High-yield savings, ranked by APY
As of August 11, 2026, the top high-yield savings accounts pay 3.40%–4.21% APY — Axos Bank at 4.21%, SoFi at 3.80%, CIT Bank at 3.75% — versus the FDIC national average of 0.38% and M&T Bank's 0.01%.
† Conditions — Axos: $1,500/mo direct deposit · CIT: $5,000 min balance · SoFi: linked checking + direct deposit
National average · FDIC, published monthly. FDIC, as of June 2026
| Rank | Bank | APY |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Axos Bank (4.21% requires Linked Axos ONE® Checking Account Required and At least $1,500 in total monthly qualifying direct deposits AND average daily balance of at least $1,500 in Axos ONE® Checking. direct deposit; 1.00% base) | 4.21% |
| 2 | SoFi (3.80% requires Recurring direct deposit (payroll, pension, gov't benefit) OR $5,000 in qualifying deposits every 31 days. Required to earn 3.10% base APY; also unlocks 0.70% APY boost for up to 6 months (promo for new members only, account opened 3/31/2026–12/31/2026, boost set up within 60 days). Without either, rate is 0.80% APY. direct deposit and Paired SoFi Checking Account (auto-opened); 3.10% base) | 3.80% |
| 3 | CIT Bank (3.75% requires $5,000 or more to earn 3.75% APY; balances below $5,000 earn 0.25% APY minimum balance for top apy; 0.25% base) | 3.75% |
| 4 | Axos Summit Savings | 3.75% |
| 5 | Marcus (Goldman Sachs) | 3.40% |
| — | M&T Bank (your current bank) | 0.01% |
What you'd earn at each, by balance.
What you'd earn at each, by balance.
Annual interest = principal × APY, simple interest. All accounts FDIC insured up to $250,000.
| Balance | M&T Bank0.01%APYYour current bank | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $0.50/yr | $210.50/yr | $187.50/yr |
| $10,000 | $1/yr | $421/yr | $375/yr |
| $25,000 | $2.50/yr | $1,052.50/yr | $937.50/yr |
| $50,000 | $5/yr | $2,105/yr | $1,875/yr |
| $100,000 | $10/yr | $4,210/yr | $3,750/yr |
Personalize the gap.
Compared at M&T Bank's 0.01% standard APY vs. Axos Bank's 4.21% APY. Simple interest.
That's $2,100 over five years, just by switching where the dollars sit.
Why does M&T Bank pay so little on savings?
M&T Bank is a Buffalo-headquartered regional lender whose growth has come from acquiring other banks' branch networks rather than from bidding for deposits — most recently People's United Financial in 2022, which extended its footprint across New England. Buying a bank buys its depositors outright, and those customers arrive already banking at whatever rate the acquired institution paid, which removes the usual reason to compete on APY. Relationship pricing does the rest: M&T's savings products are built to reward holding a linked M&T checking account rather than holding a balance. M&T Relationship Savings pays 0.01% APY as of August 15, 2026 and carries a $7.50 monthly service fee, waived with a $500 minimum balance or a linked M&T checking account.
What about M&T Bank's higher-tier savings accounts?
M&T's other savings product is M&T Premium Savings, which the bank positions above Relationship Savings with separate standard and preferred interest tiers and a $20 monthly service charge — waived with a $10,000 average daily balance or a linked MyChoice Premium, Power, M&T Select, or Advantage checking account. As of August 15, 2026, M&T does not publish an APY for Premium Savings on mtb.com: the product page renders the tier table's headers — Balance, Standard Interest Rate, Standard APY, Preferred Interest Rate, Preferred APY — with no values in them, before or after entering a ZIP code. Arca compares only rates a bank publishes, so the M&T figure on this page is Relationship Savings at 0.01% APY.
Where M&T Bank customers are moving their savings.
Every account below is FDIC insured to $250,000, with the same daily access you have today. On a $10,000 balance, the top rate earns about $420 more a year than M&T Bank.
| Requirements to earn the maximum APY | Apply | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Axos ONE® SavingsAxos Bank · Member FDIC | Up to 4.21 percent APY. 1.00 percent base, plus 3.21 percent with conditions. |
| Go to Axos Bank (opens axosbank.com in a new tab) |
See detailsHide details for Axos ONE® Savings
| |||
SoFi High-Yield Savings AccountSoFi · Member FDIC$0 minimum to open | Up to 3.80 percent APY. 3.10 percent base, plus 0.70 percent with conditions. |
| Go to SoFi (opens sofi.com in a new tab) |
See detailsHide details for SoFi High-Yield Savings AccountEarn 3.80% APY now, dropping to 3.10% APY when the intro period ends on December 31, 2026.
| |||
Axos Summit SavingsAxos Summit Savings · Member FDIC | 3.75 percent APY. Variable rate, no conditions. |
| Go to Axos Summit Savings (opens axosbank.com in a new tab) |
Ties break toward the account with the higher guaranteed rate. Deposit insurance is provided by each bank listed, not by Arca Savings, which is not a bank and does not accept deposits.