Savings Account Shoppers Seek High-Interest Rates & Mobile Features
Mobile banking features are the primary factor (37.37%) for savers with less than $1,000 to put in savings compared to a higher interest rate (26.55%).
When shopping for a new savings account, respondents mostly sought high interest rates (49.24%) and mobile banking features (34.51%), according to surveys conducted by MyBankTracker.com, a financial comparison site.
MyBankTracker conducted ongoing surveys regarding savings account and CD preferences during 2018. The savings survey had 13,014 respondents in the U.S.; the CD survey had 3,757 respondents in the U.S.
Here are some of the other findings:
Savings Accounts
- A high savings rate is the biggest factor (80.42%) for savers with more than $10,000 to deposit while mobile banking is a distant second (9.61%).
- Mobile banking features are the primary factor (37.37%) for savers with less than $1,000 to put in savings compared to a higher interest rate (26.55%).
- Of those seeking a savings account, most (39.29%) plan to deposit $10,000 or more.
- When funding a savings account, transfers from a checking account is the preferred method (39.99%).
CDs
- Most respondents who want to open a CD, plan to invest more than $10,000 (72.52%).
- Most respondents who want to open a CD, plan to lock their money in for 1 to 3 years (61.33%).
- Among those looking for a CD, more respondents do not care about early withdrawals (59.86%) than those that do (40.14%).
Ranking the factors that savers prefer with more than $10,000: high interest rate, mobile banking, low fees, customer service and check-writing ability. For savers with less than $1,000: mobile banking, high interest rate, low fees, customer service and check-writing ability.
Jason Reposa, CEO and co-founder of MyBankTracker.com, established in 2008 during the height of the economic downturn, discovered, “Anybody who has more than $10,000 is really shopping primarily for the rate. They want the highest return on that. Meanwhile, the savers with less than $1,000 to put into a savings account are really concerned with mobile banking features, more about convenience and being able to deposit checks, et cetera.”
Reposa noted some interesting results about CDs, although a little bit less impactful. “It was really about how long they’re trying to plan, how long they plan to invest for. The majority of people were actually investing for more than a year to almost up to three years with their highest respondent.”
Reposa said they are currently watching 2019 data to see what’s trending with the addition of the Fed rate cuts this year to see if anything has changed. “However, without a doubt, every year we look and we see the same thing people are still opening savings accounts and the people who are opening savings accounts, especially in access of more than $10,000 are looking for high interest rates. That is the main tagline there.”
QuinStreet, Inc., which provides online marketplace solutions to match searchers with brands in digital media owns and operates MyBankTracker.com.