Obviously that title is my opinion, only!
I’ve written so much about Bask Bank® over the years.
Heck, this blog goes back to when I wrote about BankDirect, its previous incarnation (Bask Bank, like BankDirect which launched in 1999, is a division of Texas Capital Bank). Texas Capital Bank is based in Dallas, Texas and has assets of $40 Billion. It’s no small bank.
As most of you know, I write a lot about Bask Bank’s Mileage Savings product, which currently earns 2.5 Aadvantage® miles per dollar per year. And there’s a great case for earning miles, no doubt! During last quarter’s promotion, which is now expired, I wrote about a variety of examples where miles could beat cash.
But there’s also a solid case for cash…
It’s also no secret I’m a closet personal finance buff. If I didn’t blog about miles and points, I’d probably have written about personal finance.
I got some great feedback when I wrote an article on the best high yield saving accounts, though since the Fed started to cut rates in September, none of them are still over 5%.
I loved getting deep in the weeds offering up options like a money market fund from Vanguard that is state tax exempt, meaning that someone in a high tax state like NY or CA would only pay state tax on a small % of the interest – in 2023 you would have paid tax on 19.4% of the interest.
Today, October 16, 2024, VUSXX has a 7 day SEC yield of 4.85%. If you paid 8% in state tax, you’d only owe about 1.55% on your VUSXX gains bringing your net yield over 5%.
OK, but what if you don’t want to deal with a money market account and just want a regular bank with a great savings rate.
I guess I wasn’t too surprised that when I looked this up today, while there were a few banks I’d never heard of offering slightly more, the best yield for a bank I know and trust is….. Bask Bank.
As of today, Oct 16, 2024 (subject to change!), it is yielding a very nice 4.85%.
Now check how much your own savings account is paying…. I’ll wait 😉
I used to be a huge fan of Marcus and have a pretty popular page for Marcus referrals which bump your yield by a net effective 1% for 3 months, however, their rate has dropped to a rather low 4.1% not including the referral bump (meaning that’s what you’ll get after it ends) and it’s only a drop higher even with the referral bonus. I no longer have any money on deposit at Marcus.
So I think 4.85% with no games is pretty stellar – especially when it’s a known entity, not some bank we’ve never heard of. And of course, your deposits at Bask are FDIC insured up to $250,000.
You can open a Bask Bank Interest Savings account here.
Let me know what you think – including if I missed an equally well known bank with a similar or better rate!
More online bank options:
Thoughts?
Let me know below in the comments, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram for all sorts of tips on miles, points, credit cards, and travel.
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You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
