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USAA Bank has two main savings accounts. The most basic is the USAA Savings Account, and its premium option is the USAA Performance First Savings Account.
These two accounts pay different savings rates, so the best option will likely depend on your account balance.
USAA Savings Account Start saving USAA, Member FDIC
Insider’s Rating A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star Feesno monthly service fee
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)0.01%
Minimum Deposit Amount$25
Pros- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. $25 minimum opening deposit
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. No monthly service fees
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Free ATM card upon request
- con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Low interest rate
The USAA Savings Account doesn't charge any monthly fees. You can also get a free ATM card even though it's a traditional savings account, which provides an easy way to access money in your account.
USAA Savings Account Product Details- Available to active military, veterans, and military families
- Financial centers in Colorado, Maryland, New York, and Texas.
- 1,200 USAA ATMs; 100,000 USAA-preferred ATMs nationwide
- Interest compounded and deposited monthly
- FDIC insured
Insider’s Rating A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star Feesno monthly service fee
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)0.05% to 1.60%
Minimum Deposit Amount$10,000
Pros- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Potential to earn a high interest rate
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Free ATM card upon request
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. No monthly service fees
- con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. $10,000 minimum opening deposit
- con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Earn a low rate on balances below $50,000
- Available to active military, veterans, and military families
- Financial centers in Colorado, Maryland, New York, and Texas.
- 1,200 USAA ATMs; 100,000 USAA-preferred ATMs nationwide
- You may earn a higher rate when your balance reaches $10k, $25k, $50k, $100k, $250k, $500k, and $1 million
- Interest compounded and deposited monthly
- FDIC insured
USAA Savings Rates
The USAA Savings Account pays 0.01% APY, regardless of what your balance is.
The USAA Performance First Savings Account has a tiered interest rate system. You don't start to earn a decent rate until you have tens of thousands of dollars in your account, though. Here's how the tiered interest rate works:
| Balance | APY |
| Under $10,000 | 0.05% |
| $10,000 to $24,999.99 | 0.10% |
| $25,000 to $49,999.99 | 0.10% |
| $50,000 to $99,999.99 | 1.00% |
| $100,000 to $249,999.99 | 1.10% |
| $250,000 to $499,999.99 | 1.20% |
| $500,000+ | 1.60% |
USAA also has a savings account specifically for kids. The USAA Youth Savings Account is an option for children under 18, with access and tools for parents. It pays 0.01% APY.
Ultimately, USAA is one of the best banks for the military, but savings rates aren't its strong suit. You could earn a much higher interest rate with an online bank that allows a smaller opening deposit.
Compare Today's Savings Rates
USAA Savings Rates Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
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How USAA Savings Rates Compare
USAA Savings vs. Navy Federal Savings
Navy Federal Credit Union is the more appealing option for savings accounts. The Navy Federal Credit Union Share Savings Account pays 0.25% APY, which is higher than USAA's standard savings account.
Furthermore, Navy Federal Credit Union's money market account has a lower minimum opening deposit than the USAA Performance First Savings Account, and pays 0.00% to 1.50% APY depending on your account balance.
Navy Federal Credit Union Review
USAA Savings vs. PenFed Savings
If you're looking for a competitive savings account, Pentagon Federal Credit Union is a better option than USAA. The Pentagon Federal Credit Union Premium Online Savings Account pays 3.00% APY, which is much higher than USAA's savings accounts.
However, keep in mind PenFed is a credit union while USAA is a bank. This means all members need to open a savings account with $5 first, before opening another type of bank account.
Pentagon Federal Credit Union Review
The bottom line: USAA, which is known for strong VA mortgages and personal loans for military families, pays low interest rates on savings accounts. You might like USAA if you're using its other products and want to keep things simple. However, if your priority is getting a competitive savings rate, the best high-yield savings accounts will likely be more appealing — you can find high-yield savings accounts paying up to 6.17% APY right now.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed USAA Savings Accounts
We rate bank accounts on a scale from zero to five stars. For our USAA saving rates review, we used our bank account methodology, which looks at interest rates, minimum opening deposits, monthly service fees, customer support availability, mobile app ratings, and the ethics of the company to rate savings accounts.
Laura Grace Tarpley, CEPF Personal Finance Reviews Editor Laura Grace Tarpley (she/her) is a senior editor at Personal Finance Insider. She oversees coverage about mortgage rates, refinance rates, lenders, bank accounts, and borrowing and savings tips for Personal Finance Insider. She was a writer and editor for Business Insider's "The Road to Home" series, which won a Silver award from the National Associate of Real Estate Editors. She is also a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF).She has written about personal finance for over seven years. Before joining the Business Insider team, she was a freelance finance writer for companies like SoFi and The Penny Hoarder, as well as an editor at FluentU. You can reach Laura Grace at ltarpley@businessinsider.com.Learn more about how Personal Finance Insider chooses, rates, and covers financial products and services » Read more Read less Sophia Acevedo, CEPF Banking Reporter Sophia Acevedo is a banking reporter at Business Insider. Sophia joined Business Insider in July 2021. She writes bank reviews, banking guides, and banking and savings articles for Personal Finance Insider. She is also a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF).Sophia is an alumna of California State University Fullerton where she studied journalism and minored in political science. She is based in Southern California.You can reach out to her on Twitter at @sophieacvdo or email sacevedo@businessinsider.com.Read more about how Personal Finance Insider chooses, rates, and covers financial products and services >>Below are links to some of her most popular stories:- Are banks open today? Here's a list of US bank holidays for 2023
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Betterment Cash Reserve Account New Customer Offer: Earn 5.50% APY when you open your first cash account with $10 deposit. Terms apply. A tooltip *Current promotional rate; annual percentage yield (variable) is 4.75% as of 7/31/23, plus a .75% boost available as a special offer with qualifying deposit. Terms apply; if the base APY increases or decreases, you'll get the .75% boost on the updated rate. Cash Reserve is only available to clients of Betterment LLC, which is not a bank, and cash transfers to program banks are conducted through clients’ brokerage accounts at Betterment Securities. **The national average savings account interest rate is reported by the FDIC (7/17/23) as the average annual percentage yield (APY) for savings accounts with deposits under $100,000. Start SavingEditorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards.
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.
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