Earn up to 4.9%, risk free and liquid, with a Marcus referral bonus.
For a while, Marcus (an online savings account by Goldman Sachs) has been offering a rate bump for three months when you refer someone to Marcus.
The current APY is 3.9%. (Rate as of March 4, 2025)
With this Marcus refer a friend offer, though, you’ll earn an extra 1.0% on your rate for 3 months (a total of 0.25% for 3 months), and so will your friend. Of course the value of this depends on how much you each have in savings. At the max $250,000 for FDIC, you’d each earn an extra $625 per 3 months.
That said, there are other banks that offer a higher base rate than Marcus, meaning it doesn’t drop a full 1% after 3 months.
For example, instead of Marcus at 3.9% with an extra 1% for 3 months, you could choose an Interest Savings Account at Bask Bank (yes, the one I always talk about because they also have an account that earns AAdvantage® miles).
Bask Bank has a 4.35% APY as of March 4, 2025. That is a BIG difference!
While of course that rate can change with market conditions, it’s reasonable to assume that their base rate will exceed the Marcus base rate for the foreseeable future. It has been for many months now.
All of that said, if you prefer to stick with Marcus and get a 1% yield bump for 3 months, here is my referral link)
More online bank options:
(And yes, while it’s not miles related, there is a ton of overlap between miles and personal finance and I do like to alert readers to these opportunities!)
To refer a friend from your own Marcus account, you can just sign into your Marcus account and look for the referral center to generate a link. You can refer up to 5 people per calendar year and each referral will add another 3 months to your yield bump.
Note: Your the person you refer cannot have had a Marcus savings or CD product in the last 12 months to qualify as new.
Recap on Marcus Refer-a-Friend:
If you are new, you can earn 1% APY over the normal rate for 3 months (which as of now is 3.9% – increased to 4.9%), by using my referral link. You can also stack AARP on top for an extra 0.10% yield bump, though that only lasts for two years.
However, as noted above, since it’s only for 3 months, you may be better suited with an account that has a significantly higher standard rate that will outlive your 3 month bonus – like Bask Bank or even a money market account.
Questions?
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Maybe my math is bad but isn’t an extra 1% on 250k for 3 months equal to $625? 250k x .01 = $2,500.00. $2,500.00/4=$625. The story has the amount at $833.00.
You’re right 🙂 I have no idea where the $833 came from as the calculation was done in the same way. Definite error on my part and now corrected.
Thank you so much!
It was great to get additional 1% to my savings APY
I have 3 spots left
Get up to 5.60% APY on a Marcus Savings account (4.50% + additional 1% for referral + .10% from another program).
Use this referral link to receive 3 months of additional 1% APY
https://milestalk.com/marcus/
Once you have your account you are able to refer 5 people to get a total of 18 months with the additional 1% (4.50% + additional 1% for referral + .10% from another program).
If you get a joint account you are able to refer up to 10 people (5 per person each with a unique referral link) getting up to a total of 33 months with the extra 1%.
Also if you get an AARP membership (currently $12 for a year) and connect it to Marcus you get an extra .10% for 24 months.
Is this link still active?
Absolutely. Although I present another option, the referral link for Marcus very much works :). Just click it 🙂