Americans say their savings accounts are inflation-matched. There is a solution.

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Most Americans feel their bank accounts aren’t keeping up with inflation, a new survey finds, fresh evidence that savers who seek high interest rates may not be looking hard enough.

In a survey aligned through the personal finance Wallethub, 65% of banking consumers said that the cash in their accounts did not stick to the rate of inflation. The effects come from a nationwide national survey of more than 200 consumers.

If a consumer’s bank account is earning less than the inflation rate, banking experts say, that may be the customer’s own fault.

“People don’t make enough groceries compared to where they’ll put their money, their savings,” said Odyseas Papadimitiou, CEO of Wallethub. “They have the simplest solution. “

The average savings account of an online bank offers an annual interest rate of 3. 6%, according to Wallethub Research. Many high performance savings accounts are greater than that. This average is higher than the existing inflation rate, which is 2. 9%, in December.

An undeniable study seems that several banks are providing high performance savings accounts that will provide 4% or more in annual interests. The banks have the update of the update of these rates in reaction to an impressive construction in the main loan rate, it qualifies it from the banks qualifies their customers of maximum loans.

“This is anything that’s within everyone’s success,” said Greg McBride, a money analyst at Bankrate, the leader of non-public financing. “Opening one of those accounts requires a consultation of minutes. “

But it has taken to request those rates. A survey in 2024 through Bankrate discovered that two thirds of the savers still gained less than 4% interest.

Here’s a wonderful reason: Those enviable interest rates basically come from online banks, which run on few branches in brick and mortar.

Brick and mortar banks offer a lot of decrease in interest rates in savings accounts. The general average interest rate in a savings account is only 0. 55%, according to Bankrate.

Online banks can offer some of the highest rates in the industry because they have lower overhead costs than big brick-and-mortar banks, industry experts say. Bank branches with lobbies and tellers cost money to operate.

Big banks also enjoy a competitive advantage over smaller online banks, according to banking experts: They already have your business. Changing banks is tricky. And many consumers aren’t familiar with the online alternatives.

“A lot of people dread applying for a new financial account,” Papadimitriou said. “People feel less secure with smaller banks and credit unions, even though, in a lot of cases, they offer the best rates.”

Only 29% of consumers are taking advantage of high-yield savings accounts, according to a survey published in November by Santander Bank.

Confusion abounds. Most consumers don’t realize you can open a high-yield savings account without leaving your main bank, Santander found. Most customers don’t understand that high-yield savings accounts are generally FDIC-insured, just like other bank accounts. Two-fifths of consumers don’t know how much interest they’re getting now.

“There is a false basic impression of what is needed to obtain the best yields on their savings,” McBride said. “It’s not all or anything. You don’t have to move all your accounts.

The new Wallethub survey is developing boredom among bank customers. Both consumers said they take into account that their bank benefits. The 3 fifteen that his bank would be pirate.

Capital One consumers throughout the country panicked last week when payment checks and other deposits were not shown in their accounts due to problems with an external supplier. endangered.

More than interest rates, perhaps, bank consumers are involved over fees. In the Wallethub survey, consumers said that fees are the most for them when opting for a bank account, interest rates above that, visitor service, or anything else.

When the survey asked what it would take for consumers to switch bank accounts, the most popular response was, “no fees.”

Three-quarters of those surveyed said they would support a $5 cap on overdraft fees, the penalties charged to customers who overdraw their accounts.

In December, the Biden administration moved to cap overdraft fees at exactly $5, as part of its ongoing campaign against “junk fees.”

But banking industry leaders warn that the limit may backfire on maximum vulnerable bank customers, who rely on overdraft coverage to keep them solvent. And CAP faces a long dubious career under the new Trump administration.

This article gave the impression in USA Today: Isn’t your savings account anywhere?It may just be your fault.

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