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Discover Bank Savings Review
Discover Bank savings is best for people who want simple online banking with no fees.
Discover online savings is an excellent account offering 0.50% APY and no fees. It’s the perfect account to keep your emergency fund safe and accessible in case you ever need it.
Online-only banks have lower overhead costs than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. The money they save on overhead ends up in your pocket as a higher interest rate for your savings. The Discover high yield savings account earns 0.50% APY.
When you stack that Discover bank savings rate with absolutely no fees (not even for insufficient funds) and no minimum balance or deposit, you build a hassle-free savings account to house your emergency fund, future house down payment or cash for a dream vacation.
Discover Bank at a glance
| Bank | Min Deposit | ATM Network | J.D. Power Survey Score | Key Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discover Bank | $0 | 60,000 surcharge-free ATMs through Allpoint and MoneyPass networks | 5/5 | High interest with no fees |
Rates accurate as of November, 2020
Things to consider
You won’t find much to worry about with Discover online savings if you’re fine with banking completely online. But, if you prefer the in-person experience of a brick-and-mortar bank, Discover Bank might not be the best fit for you.
Discover only has one physical location in Delaware, so cash deposits won’t be an option for most people. If you have a lot of cash you need to put into your high-yield savings account, you can deposit it to your traditional checking account then transfer it to Discover savings.
What you need to know
With a Discover online savings account, you’ll earn 0.50% interest on all of your deposits, unlike some banks that require you to keep a minimum balance in your account to earn a higher interest rate.
Whether you deposit $10 or $10,000 in your Discover account, you’ll begin earning interest immediately. Interest accrues daily and deposits to your account once a month.
You are limited by federal law to only six electronic or telephone withdraws each calendar month. While you won’t be charged a fee if you go over six occasionally, you do run the risk of having your account closed if you make a habit of exceeding the withdrawal limit. The rule does not apply to ATM withdrawals or official bank checks, though.
To open a new savings account at Discover, follow these steps:
- Click “Open an Account” or “Get Started” from the Discover online savings webpage.
- If you’re new to Discover, choose that option. If you already have an account, you can log in now.
- For new Discover members, you’ll provide basic information about yourself like your name, birth date and Social Security number.
- Once you submit your application, you can set up your account settings and make your first deposit. You can skip this step if you would rather make a deposit later.
- Check your email for an account confirmation message. Once you receive it, your account is set up and you’re ready to start saving.
Discover Bank mobile app
If you open a Discover high-yield savings account, everything you do will be either through the web portal at Discover.com or Discover’s banking app. The app is available on both Google Play and the Apple App Store, making it accessible for smartphone users.
The Discover mobile app has all of the features you need to manage your savings account from your smartphone. The user interface is simple and intuitive, making it easy to find your way around. It offers mobile check deposit and easy transfers between all your different accounts — even the ones you have at other banks. To keep things simple and secure, you can log in with either touch ID or Face ID (if you’re an Apple user).
Fees and penalties
Discover’s all about saying “no” in all the right ways. A Discover savings account has no minimum deposit, so you can open your account now and make your first deposit once your next paycheck comes in. It also features for:
- Monthly maintenance.
- Official bank checks.
- Expedited delivery of official bank checks.
- Returned deposits.
- Excessive withdraws.
- Stop payment orders.
- Insufficient funds.
- Closed accounts.
The only fee Discover charges its online savings customers is for outgoing wire transfers, which come with a $30 charge.
You can also enroll in overdraft protection, allowing you to designate a separate account to withdraw funds from if you accidentally overdraft your online savings account.
Discover savings vs. Chase savings
Discover savings interest rates and fees are hard to overlook when comparing them to the signature savings accounts from America’s largest bank. Chase savings offers only 0.01% to its customers and comes with a $5 monthly service fee if you don’t meet at least one of its requirements, like maintaining a $300 minimum daily balance or having a $25 recurring monthly transfer into your account.
Chase’s mobile banking app is comparable to Discover’s, but you will have the benefit of in-person banking if you like with Chase — though its online banking experience is exceptional as well. Unfortunately, those factors can’t overcome Discover’s high-yield savings rate and no-fee policy.
Please Note: Information about Chase Savings℠ has been collected independently by TheSimpleDollar.com. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.Compare top bank accounts
Too long, didn’t read?
Everyone should have a high yield savings account to protect their savings. Whether you’re saving for a home down payment, a dream vacation or a rainy day, a Discover savings accounts will allow you to earn more with a 0.50% interest rate and no fees. The Discover mobile banking app makes managing your account a breeze, and you’ll have access to 60,000 surcharge-free ATMs around the world if you ever need cash.
We welcome your feedback on this article. Contact us at inquiries@thesimpledollar.com with comments or questions.
Keep Reading
Methodology
The SimpleScore is a proprietary scoring metric we use to objectively compare products and services at The Simple Dollar.
For every review, our editorial team:
- Identifies five measurable aspects to compare across each brand
- Determines the rating criteria for each aspect score
- Averages the five aspect scores to produce a single SimpleScore
Here’s a breakdown of the five aspect scores and their rating criteria for our review of the best savings accounts of 2020.
Why do some brands have different SimpleScores on different pages?
To ensure the SimpleScore is as helpful and accurate as possible, we developed unique criteria for every category we compare at The Simple Dollar. Since most brands offer a variety of financial solutions, their products and services will score differently depending on what we’re scoring on a given page.
However, it’s also possible for the same product from the same brand to have multiple SimpleScores. For instance, if we compare the savings account offered by Chase, it scores a 3.8 out of 5. However, when we compare the checking account offered by Chase with the checking account SimpleScore metrics, it scores a 4.4 out of 5. We change and tweak the methodologies for different categories based on industry standards to paint a complete picture of products and brands.
Questions about our methodology?
Email Hayley Armstrong at hayley@thesimpledollar.com.
APY
Savings accounts are meant to earn at least a little interest, which is why we reward brands with higher APYs on savings accounts.
Savings Tools
Brands that make it easier to save score higher SimpleScores. We considered tools such as savings buckets, automatic transfers and goal-tracking when comparing this metric.
Customer satisfaction
We leveraged J.D. Power’s 2020 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study and 2020 U.S. Direct Banking Satisfaction Study to rate each brand for customer satisfaction. The higher the satisfaction score, the higher the SimpleScore.
Customer support
The savings account providers that have the most channels of customer support score higher than providers that don’t. We considered e-chat, email, phone, mobile app support and social media as channels of support for this metric.
Additional products
When it comes to banking, it’s nice to have options. If you want a checking and savings account in one place, that’s great, but we also considered other financial products like MMAs, CDs, IRAs and more. Providers that have more additional products score higher.
Reviewed by
Courtney Mihocik
Loans EditorCourtney Mihocik is an editor at The Simple Dollar who specializes in personal loans, student loans, auto loans, and debt consolidation loans. She is a former writer and contributing editor to Interest.com, PersonalLoans.org, and elsewhere.
