Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Lowers Savings Account Rate for Apple Card Users
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Which savings accounts provide better APRs currently and with similar features? I know there are some "banks" that have better rates, but this 3.5% rate is in the range or above what the major ones offer. My local credit unions are even mostly below this rate on savings accounts.
Last edited:
DocMultimedia
macrumors 68030
Yeah, eTrade now sends you a text every time it trickles down. Didn't use to be as obvious in older days.
If you have an account at one of the major financial firms like schwab, fidelity or vanguard, they offer one stop shopping for CDs from dozens of banks. Certainly makes buying and rolling over CDs easier.
WarmWinterHat
macrumors 604
Daily deposits as in cash bask, sure, but I've been manually depositing several hundred every couple weeks in there from my checking, so it's worth it. Plus this is likely not end of the interest cuts.
Just moved the majority out and into a 12-month CD.
psac
macrumors 6502a
Liquid, but you could have a loss if you don't hold to maturity depending on how rate fluctuate. For a guaranteed longer term rate, Treasuries are fantastic. You can lock in a ~4% rate for ~6 years or 4-1/2% for ten years right now if you want to look at long term fixed income.
I'm agreeing with you, for sure, T-Bills should be another option for investment. Ideally a balance of all three (CDs, HYSAs, and Treasury Bills/Bonds/Notes) would be best to manage access to funds.
And of course mix in stocks, ETFs, etc.
Getting? That's been the case for years. Not to mention all the other savings account that have offered higher interest rates since before the Apple Savings account launched. It's never been the best place to park your $$$.
Still an excellent rate as far as savings accounts go.
But IMO, much better to open a brokerage account and buy a rolling 3-mo t-bill which yields 3.6% and is not subject to state income tax.
But IMO, much better to open a brokerage account and buy a rolling 3-mo t-bill which yields 3.6% and is not subject to state income tax.
PBG4 Dude
macrumors 601
Check out your local credit union. Much more community and people friendly. For example; at my FCU, a portion of merchant fees every quarter goes to charities voted on by account holders. They’re holding a free shred it event next month too (open to anyone who knows about it).
A lot of people don't understand that it is the merchant fees that pay for credit card "rewards"...which leads retailers to increase prices to cover these "rewards". We're all paying more for things because of these "rewards" even if you don't use a rewards card, so you might as well!
100%. If you're strategic, there are plenty of opportunities to double or even triple dip.
The AAdvantage shopping site is awesome. I average about 50K in miles every year through that site. My Bank of America cards give me unlimited 3.6% back on everything I buy, no special categories or spending limits. It's a better deal than any frequent flier card out there, but then I double dip using the AAdvantage shopping site and sometimes manage to triple dip with the AA SimplyMiles site too.
ikramerica
macrumors 68020
CDs aren’t liquid.
Anyway, it’s better than Amex and many high yield bank offerings to private clients. Not as good as ETrade Bank.
But Apple has no minimum balance to get that rate either.
ikramerica
macrumors 68020
Agree. I sure hope people aren’t keeping significant amounts in HYSA’s because they are terrible long term investments. And if it is not a significant amount, then the exact rate doesn’t really matter.
A money market fund has a similar rate (e.g., about 3.5% for SWVXX) and is more liquid (no delay on withdrawal transfers).
After taxes, these barely keep up with inflation.
CDs provide very little yield premium for much less liquidity, and still have interest rate risk (opportunity cost if interest rates rise).
To actually make money, need to accept some market risk.
PBG4 Dude
macrumors 601
Apple has nothing to do with savings accounts. That’s Goldman Sachs’ responsibility.
ikramerica
macrumors 68020
For me, using the AA card gives status which means upgrade to more legroom seats on all flights even booked in basic, 1-3 free bags depending, priority check in and security where available, and earlier boarding. Really adds up for a family of four. Worth more than cash back even if they don’t upgrade you with a larger group.
Please go argue with someone else.
Attachments
Return Zero
macrumors 68000
Still decent for an account like this, and I love the simple notification. Most banks try to hide rate drops or use promotional rates to advertise higher than what you end up getting.
Apple needs to keep things like this going. No ads in maps. No pop-ups about ATV+ content. Make it simple for your users. If they move away from this MO, they will lose so much of what made them successful in the past.
Apple needs to keep things like this going. No ads in maps. No pop-ups about ATV+ content. Make it simple for your users. If they move away from this MO, they will lose so much of what made them successful in the past.
Makes sense. If I flew more, I would use a mileage card versus cash back, but I only fly once or twice a year at most so cash back is a better deal for me. Shopping through the AA portal contributes towards status, but I mostly use my miles for hotels. I take a lot more road trips than air trips and using miles for hotels can be a pretty great deal.
jayducharme
macrumors 601
True. But if this trend continues, Apple Savings eventually will be closing in on zero.
gsmornot
macrumors 68040
High yield accounts are not an investment tool, they are a savings account that earns interest. This is for the money you need liquid in an emergency. The rate is still fair so far as a savings account goes, much better than a typical bank. Buy the CDs too if you like but don't compare the two as if both are apples. (see what I did there). Anyhow, this is where I park my cash versus a checking account or bank savings account. I am still happy with the rate.
Zenman12
macrumors 6502
To expand on this a touch, bill investment rates are generally quoted as APRs while the Apple savings rate is quoted as an APY, making the return on bills a touch higher (with reinvestment), and then the lack of state taxes could add a good ~0.25 percentage points, depending on where you live. In MA (for example), the net APY equivalent on a 4-week is something like 3.91%.
You can also ladder your investment dates so that a fraction of them matures every week (or whatever), if you think it's possible you might need a short term injection of funds rather than an emergency complete liquidation.
May be more than most people want to think about when what we're talking about are really ultimately pretty modest gains in dollar terms. But if you really want to squeeze out a few more tenth-points and keep things flexible...
Last edited:
