Mega high-yield savings accounts are a topic I’ve dealt with in great detail on this blog (a full list of previous posts I’ve written about this topic can be found at the end of this post).
What counts as a mega high-yield savings account might vary depending on who you ask, but my definition is that a mega high-yield savings account is a savings account that offers 5% or more interest. Generally, these accounts are more restrictive than regular savings accounts, usually requiring some work to set up, as well as limiting the amount of money that you can have earning 5% or more interest.
Over the past few years, these accounts haven’t been very useful since interest rates have been high and it’s been possible to get around 5% interest without going through the hassles of these mega high-yield accounts. Indeed, I ended up moving most of the money I had in my mega high-yield savings accounts to Raisin since it was easier for me to have my emergency fund all in one place (you can read my full review on Raisin here).
That being said, I never closed my mega high-yield savings accounts since I suspected that rates might fall one day and I wanted to maintain access to these 5% interest accounts if rates did drop. To avoid inactivity fees, I’ve continued to automate monthly transfers in and out of the accounts.
And sure enough, over the past few months, we’ve started to see rates drop. While we might never get back to the extremely low-interest rate environment we used to be in, we may be reaching the point where it’s worth considering these mega high-yield savings accounts again,
It’s been a while since I’ve looked at what’s been going on with these mega high-yield savings accounts, so in this post, I wanted to review the current landscape of these accounts and discuss what my plans with these accounts are going forward.
The Current Landscape of Mega High-Yield Savings Accounts
At the time I write this, I see 8 mega high-yield savings accounts that are still around. These include the five flavors of Netspend accounts, as well as DCU, Service Credit Union, and H-E-B Debit. All of these accounts pay at least 5%, with several paying 6% interest.
Of these accounts, DCU is the easiest one to get started with since it doesn’t require any special setup process and has no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about. The account offers 6% interest on up to $1,000. There’s also the potential for a small signup bonus if you open an account using a referral link (here’s a post I wrote about how to earn a DCU referral bonus if you are interested).
Service Credit Union is the next easiest mega high-yield savings account, offering 5% interest on their primary savings account. Like DCU, Service Credit Union also doesn’t require any special setup procedure and it has no fees or minimum balance requirements. The big downside with Service Credit Union is that the savings account only pays 5% interest on the first $500 in the account, which limits its usefulness (for a detailed look at Service Credit Union, here’s a post I wrote about Service Credit Union several years ago).
After those two credit union accounts, the remaining accounts are prepaid debit card accounts that offer a savings account with them. These accounts all require some initial setup work to avoid fees and require a bit of understanding as to how they work.
The first of these accounts is the H-E-B Debit account, which offers 6% interest on up to $2,000. This account is probably the best of this type of account because of the high interest rate and the higher cap on what can earn the 6% interest. You can learn more about how the H-E-B Debit account works in this post I wrote: The H-E-B Debit Card 6% Interest Savings Account.
After that, you are looking at the Netspend cards. There are multiple “flavors” of these cards and everyone should be able to open at least four of them, with most people able to open five of them.
Of the various Netspend cards, the regular Netspend card is the first one most people will start with. This card is interesting because it used to limit users to 5% interest on up to $1,000. However, at some point in the past year, it appears they quietly increased the savings account to 6% interest on the first $2,000.
The other Netspend cards include the Ace Elite, Western Union, H-E-B Prepaid (not to be confused with the H-E-B Debit discussed above), and Brinks. Each of those Netspend cards gives you a 5% interest savings account on up to $1,000. So with all four of those cards, you’d be able to deposit up to $4,000 earning 5% interest. (Note, these Netspend cards come with a lot of initial setup work, so you’ll want to read my post: Netspend Account: The Ultimate Guide to a 5% Interest Savings Account.
Are They Worth It?
If you’re able to max out each of the mega high-yield savings accounts discussed above, you’ll be able to set aside $9,500 earning 5% or more interest. If you’re a two-person household, you can set up accounts for each person in your household, increasing the amount you can save to $19,000. For most people, that’s probably an excellent emergency fund.
Back when interest rates were at 1% or less, I thought it was a no-brainer for most people to set these accounts up, even with all the hassle that went along with it. A two-person household with $19,000 in regular savings accounts earning 1% interest would earn just $190 per year of interest. In contrast, $19,000 earning around 5% interest came out to $950 in a year – a sum that seemed significant enough that I thought it was worth doing.
Once interest rates went to 4% or higher, the math changed. At one point, Raisin (which is a high-yield savings account option that I use), had accounts offering over 5%, so it made no sense to deal with the mega high-yield options when you could just get 5% or more from Raisin without any hassle. Rates have been dropping though, with your typical high-yield savings account offering around 4% interest now.
With a 4% interest rate, you’d earn $760 per year in interest on $19,000, in contrast to the $950 per year you’d get if you maximized for the 5% interest rate options. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth the hassle of opening these accounts if the difference in interest is just $100 or $200 per year. Where I’d start to consider these accounts more is if the interest rates start dropping down into the 3% range. At that point, you’re looking at a bigger spread that might justify the initial setup work.
All of this mainly depends on whether or not you already have these accounts open. If you’ve already set up these accounts, then maintaining them shouldn’t require any work on your end assuming you’ve automated the monthly transfers in and out of the account to avoid inactivity fees.
One thing to note is that Netspend changed the inactivity time limit, changing it from 90 days to 60 days. So, if you want to avoid inactivity fees, I’d recommend you have your automated transfer into and out of the account going monthly, rather than bi-monthly or quarterly. I now have it set up so my Netspend accounts have $1 going into them at the beginning of each month, then $1 getting pulled out at the end of the month.
My Plans Going Forward
Right now, I’m doing a bit of a hybrid approach, taking advantage of the DCU and H-E-B Debit accounts since they both pay 6% interest, but not doing anything with the 5% accounts. I still keep all of my accounts open because I’ve already automated everything, but if it ever became difficult to avoid fees on the Netspend cards, I’d close them. However, since it’s not hard to keep my accounts open and fee-free, there’s no reason to close them.
If rates for regular high-yield savings accounts do drop, I may consider maxing out all of these 5% interest accounts, but right now, I’m fine with just using the DCU and H-E-B Debit accounts. I haven’t gotten around to putting money back into my regular Netspend account even though it appears to pay 6% interest now, mainly because I’ve been too lazy to deal with moving the money into it, but also because I’m not quite clear if it’s actually paying 6% interest. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Netspend account I have might still only pay 5% interest and that the 6% interest account is a different product or only for new customers.
The big question you might have is whether it’s worth dealing with these accounts if you haven’t opened them yet. In my opinion, it’s probably still not worth dealing with these accounts if you haven’t opened them yet – the difference in interest rates between these accounts and a regular high-yield savings account isn’t worth it.
That being said, if you’re someone who really likes to optimize things, I’d say it’s probably worth opening a DCU account since that account is easy to open and doesn’t require any management on your end. I wouldn’t deal with the hassle of opening the others though until rates drop significantly. For me, interest rates need to drop to 3% or lower before I’d deal with the hassle of opening up these mega high-yield savings accounts.
Final Thoughts
Interest rates being where they are now is nice, as it makes it easier to deal with your cash. Back when rates were at 1% or less, holding cash often didn’t feel great, as even large amounts didn’t feel like much, so these accounts made a lot of sense. Today, these mega high-yield savings accounts aren’t really that important.
I’m still keeping these accounts open unless something changes with the fee structure. But since I’ve automated everything, I don’t even have to look at the accounts.
If you want to learn more about how these accounts work, I’ve got a lot of posts I’ve written about them over the years, so check them out if you’re interested.
- Where To Get 5% Interest Savings Accounts
- Netspend Account: The Ultimate Guide to a 5% Interest Savings Account
- DCU $20 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Guide (Plus A 6% Interest Savings Account)
- The H-E-B Debit Card 6% Interest Savings Account
- Service Credit Union – A Mega-High-Yield Savings Account For Up To $3,500
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More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Upgrade ($200) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $200 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $200 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($800) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $800 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
NetSpend told me that my cards are all still at 5% apy because that’s what they were opened at, and that I cannot benefit from the 6% apy up to $2000.00 balance in any of them (other than the HEB Savings mentioned). I tried to check the statements, but it doesn’t tell me how much the interest apy is.
Has anyone figured out if maybe what they told me was incorrect, and that we are in fact getting 6% and able to increase each balance to $2000?
Correction: The Quarterly statement for October does list the interest rate still only at 5.05% APY.
I’m wondering whether we should close each and reopen each to obtain the higher interest and higher balance. Any idea?
That’s a good question Dan. I’m waiting to look at the next quarterly statement and see if the interest rate is updated to 6% on $2,000(As it should be). It seems strange that you can only have one Netspend card and that the savings rates would be different on the same card. I also heard that you can have a second H-E-B 6% on $2,000 card. I may try that instead of closing and re-opening my existing Netspend card if the rate is still 5% on $1,000. Seems like less work.
To complicate matters further some fine print mentions having to have an “all access” account which has a non refundable $5 monthly fee while other links mentioning the 6% on $2,000 mention nothing about haven an “all access” account. Like this link here: https://www.netspend.com/savings-account
If you scroll to the bottom there is nothing about having to have an “all access” account.
Well I just checked my quarterly Netspend savings account statement today and nothing has changed. It still says 5% on $1,000. So it looks like they are not going to update existing users to the new rate. Either that or the 6% is only for those having the “all access” account. It would be nice if their customer service would clarify this rather than sending me to their FAQ section which does not address this concern.
Vanguard‘s federal money market investor is paying 4.57% so from my time it’s not worth messing with all the companies that cap your interest at such small amounts. Empower Personal Capital is still paying 4% but it’s been coming down.
Newtek bank is still 4.9% no limit and no hoops and no fees.
Nice. Do you know if that rate has been historically that high or does it tend to move up and down with rates? Any regional limitations on this bank account? I’ve never heard of it, so wonder if it’s only available in certain geographic areas and/or the rate isn’t typically so high.