Best Savings Account

How we picked the companies to evaluate:

NerdWallet reviewed the top 25 financial institutions by domestic deposit assets, the top 25 by number of branches, the top 20 by search volume, the top 10 credit unions by membership, the top 10 credit unions by deposits, and emerging and notable players.

How we chose the winner:

Savings account providers are rated based on the following factors: interest rate (contributed to 50% of the rating), monthly fees (23.3%), distinguishing features (13.3%) and minimum opening deposit (13.3%). Also, up to 16.6% extra credit was given for a sign-up bonus.
In case of a tie, banks and credit unions were compared by category in the following order until one institution remained:
  • Banking experience.
  • Savings interest rate.
  • Monthly fees.
  • Lowest minimum balance.
  • Highest new customer sign-up bonus for $15,000 or less in deposits.

How we verified our data:

NerdWallet writers and editors confirmed fees, rates, policies and other key features on each financial institution’s website. If an institution’s website was missing information, we contacted a representative directly for confirmation.