenditure like a dream vacation, preparing to make a sizable investment in precious metals like gold and silver or saving for retirement, making sure your funds are in one of the top high-yield savings accounts is a smart money move.

Some of the accounts with the highest annual percentage yields we’re seeing are as follows:

• Earn up to 5.00% with Varo Money.
• Earn up to 4.21% with Axos Bank.
• Earn up to 4.20% with Newtek Bank.

Best savings account rates today

Fortune has partnered with the financial industry consultants at Curinos to give you an accurate look at the highest savings account rates on the market. Varo Money, Axos Bank and Newtek Bank offer some of the top APY at the moment. Read on to see our full list of HYSAs and find the one that’s right for your needs.

What the Fortune/Curinos partnership means for your savings

Curinos brings more than three decades in the financial services data space to the table. The Fortune team receives and analyzes daily Curinos reports showcasing savings account and certificate of deposit (CD) rates at a wide swath of financial institutions. The end result is a data-driven list empowering savers to select accounts that they will find the most rewarding.

Historical national average savings rates

While the average savings account rate has increased from the lows seen from 2020 to 2022, it’s still far below the APYs available on the most generous high-yield savings accounts on our list.

Reasons to choose a high-yield savings account

To be clear, there’s no such thing as a special class of bank accounts called “high-yield savings accounts.” There’s simply a group of U.S. financial institutions that tend to offer savings account rates that are much higher than the industry average. Financial experts call them high-yield savings accounts.

Banks that offer conventional savings accounts with lower interest rates tend to have bricks-and-mortar branch networks and offer a full suite of deposit and lending products. Meanwhile, institutions that offer high-yield savings accounts are oftentimes online banks with a very limited menu of other banking products and no access to physical branches.

So, if you’re looking to maximize the interest you earn on your savings and you’re comfortable managing this part of your banking online rather than in-branch, choosing a high-yield savings account might take you from earning what seems like pennies in interest to potentially hundreds of dollars per year (depending of course on how much you deposit and your specific APY).

How much interest you might earn with a higher APY

Let’s consider a hypothetical where a saver leaves $5,000 in an account untouched for a year, and the savings account’s APY remains stable for that time. Here are estimates for the interest you might earn in an account with a 5.00% APY compared to one with a 0.40% APY:

As you can see, keeping your money in a high-yield savings account rather than a traditional savings account is a relatively low effort change that can make a huge difference in what you earn.

Criteria when choosing a high-yield savings account

Some key factors savers will typically wish to prioritize include:

• Interest rates. Look for competitive APYs to maximize your earnings.
• Low or no minimums. Many high-yield accounts have no minimum balance requirements, which is great for savers who are just starting out and don’t have a huge chunk of cash on hand to deposit upfront.
• No monthly fees. Avoid accounts with monthly maintenance fees that can eat into your savings.
• Accessibility of funds. Ensure you can easily withdraw or transfer money when needed—some banks have withdrawal limits and charge fees for foreign ATMs.
• Security and insurance. Verify that the account is FDIC-insured if it’s a bank or NCUA-insured if it’s a credit union.

No matter what type of savings account you hold, you can expect to pay taxes on any interest you earn.

Frequently asked questions