American Express High-Yield Savings Accounts: Review & Benefits

American Express, or AmEx, is best known for its credit cards and travelers’ checks, but the company also offers a range of personal savings options.

Deposit products offered include high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs), which are FDIC-insured. That means each depositor is insured to at least $250,000.

Account features

Becoming the trend among banks, AmEx high-interest savings accounts are online only. That means that, while there are no branches to visit, you can access your account 24 hours a day via the American Express website. And in today’s increasingly technological world, that’s often the most convenient option for folks anyway. Other account features include:

• The ability to link up to three external accounts to your Personal Savings account
• Deposit and withdrawal by electronic transfer, with the ability to deposit by check
• No account fees or minimums
• Competitive annual percentage yields (APY)
• Track your money by setting up alerts according to specifications you establish

If you have an American Express card, be aware that you can’t use your card to access your personal savings. In addition, American Express Personal Savings doesn’t offer ATM cards. Electronic transfer is the only means of withdrawal.

AmEx also offers CDs with terms from 6 to 60 months at a variety of competitive interest rates. Like their personal savings accounts, you will be able to access your account around the clock and there are no minimum deposits required. Like most CDs, there are fees for early termination. But CDs aren’t intended for emergency funds, but rather for money you don’t anticipate needing before the end of the term.

CDs automatically renew after maturation unless the terms of your CD are no longer offered. If you want to withdraw your funds upon maturity, you can do so. Notification can be sent by mail and/or email in advance of the maturity date.

Mission and philosophy

With over 160 years of history, American Express is one of the oldest and most trusted brands in the world. They have a reputation for being elite, which means exceptional customer service. According to their website, their goal is to understand their customers and go the extra mile on their behalf. It seems to be working; they’ve earned five consecutive J.D. Power and Associates awards for highest customer satisfaction among credit card companies.

The bottom line

I know that I always thought of AmEx as a “fancy bank.” But when I say that, I don’t mean fancy in a shallow, Kardashian-flashy way. I mean it in a pearls-and-understated-Coco-Chanel way.

The beauty of American Express Personal Savings is that someone like me, who watches too much reality TV and shops at Goodwill, can afford an account. That means I’m entitled to the same level of customer service as someone with one of their no-limit charge cards! I’ll also get one of the best online savings account rates available.

Honey Smith

Honey Smith has been reading GRS since at least 2008, right when she got her first “real” job and started getting serious about finances. She and her husband Jake are in their mid-30s and recently bought a home together. Currently, she manages graduate programs at a large state institution, and he is an attorney at a mid-sized firm.

Between them, they have paid off approximately $30,000 in consumer debt since she started writing for GRS in 2012. However, they still have nearly $200,000 of student loan debt, so she will continue to chronicle their debt-paydown journey. In addition to personal finance, Honey is interested in vegetarianism and cooking, gardening (despite living in the desert and having a black thumb), issues in higher education (including the student loan bubble and the slow death of tenure), and animal rights; however, her heart lies with fantasy novels, trashy TV and Skyrim.

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