-
Financial Rates:
5.0
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Customer Service:
3.5
-
Website Experience:
4.0
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Bank Fees:
5.0
Pros:
- Options on how to receive interest
- No opening required amount
- Pay credit card bill from savings account
- Competitive interest rates on accounts
Cons:
- Only offer savings and CD accounts
- Must link account to a different bank
- Funds not transferred immediately
- No checks, debit cards, or ATM cards
What You Need to Know
American Express Bank offers ways to receive the money you earn off interest. You can deposit it back into the account earning the interest. The interest can be transferred to your CD account. You can deposit the money into your linked external account, or receive a check. You can request a check to come monthly, quarterly, or annually.
There is no minimum amount required to open an account. You start earning interest with any amount deposited into the high-yield savings account. The more money you deposit, the more interest you earn, but no required amount.
Once you open a savings account with American Express, you can link that account to your credit card. Log into your account and link the savings account to the credit card. Paying your credit card bill from your savings account does count as a withdrawal.
American Express Bank offers higher interest rates than your typical bank. Their rates are competitive with other online banks. You can find the current rates are on their website.
American Express Bank only offers a high-yield savings account and CDs. To deposit money into the accounts, you must link it to your current banking accounts. You can also sign up for direct deposit from your employer or to make automatic deposits.
You must link your American Express accounts to your current bank account. You can then transfer money between the different accounts. Federal regulations only allow six transactions each billing cycle for savings accounts.
Transferring money to and from your American Express personal account is not immediate. Money coming into your American Express account is not available until the fifth business day. All other transfers take 1-3 business days.
American Express Bank does not offer checks, debit cards, or ATM cards for their accounts. To get your money, you must transfer it from your American Express savings account back into your linked external account. If you open a CD, you must wait until the maturity date to access your money without a penalty.
Cool Things
Savings Calculator
On their website is an interest calculator. This helps you see how much interest you will earn with a high-yield savings account. Enter how much money you want to invest, how much you will contribute monthly, and a term length. Immediately you will see how much money you could have and how much interest earned.
Download Transactions
Through the website, you can download your transactions history. You can then import this information into Mint or Quicken. The software cannot import it directly. This will help you better manage your money.
Change Country
In the top right corner of the American Express page is the option to change the country. With the click of a button, you can change the country and language of the website. There are over 100 different countries to choose from.
History
American Express opened in 1850 as an express mail business in New York. At first, the company provided money orders. Those later turned into traveler’s checks. The launch of traveler’s checks made American Express an international company. Over the years, American Express has been in the railroad business, investment banking, and purchasing buildings, including Broadway buildings. However, the company is most known for its credit cards services.
In the early 1980s, American Express offered businesses a discounted rate to accept only American Express cards. This made Visa and MasterCard upset causing a revolt known as “The Boston Fee Party.” Over 250 restaurants across the U.S. joined in the revolt and started accepting all cards. American Express started allowing other businesses to accept their card after the revolt.
In 2016, American Express had 109.9 million cards in operation. Of those millions of cards in the U.S, 47.5 million cards average over $17,000 in annual spending. American Express has a net income of $5.4 billion. Their total assets are $158.9 billion. They continue to add more credit cards to the millions already being used. Today American Express has one of the world’s most trusted brands.
Awards and Recognition
- “Highest in Customer Satisfaction” in 2017 by J. D. Power
- “Best Places to Work in Information Technology” by Computerworld
- Ranked 85 in Fortune 500 Rank
Giving Back
American Express pledged $1 million to help after Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. The company also made one of its facilities in Florida available for disaster relief efforts.
American Express works with “Partners in Preservation.” They awarded $2 million in grants to help fund projects for National Parks. Yellowstone, Zion, Great Smoky Mountain, Everglades, Denali, and Mt. Rainier are a few of the parks who received grant money. The money is being used to restore structures, fix weather damage, restore visitor centers, and build historically accurate furniture.
American Express offered grants to different areas to help with community service opportunities. With the grants communities built or restored over 500 homes. They served 115 million meals. Members rescued 72 million pounds of food going to waste. They also helped the American Red Cross.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. American Express is FDIC insured. The FDIC is an agency of the United States government that protects funds deposited in banks, up to $250,000 per customer, per bank. The money deposited in FDIC insured banks means money is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government.
By transferring it back into an external account. American Express does not provide checks, debit, or ATM cards.
Yes. You can manage your accounts, make deposits, or withdrawals. The AMEX app is only for credit cards.
Yes. There are no monthly charges and no required amount to open a high-yield savings account or CDs.
Yes. The interest rates are competitive. You can access your accounts online, and there are no fees or required amounts.
Yes. American Express monitors activity for fraud. They create a secure login connection and automatically logs you out after inactivity. American Express does not share username and passwords.
Yes. The interest rates are much higher than other banks and competitive with online-only banks.
Business accounts are not offered through American Express Personal Savings. The only accounts offered are a high-yield savings account and CDs.
The interest rates offered are much higher.
American Express does not offer checking accounts.
By phone, mail, Twitter, or Facebook.
No. They do not have a checking account, so no bill pay is available.
No. Deposits are made by transferring money from your external funding account into your American Express Personal Savings account.
Balances include the amount the same day. However, the money is not available until the fifth day. All other transfers take 1-3 business days.
Yes.
Bank Contact Information
American Express Bank, FSBP.O.Box 30384
Salt Lake City, Utah 84130-0384
1-800-446-6307
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| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 3.80% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 3.73% |
| Min to Open | $0 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. | |
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 3.80% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 3.80% |
| Min to Open | $0 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. Promoted offer: It only takes about 5 minutes to open a fee-free account. |
|
The rate information is obtained by Bankrate from the listed institutions. Bankrate cannot guarantee the accuracy or availability of any rates shown. Institutions may have different rates on their own websites than those posted on Bankrate.com. The listings that appear on this page are from companies from which this website receives compensation, which may impact how, where, and in what order products appear. This table does not include all companies or all available products.
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1 APY stands for Annual Percent Yield. It's different from Rate because it takes into account compounding interest for the year.
2 MMA stands for Money Market Account. It's a savings and checking hybrid, allowing you to earn interest and use checks 6 times a month.