When it comes to choosing a savings account, it’s hard to go wrong with an established name like American Express. AMEX offers much more than credit cards, recently adding an online savings account to the host of financial products they provide. In fact, the American Express Savings Account might be just the savings product you’ve been looking for.
Many Americans are moving their banking into the virtual world, and while lots of banks allow for online banking, some prefer not to have a brick-and-mortar bank of any kind. Shopping around for the best online savings account rates is never an easy charge, and the same principles of shopping for any kind of savings account apply. However, unlike a traditional savings account, those who prefer to use online banking savings accounts have no personal banker to sit down with and ask questions. This makes doing your homework all the more crucial when you are looking for an online savings account.
The good news is American Express offers online savings accounts with some highly attractive features for banking customers looking for a safe place where they can get the most out of their money.
American Express Savings Account Interest Rate
First, let’s talk about the American Express Savings Account interest rate: It’s a robust 0.90% APR. This is much higher than the average savings account interest rate, which generally lingers somewhere below a quarter of a point.
While a savings account is generally not an investment tool on its own, it does allow you to make a bit off of your money that’s just sitting around otherwise collecting dust. Picking an interest rate that’s higher than average will allow this money to work for you in your online banking savings account.
Attractive Features of American Express Savings
The interest rate is only one part of how you should evaluate an online savings account like the American Express savings account. The savvy online banking consumer also wants to know what additional services are being offered.
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It goes without saying that with an online American Express savings account, you’ll receive access to your account 24 hours a day, seven days a week. American Express also makes it easy for you to transfer money into and out of your account directly from their website using a few different methods:
- You can link your American Express online savings account easily to any other bank account that’s in your name.
- This feature applies to as many as three bank accounts, provided that the accounts are in your name.
- Deposit a check in your account by dropping it in the mail to American Express offices.
- No inactivity fees.
- No minimum balance.
- No monthly fees.
- You are not required to have an American Express credit card to have an American Express online savings account.
- The application process is quick and easy and can be competed entirely online. For the person looking to avoid any kind of brick-and-mortar bank experience, this can be the ideal online savings account.
- Accounts are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) just the same as a brick-and-mortar bank to the tune of a quarter million dollars.
- Those who already have a personal savings account with American Express can expedite their application, provided that they have their account number handy.
Potential Drawback to AMEX Savings: Checks
There is one drawback to the AMEX savings account online, however: They can be a bit fussy about what checks they accept. For example, some of the checks not accepted by American Express for their online savings accounts include:
- Checks with multiple endorsements.
- Personal checks drawn from an account other than one with your name.
- Counter checks, starter checks, travelers’ checks and money orders.
This is a glaring restriction on your money, though there is a pretty easy way around it: Deposit money into your brick-and-mortar account and then make a transfer using your online account. All told, it will probably be done in about the same amount of time as mailing a check to American Express and waiting for it to clear and you can take advantage of the online savings account’s high-yield interest rate.
Final Word on the American Express Personal Savings Account
The American Express Savings Account might not be the place you want to put all of your money, due to access issues. However, if you have a wad of money that you want to put to the side and forget about, the American Express Personal Savings Account offers a convenient way to manage your money.
