Wesley Hilliard
Apple Card customers' Apple Savings account can now grow at an increased 4.25% APY, but the higher rate is still behind the competition.
Apple Savings launched with a competitive 4.15% annual percentage yield (APY) but failed to increase to stay competitive. Wednesday's increase to 4.25% doesn't bring it up to par with competitors, but at least it's a move in the right direction.
Apple Savings account holders received a notification late Wednesday stating that their APY had increased to 4.25% from 4.15%. It is the first increase in the service's eight months on the market.
Goldman Sach's consumer-facing Marcus brand savings account is at 4.5% APY, a .01% increase from when we last updated our comparison tracker on November 28. Other banks like UFB (5.25%) and PNC (4.65%) seem to increase their APY on a regular basis.
Goldman Sachs wants to end its partnership with Apple, which may have something to do with limited changes to Apple Savings or Apple Card benefits. Apple has offered Goldman Sachs an out, but no alternative bank has been named to take over Apple's financial services.
There are a few banks rumored to be in consideration for an Apple Card and Savings takeover, but Apple's requirements may need to change to facilitate that. The rumored banks include American Express and Synchrony Financial.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
4 Comments
Very poor deal.
Definitely it's not the best deal, but to call it 'uncompetitive' is a bit ridiculous given that the majority of banks' savings rates fall below 4.25% - or even below the previous 4.15%. And none of those have Apple Savings' convenience of being managed in the Apple Wallet.
As with many things, it's a good idea to diversify: put your money into savings and CD accounts from multiple banks. While bank FDIC insurance is pretty high and, thus, safeguard most savers, it's always safer to stash away your dough in multiple places.
I guess competitive depends on the bank. US Bank, for example, has a standard savings account interest rate of 0.01%.
Rate is OK, but not the best: Marcus by Goldman Sachs has a high-yield offering 4.50% APY and EverBank (formerly TIAA) is pushing 5.20%.