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American Express Personal Savings Account Review
American Express Personal Savings account review 2024: fees, APR/APY interest rates/high yields. New client promotions, service.
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American Express Personal Savings Account Review
One of Ally Bank’s strongest products is their Online Savings Account. The Online Savings Account offers a higher rate of interest than savings accounts at traditional brick-and-mortar banks.
Although perhaps best known for its credit cards, American Express also offers an online personal savings account. The account is offered through American Express Bank,
FSB, which is described as a “branchless bank.” Banking activities are performed entirely through an easy-to-use website, through a mobile device or via phone.
American Express FSB offers competitive rates in comparison to other online savings accounts, including high yield options like Ally Bank and Barclays.
The interest rate offered for savings accounts through American Express FSB is 0.85% APY. While this comes in lower than Barclays
and Synchrony Bank, which offer rates of 1.00 percent APY, the American Express rate remains one of the top paying online savings banks. The American
Express FSB rate has also remained largely consistent in recent years, so bank users can likely count on relatively steady returns barring any dramatic
national shifts in national policy on interest rates.
Opening an Account
Opening an account is a relatively easy process. While the main website for American Express FSB indicates that the process takes less than 10 minutes,
the actual process generally takes considerably less time provided the necessary information is available. Opening an account requires a Social Security
number, which is a standard requirement for opening an online savings account. There is a soft credit check, so the inquiry from American Express will not
count as an inquiry for purposes of credit scoring.
In addition to a social security number, an email address, a home address and phone number, a date of
birth are required. Information from an existing bank account is also necessary to fund the account with an electronic transfer.
Moving money into the American Express personal savings account (and out of it) is a very easy process that can be done with just a few simple clicks after
entering a routing number and account number.
To use an online transfer to move money in or out, the existing bank account needs to be confirmed with American Express.
Confirming is easy as American Express bank deposits two small sums of money into the existing account and then those amounts must be entered on the American Express
website. American Express indicates that the deposits to confirm the account show up within two to three days. Past experience has shown that this generally occurs
at the lower end of this estimated time, so the money transfer can be made quickly.
When opening a joint account, the personal information for both co-owners of the account must be available. For those who already have an American Express Savings Account,
it is an even simpler and easier process to open an additional account. American Express will automatically link the accounts, allowing seamless transfers of money and
making it easy to view separate and combined balances. The ability to maintain multiple separate accounts under one user name and password is convenient for those who like
to allocate their money into different savings accounts for different purpose.
Once the account is open, money is quickly transferred into the American Express FSB personal
savings account from a linked bank account. Accounts can also be funded by sending in a check, which naturally is a longer process.
Interest is paid from the day that the deposit is received. There is no minimum balance for the account and no monthly fees. American Express also sends a Personal Savings
welcome kit in the mail that contains deposit slips and more information about the account.
Using the Website
When visiting the American Express website from Google or another search engine, the main credit card page is the default page. It is helpful to bookmark the login page
for the personal savings to avoid having to navigate to this page from the main credit card pages on each website visit.
Navigating the website is easy after signing in.
The main page contains a listing of all accounts under the same user name. Assigning a nickname to each of the accounts makes it possible to allocate money among the
accounts easily. The main page lists the type of account(as American Express FSB also offers a 36-month CD through the same web service). The current and available
balance are both listed on the main page, and a complete total from all open accounts is listed on this page as well.
From this page, clicking on the account number of a particular account provides more details. It is possible for the website to show the full account and routing number, which is necessary to link to other accounts. For example, using the information about the account and routing number makes it possible to link the American Express savings account as a payment source in Paypal.
There is a Transfers and Alerts button on the account pages to move money around and further customize the website experience. Online statements are available and the website is easy to navigate. Transactions can also be downloaded to be added to personal accounting software and the American Express FSB site links with money-management sites like Mint. It is also possible to receive alerts every time money moves into or account of the account and when interest is deposited.
Overall Features and Functionality
Overall, the American Express personal savings account is comparable to other online savings accounts in terms of features and interest paid. Moving money, accessing accounts and tracking investments is easy and customer service is good.
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