I’m always on the lookout for good high-yield savings accounts and I recently found one that I think is the best high-yield savings account option currently out there. It’s called Raisin and when you open a Raisin account, you gain access to 40 banks and credit unions, most of which are offering high-yield savings accounts with 5% interest or more. Perhaps most important, Raisin is free and all of your funds in Raisin are FDIC-insured or NCUA-insured. This makes Raisin a no-brainer account that – in my view – everyone should open.Â
Taking advantage of these mega-high-yield savings accounts is one of the first things I recommend people do when setting up their money system. Years ago (back when high-yield savings accounts offered interest rates of about 1%), I wrote about how I maximize my cash savings by using 5% interest savings accounts from Netspend, DCU, and others. These accounts still exist today, but their value is fairly muted at this point. With all of the better options out there, I no longer recommend anyone jump through the hoops of opening multiple 5% interest accounts to maximize their cash savings.
The great thing about Raisin, however, is that, unlike the original 5% interest accounts that I used to recommend, Raisin doesn’t require jumping through any hoops. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete and as I mentioned before, it’s free and all of your funds are FDIC-insured.
With all that said, in this Raisin review, I want to go over what Raisin is, discuss how it works, and explain why I’m now using Raisin to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have.
What Is Raisin?Â
At the outset, when I first discovered Raisin, I was really confused about what it was. It advertised itself as a one-stop savings marketplace for different banks and credit unions, which in itself, doesn’t really tell me anything. Was this a bank account or was it some sort of list that showed you the banks paying the highest interest rates? I wasn’t quite sure.Â
Once I opened my Raisin account though, it became far more clear to me what Raisin is. The short of it is that Raisin is a platform that allows you to save money in different banks and credit unions from a single website. Here’s what Raisin says on their website:
Raisin is not a bank. It is a digital savings marketplace where you can fund federally insured deposit products with a wide range of maturities and APYs (annual percentage yield) offered by our partner banks and credit unions, allowing you to design a savings strategy customized to your earning and liquidity needs.
Source: https://www.raisin.com/en-us/faq
When you sign up for Raisin, you’ll be able to choose from different savings accounts offered by banks and credit unions that are on the Raisin platform. At the time I’m writing this, the majority of banks and credit unions on Raisin are offering high-yield savings accounts with 5% interest or higher.Â
To use Raisin, you first create a free account, then pick one of the partner banks on the Raisin platform. This becomes the bank that you store your funds in. Below is a screenshot from my Raisin account with some of the partner banks.
Once you pick a bank, you deposit your funds directly onto the Raisin platform. These funds are then kept in a custodial account with whatever bank you chose.
Your Raisin account functions exactly the same as any high-yield savings account and you can see your balance and withdraw your money from Raisin at any time. If you’d like, you can also open savings accounts with multiple banks, but you’ll still be able to see all your money in one central place via your Raisin dashboard.Â
How Raisin Works
When you deposit funds in Raisin, all of your funds are kept in a custodial account at whichever bank (or banks) you choose on the Raisin platform. All of your funds are FDIC or NCUA-insured, which means your funds are insured up to $250,000 at each bank.
Raisin has a helpful FAQ on its website that makes it clear that even in custodial accounts, funds are insured via pass-through coverage. Specifically, Raisin states the following:
Although Raisin customers’ deposits are pooled in omnibus custodial accounts, there is no impact on the eligible deposit insurance coverage you receive from the financial institution holding your savings. This is because the government entities providing federal deposit insurance — the FDIC for banks and NCUA for credit unions — permit pass-through coverage. So your money has the same coverage in a custodial account as if it were held in an individual account in your name.
Source: https://www.raisin.com/en-us/faq
Importantly, what makes Raisin a winner for me beyond being easy to use is that it charges no fees. So how exactly can Raisin offer their product with no fees?Â
Raisin explains it clearly on their website. The partner banks and credit unions pay Raisin to market their products to customers. For banks, this is part of their marketing expense. In return, they gain more deposits to their banks when customers find them on Raisin and choose their bank to save their money into.Â
Which Bank Should You Choose?Â
To get started with Raisin, you do have to pick a bank to put your money into. And with 40 banks and credit unions, it can be a bit confusing.
When I first opened my account, Western Alliance Bank had the highest interest rate, so I opted to use them. They’re also a large regional bank, so I figured it was probably a good option. That being said, I don’t think it really matters which bank you pick, as for the most part, all of the banks on the Raisin platform offer about the same interest rate.Â
It looks like Western Alliance Bank stopped taking new customers on Raisin, but there are still dozens of other banks offering 5% or more interest. CloudBank is one option currently offering the highest rate (5.26%) on Raisin from what I can see.
But again, my suggestion is to not overthink it. The difference in interest rates between most of the banks on the Raisin platform is 0.05%. That’s an insignificant amount that won’t make any practical difference in how much interest you earn.Â
One question you might have is what happens if a bank offering a high-interest rate stops taking new customers. Interestingly enough, even if the bank stops offering the rate to new customers, you still keep the same rate. So while Western Alliance Bank stopped taking new customers at the moment, I’m still earning over 5% interest from them.
Using Multiple Banks On Raisin
Most people will probably only need to open a Raisin account using one bank – so pick a bank and go with that is what I’d say. That being said, there are three reasons why you might want to use multiple banks on Raisin.
The first is if you have a lot of money you want to set aside. Your funds are insured up to the federal limits (which is $250,000 per bank). To help protect your funds from possible bank failures, Raisin actually sets a $250,000 limit on how much you can deposit into each bank. So, if you have a lot of money to set aside, you’ll have to use multiple banks if you want to get all your money into Raisin.
The second reason you might want to use multiple banks is if you want to set up different sub-savings accounts. Raisin, unfortunately, doesn’t have a feature that lets you set up different sub-savings accounts. Instead, when you put your money into Raisin, it’s all shown to you as one big pool. However, if you want to differentiate your cash savings, you can use multiple banks, and then separate your money into each bank. You’ll be able to see how much money you have in each of the banks you’ve opened, which will make it easy for you to differentiate your savings into different buckets.
Finally, the last reason you might want to use multiple banks is if another bank ends up offering a higher interest rate than whichever bank you initially picked. However, I would only bother with this if the interest rate change was substantial. Most of the time, you won’t have to worry about this.Â
Raisin Review – Final ThoughtsÂ
Right now, with interest rates where they are, I think it makes sense for everyone to maximize their cash savings. I have no idea if this is the new normal and if interest rates will stay where they are, but if they do, you should take advantage of it. Banks should pay you for the money you keep in their accounts, and Raisin is a great way to make sure you’re getting the most out of your cash savings.
For me, Raisin is the perfect spot to put my emergency fund, allowing me to maximize my cash savings while still getting an excellent return on it. I haven’t yet used it to create different sub-savings accounts, but I’ll likely do that as well at some point.
For everyone, I absolutely recommend Raisin and think, at a minimum, this is where you should put your emergency fund. There are no fees, your money is safe and federally insured, and you can access your money at any time. My experience with Raisin has been great and I’m glad I found it.
If you want to sign up for Raisin, you can use this link to get started (this link will sign you up for Raisin using CloudBank).
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to comment below or send me an email. I hope this Raisin review was helpful.
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.
- 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.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks and 1 stock of Tesla or Google) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 3 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (12 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 12 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.
- 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.
- 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 $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
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.
- Chime ($150) - 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.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Upgrade ($150) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $150 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 $150 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- 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 ($100) - 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 $100 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.
- Netspend ($40 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $40 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $40 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($20) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- 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 ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 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 $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.25% 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.
- Personal Capital. 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.
I use Raisin and have been happy with the various CDs I’ve opened from different banks. It’s easy to set up your account, and easy to connect your funding bank account and then to open various CDs or bank accounts from there. 🙂
I’ve actually made the determination recently with these high interest accounts that I need to find a high interest hub account. I have so many random accounts with various banks but would rather have everything in one central place. I am an envelope saver. This might be a good solution for me. How easy is it to setup recurring transfers from one to other multiple accounts within raisin? Is there a maximum number of accounts you can have in raisin?
Far as I can tell, there’s no way to set up recurring transfers within Raisin unfortunately. Or at least, I don’t see anyway to schedule it in advance. So yeah, that’s a bummer.
Do you still have an Ally account?
It looks like it would be best to move all my funds from Ally to ( through)
Raisin.
I still use Ally as my primary checking account and for short term savings. My emergency fund goes into Raisin though.
Why? I don’t understand why people are using any checking account other than T-Mobile Money. You don’t have to a T-Mobile account to receive 2.25% APY with no fees. There are only two drawbacks that I know of. One is that they hold funds a few days when you initiate transfers on TMM’s platform pulling funds from external sources, but not if you send the money from elsewhere to your TMM account.
The other issue is that we cannot set up recurring transfers for every other month. Other than that, you get 2.5%APY for CHECKING account! Make as many withdrawals as you need, you still get 2.5%APY, and no 6 withdrawal limitations!
These accounts are 5% though. Also, congress got rid of Reg D two years ago, so there’s no 6 withdrawal limitation anymore on savings account – at least not by law anyway. If your bank is still doing a 6 withdrawal limitation, that’s them screwing you over.
Not Ally. I’m referring to the accounts we use to fund these others.
And btw, I just stumbled across something that I immediately thought of you, and I wonder if you’ve heard of it, and or researched it. It’s called Save and currently advertises up to 9.49% APY (variable). Their site says it’s “A New Way to Save. Get market driven yield instead of interest. Deposits insured by Webster Bank, N.A., Member FDIC. Your cash is never put at risk. Investments are made in your selected portfolio. Yield is taxed as a long-term gain, Open Account Market Savings 5-year term 9.49% APY.
I don’t know if I can post a link here, but I’ll try:
https://joinsave.com/marketsavings-lp-v6?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=CF~SAVE~AU~Brand~KT~Save~MT~Broad~&utm_term=save%20account&utm_content=KD~Account~&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw06-oBhC6ARIsAGuzdw3OZ0UDfS7v1U9Qdizx6DWwVkbwceQwvPv7pDdj7HbEt93vVo3N1rIaAgrZEALw_wcB#ref-bt-2
I don’t see my replies to you that I left a little while ago. I had tried to leave two since one of them was a url for you to check out. Apparently the one overrode the other, and the latter was removed, because I don’t see either.
I had replied that in my original comment, I was referring to T-Mobile money in place of accounts like Ally, to send money back and forth to NetSpend since TMM is a checking account that gets such great interest (for a checking account) and is not limited to only a few withdrawals each month that savings accounts do. The point is it’s a checking account with 2.25% interest. I know of no other checking account that offers that.
But then, I also mentioned about SAVE, which is a sort of savings account (“banking with market returns”) that gets up to 9.49%APY variable. I posted the url to you, but I’m guessing that’s why the messages were removed. I was hoping you might want to check it out and then provide feedback.
I don’t know how to point you to it other than the url. Maybe joinsave dot com?
Thanks for all the help you’ve given over the years.
Never mind. I found a YouTube review about Save that didn’t look too good. Pretty bad actually. Oh well, it was a thought.
Thanks again!
Thanks, i will look into this.
Did you close out your netspend accounts?
I just kept them open with nothing in them. I have my $1 in and out every quarter automated, so it doesn’t really matter for me to keep them just in case.