American Express Bumped Their Savings Accounts Up to 2.10% APY

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
12/20/2018 at 22:08 • Filed to: Finances

Since Oppo seems to have some interest in finances, I thought I’d mention that American Express boosted the return on their high yield savings accounts to 2.10% APY. My personal Credit Union has a 0.10% APY with its savings accounts so if your bank or CU is like mine then we are talking about a huge difference!

*The current deposit max is $5 Million. You still gain interest on the money, but you cant deposit more money into the account. Also, if withdrawing, you’ll be required to withdraw an additional amount to bring the balance back down to $5 Million.

Basically, if you let $10,000 sit with Amex for a year, they’ll give you $210. That’s in contrast to my CU where they would give me back $10 for leaving that same $10,000 in my savings account.

There is no minimum balance, no monthly fees, it connects to your current bank/CU, and it’s FDIC insured! Just something to consider and if you do the 3 months emergency fund then this is a nice way to see it increase while keeping it reachable without being too easy to get to.

I have thoroughly enjoyed how easy Amex makes it to get personal loans, do reconciliation for business expenses, and their services in general. Just something to consider, do your own thingy-thang!

DISCUSSION (24)

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Wobbles the Mind
12/20/2018 at 22:15

Save...ings?

What does this mean?

I am very familiar with the concept of interest though usually at much higher numbers than 2.1%

Tripper > Wobbles the Mind
12/20/2018 at 22:23

Robinhood is offering 3%! What's going on!?

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Tripper
12/20/2018 at 22:27

A n important catch to the Robinhood product that makes it different from traditional checking and savings accounts. Technically, it’s not a checking or savings account as most consumers understand those products—it is a cash management account, a product generally offered by brokers instead of banks. To get the rate, people need to sign up for a brokerage account at Robinhood, which is not a bank.

WilliamsSW > Wobbles the Mind
12/20/2018 at 22:34

2. 1% and FDIC insured??? BRB opening an amex account.

Wobbles the Mind > Tripper
12/20/2018 at 22:35

I know right?! It’s just a bit risky for me since it’s a brokerage account turning into a banking account without fully insuring the funds. But like Uber or Tesla, as long as Robinhood grows extremely quickly (which is likely) then everyone should be “ safe” from an insolvency.

P roblem is that we could see huge amounts of people withdrawing funds from one place and throwing them somewhere else which is a fast way to get a n ational bank crisis rolling.

wafflesnfalafel > Wobbles the Mind
12/20/2018 at 22:36

Can’t speak for others, but I personally have had very good experiences with Amex - far better than any other financial services organization. They have saved my a$$ a number of times, (including being able to bail my boss out when she only had a declined VISA....) I have never had a bad experience with their reps. What’s in my wallet? Amex.

Tripper > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
12/20/2018 at 22:36

Yea all of that is true. The rate is still higher than I’ve seen in a while. I was on a real hot streak with investing then I put a bunch of money into OGEN at the advice of a colleague at $1.40 with the hope of $2-5... It went the other way.

BigBlock440 > Wobbles the Mind
12/20/2018 at 22:42

Discover has been at 2% for a month or so, American Express always seemed to be about a tenth higher. I settled on Discover because I already had several accounts with and had really good customer service, the difference seemed minimal. Definitely the best financial decision I’ve made recently, and even though I only opened the account in April, I got an extra hundred bucks or so for doing absolutely nothing. Much better than letting it sit in a checking account. People bitching about the feds raising the interest rates, eh sucks for my variable rate loans, but it’s nice seeing an increasing amount being put back into my account every month.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Tripper
12/20/2018 at 22:42

I haven’t done anything very adventurous lately, things are a bit crazy with Drumpf. I mainly contribute to my IRA and save in my savings account. IRA goes up to $6k next year. I’m in a union with a pension so I have just done other extra things, I’m mainly banking on being an only child and getting everything later but I have to do what I can.

BigBlock440 > Tripper
12/20/2018 at 22:43

Nowhere for rates to go but up.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Wobbles the Mind
12/20/2018 at 22:44

My CU has a highish -interest (no idea the percentage, but I get about $375 extra bucks a year) “money management account” that I also use as a checking for my mortgage payments . I’m conservative and lazy and only have three accounts, one credit line, all with the same CU.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > Wobbles the Mind
12/20/2018 at 22:47

I just started looking for a place to keep a chunk of our savings that we don’t want to spend but don’t want out of reach. There are handful of checking accounts that are even higher but there are lots of hoops(minimum transactions and so forth) ; I think there are a few savings around 2.5%. But Amex being well known and easily accessible makes this tempting.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
12/20/2018 at 22:51

Pretty sure I have some students loan out at some multiple of 2.1%

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Wobbles the Mind
12/20/2018 at 22:57

This is the effect of the fed rate increases.

Good fucking luck financing your next car - rates at 4.74% and climbing . But hey, they’ll give you less than half of what they’re making on the loan for letting them loan out your money.

Marcus (formerly GSBank) just bumped everyone to 2.05% minimum APY on savings and high yield CDs to 2.65%+.

MUSASHI66 > Wobbles the Mind
12/20/2018 at 23:30

I’ve been using them for years, since .80% days. With the amount I have saved there, this actually means something at the end of the year. Of course, this will be offset by higher interest on my next car purchase more than likely.

Thankfully, I’m locked in at 3.125% @ 10 years for my house. I hate paying interest.

Roundbadge > Wobbles the Mind
12/21/2018 at 00:06

I have an account through Marcus.com (Goldman Sachs) that’s earning 2.05% right now. There are other online banks that are offering higher interest as well, like redneck.bank and their 2.25% money market account, or 2.75% APY checking account. I’d consider that, but I’m just not ready to move my checking account to an online-only bank (it’s a real bank, but located in OK, which is a good distance from OH).

Future Heap Owner > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
12/21/2018 at 00:12

You know, the process of amassing money to turn into your next car

BeaterGT > Wobbles the Mind
12/21/2018 at 00:13

Still waiting on my Ally bump. It’s usually within a week of the Fed announcement.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Future Heap Owner
12/21/2018 at 00:23

But he's got four cars now

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Wobbles the Mind
12/21/2018 at 01:57

I love AMEX. Best customer service I’ve had. I might look into this since Chase’s interest rate is abysmal.

404 - User No Longer Available > Wobbles the Mind
12/21/2018 at 06:10

I’ve been pushing my money around hunting for savings account offers. Been collecting 2.3%, 2.5%, and currently 3.15% and 3.33%.

Gotta keep up with inflation...

Tripper > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
12/21/2018 at 08:23

I’ve got a 401k through work with a decent match, and a Roth IRA on my own . This year I made a safe- ish investment in a mutual fund then started setting money aside to “gamble” with. I won big on AMRN (bought at $3.xx sold at $ 19.xx) after that I started being a little more careless which didn’t hurt me until recently, haha.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Wobbles the Mind
12/21/2018 at 11:03

Nice. I’ve got 2% in my CapitalOne360 money market account.

bhtooefr > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
12/22/2018 at 09:37

And the insurance is different on that.

I use Robinhood for stocks, but I ain’t touching the cash management account aspect with a ten foot pole.