Is Your Wells Fargo Savings Account Costing You Money? See Why You Should Switch Banks

Wells Fargo is one of America's largest banks, but the interest you'll earn from its savings accounts is pretty small. Currently, the Wells Fargo Way2Save Savings account only pays 0.01% APY. You can get a slightly higher APY from the Wells Fargo Platinum Savings account (0.25% to 2.51%, depending on balance), but even that APY is far lower than the national average savings account rate -- unless your balance is $100,000 or higher.

Wells Fargo savings account customers have many other options for where to keep your cash that pay better than 0.01% APY. Even some of the best checking accounts pay higher interest than that!

Let's look at why Wells Fargo savings accounts pay such low APYs, and see a few other ideas for where to move your money.

Why Wells Fargo savings account APYs are so low

Banks are constantly competing for people's deposits. Smaller regional and online banks often try to offer more competitive savings rates, so more people will want to deposit cash there.

Our Picks for the Best High-Yield Savings Accounts of 2024

Capital One 360 Performance Savings APY 4.25% Rate info See Capital One website for most up-to-date rates. Advertised Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is variable and accurate as of April 11, 2024. Rates are subject to change at any time before or after account opening. Min. to earn $0 Open Account for Capital One 360 Performance Savings Member FDIC.	APY 4.25% Rate info See Capital One website for most up-to-date rates. Advertised Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is variable and accurate as of April 11, 2024. Rates are subject to change at any time before or after account opening.	Min. to earn $0
American Express® High Yield Savings APY 4.25% Rate info 4.25% annual percentage yield as of June 26, 2024 Min. to earn $1 Open Account for American Express® High Yield Savings Member FDIC.	APY 4.25% Rate info 4.25% annual percentage yield as of June 26, 2024	Min. to earn $1
Citizens Access® Savings APY 4.50% Min. to earn $0.01 Open Account for Citizens Access® Savings Member FDIC.	APY 4.50%	Min. to earn $0.01

But big banks like Wells Fargo don't have to compete quite as hard. America's largest banks can sometimes get away with paying much lower rates on savings accounts -- because they already have millions of customers and hundreds of billions of dollars of assets.

Not all of Wells Fargo's savings products pay low APY. Right now, Wells Fargo is offering special certificates of deposit (CDs) with four or seven month terms of up to 4.75% APY. (And you can get an even higher APY if you qualify for a relationship rate.) But if you have money in a 0.01% APY Wells Fargo savings account, you should explore better options.

How much can you earn with a Wells Fargo savings account?

Here's how much (or how little!) you can earn with a tiny 0.01% APY in a Wells Fargo Way2Save Savings account. Let's assume that you have $10,000 of cash in the bank. And we'll compare your 0.01% earnings to a few other accounts.

The takeaway: If you have $10,000 in a Wells Fargo Way2Save Savings account at 0.01% APY, after one year you'll earn $1. The Wells Fargo Platinum Savings account would give you $25 of earnings in a year. That's not good! In the next five years, you'd be missing out on nearly $2,800-$2,900 of earnings that you could get from the best savings accounts and money market accounts.

Where to put your cash instead of a Wells Fargo savings account at 0.01% APY

If you're tired of missing out on "free money" by leaving your cash in a near-zero Wells Fargo savings account, here are a few better places to move your savings.

Best savings accounts

Today, the best savings accounts are offering 5.00% APY or higher. You can often find the best APYs on savings accounts and money market accounts at online banks and smaller banks.

Don't be afraid to open a savings account with a little-known bank that you haven't heard of before. As long as the bank is a member of the FDIC, your money will be protected against bank failure by FDIC insurance -- up to $250,000 per bank, per depositor, per account ownership category.

Best money market accounts

The best money market accounts tend to offer similar and sometimes even slightly higher APYs than the best savings accounts. And you still get FDIC insurance. Plus, your money market account might offer debit card access and check-writing privileges, so you can use your savings to pay big bills.

Better big bank savings accounts

One good reason to bank with a major national brand like Wells Fargo is the convenience. If you like the feeling of knowing that your savings are being held by a big bank with brick-and-mortar branches, then you can open a savings account with a big national bank.

But you don't have to settle for 0.01% APY or 0.25% APY or any other inadequate APY. Some big banks offer surprisingly decent APYs that are in range of the best savings account APYs. Here are a couple big banks with good savings rates now::

• Capital One 360 Performance Savings: 4.25% APY
• Citi® Accelerate High-Yield Savings: 4.35% APY

Both of these savings accounts require no minimum balance, but rates might not be available in all locations.

Bottom line

Some big banks like Wells Fargo are still offering stingy savings rates of 0.01% APY. You can do better! The best savings accounts and money market accounts -- often offered by online banks and smaller banks -- can give you 5.00% APY or more. And even some big banks like Capital One and Citibank are offering savings accounts with 4.25%-4.35% APY.