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We've been touting the great risk-free returns you can earn from today's high-yield savings accounts all year. That's because the Federal Reserve's historic 2022-2023 rate-hike campaign pushed savings account rates up to their highest levels since about 2001—letting you earn in the mid-5% range for over a year now.
But every once in a while, an astonishing deal turns up in our rate research. And this week, we've learned about one of the most remarkable offers we've seen.
Live Oak Bank is offering a high-yield savings account that pays 4.30% APY. Compared to the 5.00% to 5.50% rates that the nation's best savings accounts pay, Live Oak's return is nothing special. But what makes it financially interesting is their new cash bonus offer—if you qualify, you can earn $300 on top of the 4.30% APY.
To earn the $300 bonus, you'll need to deposit at least $20,000 in the account. And you'll need to keep your balance at that level (or higher) for a full 60 days. If you do, you stand to earn about $443 in interest in just two months. That equates to a 13.3% APY on a $20,000 deposit over the 60 days.
How does that compare? You can see below that if you have $20,000 in a 3.5% or 4.5% annual percentage yield (APY) account, with no cash bonus, you'd earn $117 or $150, respectively. And even if you put the $20,000 in the nation's top-paying savings account, at 5.50% APY, you'd earn about $183 in two months. So this Live Oak offer more than doubles the earnings of the next-best option.
| 3.5% APY | 4.5% APY | 5.5% APY (top nationwide rate) | Live Oak Offer: 4.3% APY + cash bonus | |
| 2 months of interest | $117 | $150 | $183 | $143 |
| Cash bonus | - | - | - | $300 |
| Total earnings over 2 months | $117 | $150 | $183 | $443 |
Granted, your 13.3% APY won't continue beyond the 60-day period. At that point, you'd earn 4.30% going forward, or whatever Live Oak's current high-yield rate is (savings rates can be reduced at any time). But after meeting the 60-day requirement, you'd be free to move your funds elsewhere, if you so choose.
Live Oak Bank is an internet-only bank based in Wilmington, N.C. An FDIC member since its founding in 2008, deposits at Live Oak Bank are federally insured up to $250,000 per person.
Here are the steps for ensuring you qualify for the $300 cash bonus:
In addition, a few other rules apply:
Also, you are not limited to keeping just $20,000 in this account. If you'd like to keep a larger balance, your 4.30% APY earnings will apply to that amount. But since your cash bonus will not change, your overall APY will be lower for larger deposit amounts. Still, the table below shows that even on a $50,000 deposit your return would far surpass the alternatives paying rates in the 5% range.
| $20,000 deposit | $30,000 deposit | $40,000 deposit | $50,000 deposit | |
| 2 months of earnings at 4.30% APY* | $143 | $215 | $287 | $358 |
| Cash bonus | $300 | $300 | $300 | $300 |
| Total earnings in 2 months | $443 | $515 | $587 | $658 |
| Resulting APY during cash bonus period | 13.3% | 10.3% | 8.8% | 7.9% |
If a deposit of $20,000, with no ability to withdraw it for two months, is more than you can sock away right now, you have other good options. Though other accounts won't include a cash bonus like Live Oak is paying, earning a rate in the 5% range is historically very high. Our daily ranking of the best high-yield savings accounts always presents the day's 15 best offers, and right now, you have nine choices that pay at least 5.00%. In addition, many of these have little or no deposit or balance requirements.
We update these rankings every business day to give you the best deposit rates available:
Best 3-Month CD Rates
Best 6-Month CD Rates
Best 1-Year CD Rates
Best 18-Month CD Rates
Best 2-Year CD Rates
Best 3-Year CD Rates
Best 4-year CD Rates
Best 5-Year CD Rates
Best High-Yield Savings Accounts
Best Money Market Accounts
Note that the "top rates" quoted here are the highest nationally available rates Investopedia has identified in its daily rate research on hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is much different than the national average, which includes all banks offering a CD with that term, including many large banks that pay a pittance in interest. Thus, the national averages are always quite low, while the top rates you can unearth by shopping around are often 5, 10, or even 15 times higher.
Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs and savings accounts to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying accounts. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the account's minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000. It also cannot specify a maximum deposit amount that's below $5,000.
Banks must be available in at least 40 states to qualify as nationally available. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don't meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don't live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.
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