Here's How the Apple Card's New Savings Rate Compares to Alternatives

[sw1tcher]

OK I’m confused. Last month I eared $113 in my Capital One HYSA. I don’t have anything close to $600K in that account. Isn’t the math dividing the APY by 12 and then multiplying that by the account balance?

Seems you got lost in the conversation.

You'll have to go back to what ChromeAce wrote regarding the meaningful difference between the "fractions of percentages of fluctuating interest rates"

This is pure silliness. The amount of money you’d have to deposit to make any meaningful difference in your life based on fractions of percentages of fluctuating interest rates is so large that you’d be better off in a mutual fund.

and what ThisIsMike said about how earning (what I understood to be) an extra $100/mo would help "someone who is really struggling"

In the opposite situation, of someone who is really struggling- that extra $100 or what have you could mean some extra groceries, or maybe a free month of internet or utilities. You never know.

My response was that if you already have money in a high yield savings account, in order to earn an extra $100/month between a high yield savings account with an APY of 4.15% and a high yield savings account with an APY of 4.35%, you'd have to have at least $600,000 in the high yield savings account. And if someone has $600,000 sitting around, that person isn't "really struggling."

 

[Xavier]

I'll take it!

 

[chickeneaster]

Following the Apple Card savings account's recent rate increase to 4.35%, we have put together this guide comparing the annual percentage yields (APYs) of some popular high-yield savings accounts (HYSAs) available to U.S. residents.

Apple's rate now matches that of popular HYSAs offered by the likes of American Express, Capital One, and Discover, but there are a handful of other options that offer even higher APYs in the 4.5% to low 5% range, such as Marcus by Goldman Sachs and Wealthfront. Balance limits and other requirements vary.

There are many other HYSAs not listed in our chart, so be sure to do your research before deciding which option is best suited for you.

Provider	Advertised APY*
Apple (Goldman Sachs)	4.35%
American Express	4.35%
Ally	4.35%
Barclays	4.35%
Capital One	4.35%
Discover	4.35%
Citizens Bank	4.5%
Marcus (Goldman Sachs)	4.5%
SoFi	4.6%
PNC Bank	4.65%
CIT Bank	4.65% to 5.05%
Synchrony	4.75%
Wealthfront	5%
UFB Direct	5.25%

[td]Betterment[/td]
[td]4.75%[/td]

* Advertised APYs as of January 5, 2024. APYs may vary.

Ordinary savings accounts at popular banks such as Bank of America and Chase typically offer APYs of only 0.01% or slightly higher.

Apple launched its savings account in April 2023, in partnership with Goldman Sachs. The account can be opened and managed in the Wallet app on the iPhone, and it has no fees, no minimum deposits, and no minimum balance requirements. You must have an Apple Card, be a U.S. resident, and be at least 18 years old to open an account.

The account allows Apple Card holders to earn interest on their Daily Cash cashback balance, and on funds deposited via a linked bank account or an Apple Cash balance. The maximum balance allowed is $250,000, which is lower than some HYSAs, and balances are fully insured by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

To open a savings account in the Wallet app, tap on your Apple Card, tap on the circle with three dots at the top of the screen, tap Daily Cash, and select Set Up Savings.

Goldman Sachs will reportedly be ending its partnership with Apple within the next year or so, but it is unclear how this might impact the Apple Card.

Article Link: Here's How the Apple Card's New Savings Rate Compares to Alternatives

if I were to have $250,000 in the savings account with the interest add to that or start at $250,000?

 

[PowerMike G5]

I've used Wealthfront over the years and it has always been reliable. It's an interesting account because it isn't technically a HYSA, but something they call a cash account, which gives you the interest yields of a HYSA but the flexibility of a checking account with the debit card, atm access, etc. And since they deposit your money across several partner banks, their FDIC coverage is much higher, somewhere in the millions per account. And now they do same day transfer to your linked bank accounts as well. Pretty great experience so far!

 

[jvchappy]

No wonder the goldman agreement is going away, they're competing with apple directly while working with them. Seems a bit like self dealing

 

[Izauze]

Every rate increase is just a crushing reminder that inflation is choking me. I am glad this claws a tiny bit of my losses from inflation back.

This rate is well above the current rate of inflation tho. You're doing more than clawing back losses - you're making money. Breathe a lil and enjoy it

 

[Natas1000]

OK I’m confused. Last month I eared $113 in my Capital One HYSA. I don’t have anything close to $600K in that account. Isn’t the math dividing the APY by 12 and then multiplying that by the account balance?

Yea, for a $100 a month you would only need $28k in the bank at 4.35%

 

[Jetscreamer]

Open a PNC online savings account last May. Love the 4.65 APY, vs my old Capital One 360 savings, which paid .30 APR.

 

[orangeadrenaline]

The difference between 4.35% and 5% over a year is, $162.50/$25k, which is the amount I keep in my liquid savings. Maybe it's worth moving around for you, maybe not.

I use Capital One, currently, just because it's handy. Everything else is with is with Edward Jones, but they don't have much of an online presence.

Edward Jones? Oof. You’re paying too much in fees.

 

[Hellokittystampmyfacein]

When GS, breaks it off with Apple you’ll be credited with Apple gift cards
(Sarcasm)

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Edward Jones? Oof. You’re paying too much in fees.

Oh?

I haven't looked into for a while. Any suggestions? I'm not looking to manage everything myself.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

When GS, breaks it off with Apple you’ll be credited with Apple gift cards
(Sarcasm)

You joke but there were people wondering if they will have their balances wiped out when the relationship ends

This rate is well above the current rate of inflation tho. You're doing more than clawing back losses - you're making money. Breathe a lil and enjoy it

Only if you have more saved than you spend, a lot of people do not.

 

[Henry S]

The difference between 4.35% and 5% over a year is, $162.50/$25k, which is the amount I keep in my liquid savings. Maybe it's worth moving around for you, maybe not.

I use Capital One, currently, just because it's handy. Everything else is with is with Edward Jones, but they don't have much of an online presence.

Most of my savings is at Capital One because their accounts are easy to make transfers in and out of, and their customer service is pretty good for a big bank. I have a little bit of money in a MMA at a fintech spinoff of a brick and mortar bank, but it takes days to move money and they have limits on the amount that can be transferred. It's not worth the hassle for a slightly higher rate.

 

[ThisIsMike]

How is an extra $100 a year (i.e. an extra $8.33 a month) going to help someone with buying extra groceries or get them a free month of internet or utilities?

You wrote: "In the opposite situation, of someone who is really struggling- that extra $100 or what have you could mean some extra groceries, or maybe a free month of internet or utilities. You never know."


Where can I get internet or utilities for $8.33/mo?

Come on, just admit it, you meant an extra $100/month.

lol sorry to burst your bubble, but not only did I NOT mean $100 dollars a month, I never meant free groceries or internet for a year. I meant: an extra 100 bucks one year might translate into a free month of internet or some extra groceries that to might actually matter to someone. I don’t understand why that’s so hard to comprehend. I’ve seen folks on slickdeals go bananas over $20 dollars off a gift card offer. So if the interest in an account means that someone gets a “free” month of internet, they might consider that a win.

You obviously don’t. But you aren’t everyone.

 

[ThisIsMike]

Gotta love when someone is so confident while being incorrect. You may want to re-read the Apple Savings terms. It has an account limit of 250k.

I wasn’t talking about Apple, sorry if that wasn’t understood, or if I misunderstood. I was talking about other high yield savings accounts, such as the ones provided in the chart, or at least the one I’m currently utilizing, which is on the chart, and what I based that comment on.

I do love your confidence that I wasn’t correct though. Commendable! 😂

 

[ThisIsMike]

and what ThisIsMike said about how earning (what I understood to be) an extra $100/mo would help "someone who is really struggling"

My response was that if you already have money in a high yield savings account, in order to earn an extra $100/month between a high yield savings account with an APY of 4.15% and a high yield savings account with an APY of 4.35%, you'd have to have at least $600,000 in the high yield savings account. And if someone has $600,000 sitting around, that person isn't "really struggling."

I don’t want to go back and forth on this, but your math here is WAY OFF. if you had $600,000 in one of those accounts you’d be earning over $2000 a month. Not $100.

 

[macduke]

I have Wealthfront, which is on the list at 5% near the top, and it has been a great financial institution for me for many years now. They have easy investment solutions as well, and everything is split between like 12 different banks so if one goes under you won't be out much until the FDIC kicks in, and the total FDIC is in the millions of dollars. They also recently upgraded to having fast transfers for free, so I can pull the money back to my local checking account quickly if needed without paying more. The app is nice because it can show the balances on your connected accounts kinda like Mint can, view your estimated home value, and you can set goals and see projections for retirement, easily setup transfers, etc.

Credit Unions with much higher rates exist. I don't understand why anyone still uses those massive banks. I only ever hear bad things about them.

I saw your post so I just spent the past half our looking up rates for all the credit unions in my area, and none of them are close to this. I think the highest savings rate was a couple percent, most were a fraction of a percent, and CD rates topped out around 4% at best for locking up funds for 5 years, as did money market if you have about a quarter million deposited, lol. Otherwise most were closer to 3%. So maybe in some areas of the US or elsewhere this exists, but not anywhere around here!

 

[Dianneeraser]

OK I’m confused. Last month I eared $113 in my Capital One HYSA. I don’t have anything close to $600K in that account. Isn’t the math dividing the APY by 12 and then multiplying that by the account balance?

Don't listen to Sw1tcher...they can't math.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I am happy with my money being in Apple Savings. Sometimes, there is more than just percentage points to take into consideration.

 

[Dianneeraser]

Seems you got lost in the conversation.

You'll have to go back to what ChromeAce wrote regarding the meaningful difference between the "fractions of percentages of fluctuating interest rates"



and what ThisIsMike said about how earning (what I understood to be) an extra $100/mo would help "someone who is really struggling"



My response was that if you already have money in a high yield savings account, in order to earn an extra $100/month between a high yield savings account with an APY of 4.15% and a high yield savings account with an APY of 4.35%, you'd have to have at least $600,000 in the high yield savings account. And if someone has $600,000 sitting around, that person isn't "really struggling."

I'm not a mathematician, but please don't math...

You don't need 600k to earn $100 a month...

$28,000.00 x 0.0435 = 1,218 / 12 = $101.5 a month in interest.

$56,000 x 0.0435 = 2,436 / 12 = $203.0 a month.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

it's literally a few button presses.

To keep switching banks to get a few more basis points of yield on savings? Transferring money, updating your records and external accounts you transfer to, keeping track of multiple 1099's for each year you switch, etc...

I don't know, if you keep like $20k in a savings account and you switch for 0.5% to 1% you're going through this trouble for $100-$200 per year. Not worth it to me but maybe others disagree.

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

I don’t want to go back and forth on this, but your math here is WAY OFF. if you had $600,000 in one of those accounts you’d be earning over $2000 a month. Not $100.

Their math is not off. You are just saying total interest income and they are not. They are saying how much you'd have to have for the 20 basis point difference to result in $100 per month between the two rates.

 

[ThisIsMike]

Their math is not off. You are just saying total interest income and they are not. They are saying how much you'd have to have for the 20 basis point difference to result in $100 per month between the two rates.

lol ahhhhhh thank you. Got it. Well that was never what I was talking about to begin with, so no need to address it further.

 

[Camerondonal]

I wonder if the Apple Card will ever migrated beyond the US? Savings account rates here in the UK are very low by comparison

 

[ssmith44]

You're right, I was looking at this page: https://www.cit.com/cit-bank/savings-connect

This page shows your Platinum Savings account: https://www.cit.com/cit-bank/bank/savings

I have updated the chart to say "4.65% to 5.05%" for CIT's HYSAs.

You're right, I was looking at this page: https://www.cit.com/cit-bank/savings-connect

This page shows your Platinum Savings account: https://www.cit.com/cit-bank/bank/savings

I have updated the chart to say "4.65% to 5.05%" for CIT's HYSAs.

Should also be noted that if the account is below $5,000 you’ll only be getting .25% with the platinum savings account.

Where as with the savings connect you’ll still be receiving the 4.65%.