Over the past couple of years I’ve reviewed quite a few banks on this site, talking about their reputations for customer service, the rates that they ave on their savings accounts, and experience with the banks in general.
In looking at the banks over that time, however, somehow I missed that one of my favorite credit card companies, American Express, also has a personal savings account that they’re offering.
Not only that, but it currently has one of the higher interest rates available – although that’s not saying much with most banks coming in at anywhere from 0.25-1% interest on savings accounts.
American Express Bank History
American Express is not a newcomer to the financial services scene. Everyone knows who they are, and they’ve been around for over 150 years. They were founded in 1850 and are currently best known for their credit card, charge card and traveler’s check businesses.
American Express credit cards account for about 24% of total dollar volume of transactions in the United States, the highest of any card issuing company.
Fortune listed Amex as one of the top 20 most admired companies in the world, and they brand is estimated to be worth somewhere in the range of S$14.97 billion.
For much of their history Amex has focused on the credit and charge card side of things, but only recently after the financial crisis of 2008 did they accelerate trying to bring on consumers with their deposit accounts. As such they’ve been offering competitive rates, 24/7 account access and more.
Is Putting My Money With American Express Savings Safe?
With American Express your money will be safe and sound because the bank is FDIC insured. If you deposit your money and the bank goes under, you’ll be fine – as long as you don’t have more deposited than the FDIC insurance will cover. Currently that amount is $250,000 per depositor.
I don’t think you have much to worry about on that end, however, with American Express being one of the biggest and most valuable brands in the world. Your money with Amex is likely going to be safe and sound.
Features Of An American Express Savings Account
A high yield savings account with American Express has a good number of features and benefits. Among them:
- 24/7 Account Access by phone or web.
- No fees to open or maintain a High-Yield Savings account.
- $1 to open an account.
- Set up automatic transfers from a linked checking/savings account.
- Rated 5-star Safe & Sound by Bankrate.com
- FDIC-insured to $250,000 per depositor
Opening An Account With American Express
Opening an account with American Express savings is a simple 4 step process, pretty similar and streamlined like a lot of other current online banks.
- Gather your information: Bring together your Social Security number, address, email, date of birth and existing bank account information if funding your account electronically.
- Submit your application: Choose what type of account you want (Savings/CD) and apply online or by phone anytime at 1-800-446-6307.
- Receive confirmation: If your account is approved you’ll receive an e-mail confirming that your application is approved. You will also receive a Personal Savings welcome kit in the mail.
- Fund your account: Then you just need to fund your account and start earning interest!
That’s it! Piece of cake.
Conclusion
American Express has been around for 160+ years and is one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
They’re best known for their credit products including charge and credit cards, but their savings accounts are quickly becoming a solid option for people looking to make the most of their money.
While no banks have amazing rates right now – with hardly any of them being above 2% – American Express savings is currently one of the top bank rates available.
Add to that the fact that their FDIC insured, and are rated as a 5 star safe and sound bank by bankrate.com, and I think you’ve got a solid savings account option that I would recommend checking out. You can sign up for an account or get details through the links below.
Open Your American Express Personal Savings Account
American Express has been my card of choice for a long time. Looking forward to trying them out. Like you said, their rates do pay a little better than their competition, which makes it more of a reason to at least give them a try.
I posted our experience thus far with AmEx savings under your review of the CapitolOne 360 acquisition of INGDirect. I forgot these other two reasons we chose to try AmEx when ING was acquired – reputation and longevity. So far it’s thumbs up for the savings with fast transfers to our external accounts when we’ve needed it. It has only taken 1 business day (overnight) to get our money from AmEx to our CapitolOne accounts.
I just closed my Amex savings account. I signed up for the account because I love my Amex card and their customer service. Unfortunately, the savings account is _completely_ separate from the credit account (they made me pick a different username and everything). Their website was really kludgy which, considering they don’t have any physical presence, is a bad move. What tipped me over was that they are completely shutting down for 72 hours to upgrade their systems (starting at noon tomorrow). I don’t care how good the new system is – I can’t leave my money in an online bank account that thinks that’s okay customer service.