How the index is built.
Plain rules, applied the same way to every bank. Here's all of them.
What we track
- High-yield savings: online and traditional savings accounts open to the public in all 50 states.
- CDs: terms from 6 months to 5 years, with the early withdrawal penalty for each.
- Money market accounts: including whether you can write checks.
- Checking fees: monthly maintenance, overdraft, out-of-network ATM and foreign transaction fees.
- Only accounts insured by the FDIC or NCUA make the index.
The Savings Index
The Savings Index is the average APY of the 10 highest-paying savings accounts we track. New-customer promos and temporary boosts are left out. Rates that need a condition, like monthly deposits or a minimum balance, count at the rate you get by meeting it, and the condition is shown next to the rate. The national average we compare against is the FDIC's national savings rate.
How accounts are ranked
- Accounts are ordered by APY, highest first.
- Ties go to the account with the lower minimum deposit, then the one with fewer conditions.
- Rates that need a balance tier, direct deposit or membership are shown with that condition next to them.
- Every bank name links to the page its numbers came from. If that isn't the bank's own site, or the page is older than our last update, we say so next to the rate.
The fee score
Each checking account starts at 100 and loses points for fees a typical customer could run into: 2.5 points per dollar of monthly fee, 0.6 per dollar of overdraft fee, 4 per dollar of out-of-network ATM fee, and 5 per percent of foreign transaction fee. Accounts that refund other banks' ATM fees get 5 points back. Scores are capped between 0 and 100.
We score the fee as charged, not the fee after a waiver, because many people miss the waiver conditions. Waiver rules are listed next to every fee.
How we make money
indexit.cash is free to use. Some banks pay us a referral fee when you open an account through a link on this site. Those links are marked.
Referral deals never affect the ranking. The order comes from the numbers above, and accounts that don't pay us are listed the same way as those that do.
What we don't do
- We're not a bank and don't hold your money.
- We don't give personal financial advice. The best account for you depends on more than its rate.
- Rates change, sometimes the same day. Always confirm the terms with the bank before you open an account.