Update 9/23/24: Rate now 4.69%
Update 8/17/24: Rate now 5.02%
Update 3/26/24: Extended until April 30, 2024 but the new tiers are worse:
Offer Period for new customers to open an account ends on Apr 30, 2024. New customers qualify for a $50 bonus by depositing $15,000, a $100 bonus by depositing $30,000, or a $200 bonus by depositing $50,000 by 30 days post account opening.
Hat tip to reader Gadget
Update 3/12/24: Extended until Mar 31, 2024
The Offer
- Upgrade is offering a referral bonus of between $75 and $500 for both the referrer and the new customer when the new customer opens a new Upgrade Premier Savings account. (Account currently earns 5.21% APY.)
- Must fund the account within 30 days and leave the funds for an additional 60 days.
- Deposit $15,000+ and get $75 each
- Deposit $30,000+ and get $150 each
- Deposit $50,000+ and get $300 each
- Deposit $100,000+ and get $500 each
Note, referral bonuses are limited to 10 per account during the term of the Program.
Our Verdict
This is better than the prior tiers of the bonus at $50-$200. Given the nice 5.21% savings rate this can be a great deal to get up to up to $500, especially for someone in 2-player mode.
No referrals in the comments below. You can find referral links on this dedicated page (it’s now closed for new comments so you can’t share your referral there either).
Hat tip to reader Jimmy Johns
Some idiots have posted links for their checking account instead of savings, be sure to check before using a link.
can I still post my referral links?
Not here no
Mistakes do happen. Everyone will be an “idiot” some day.
The rate is only 4.69% APY now. ☹
If you call them, will they increase your ACH transfer limits? I could only transfer 5k a week through ACH, which was contradictory information that I got from the banking rep.
I’m not sure of calling would do any good, but you can try.
What I noticed was all the external accounts were at $5K… Except for the account where the majority of the funds came from was at $50K or $100K.
I funded my account through Marcus and I still see that my transfer limits are restricted. According to their terms I should be able to transfer all my money back to Marcus, however, I have a 5k per week transfer limit to them. I called them and they said I need to hold the funds for 60 days, however, I have been banking with them since May. Their bonuses were good, however, it is difficult to move the money out of that account because of their transfer limits and they also gave me wrong information on wiring out funds.
Marcus will gladly allow you to pull the money back in through their online banking.
But, then the only withdrawal option will be going back to Upgrade if using Marcus online banking.
The workaround is to use some other bank/brokerage/credit union to pull from Upgrade, or from Marcus, once the money gets back there. People doing this as a hobby often have a “hub account” that they like to use to do all the mega money moves.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/hub-accounts-ach-transfers-capabilities-fees-limits-across-financial-institutions/
BTW, I just thought of possibly a good account for you. Max CB is currently at 5.39%, which is higher than CFG and LendingTree. Since you have $150K to move over, the possible $20 quarterly fee that I talk about in the comment below should be a moot point to you.
You might want to read through all of the comments in that post before deciding if you will apply. Another positive is that there is supposedly no Chex inquiry.
If you have any questions before signing up, ask Grateful or 007 as they are both responsive and helpful.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/customers-bank-5-01-apy-savings-accounts/#comment-1889258
I’ll check it out. Thank you.
It turns out that
vic torr is correct that the rate is only 5.31% currently. Grateful provided me the following link in the HY post.
Sorry to get your hopes up. However, in my defense, Max mislead people (IMO) showing “earn up to 5.38%” in the Max CB link when they could have easily mentioned the new 5.31% rate.
https://maxmyinterest.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/11000015383-what-are-the-current-interest-rates-offered-from-each-bank-
It has been 5.31% at least since 9/3/24.
Are you sure? The website below shows “earn up to 5.38%”.
https://www.maxmyinterest.com/invitations/Customers2022
My account got suspended and they will not let me get access to my funds!
I have no clue why. My funds have been there for 82 days.
Yesterday, I setup a wire to wire out the funds, but it never went out. Today they tell me that it may take 30 days to investigate, but I urgently need the funds now (they don’t care…).
I wish that I had just pulled the funds using ACH (my credit union has very large ACH limits).
I can only speculate why a Wire transfer out would cause them to suspend the account. I know they are sensitive to linking too many ACH accounts, so I am guessing the Wire transfer creates even more scrutiny. The bank initiating the money movement is the one that is under the fire to control fraud and libel, so ACH using an established account very well may have worked without issue. I used the Upgrade ACH interface to move out most of my money a few months ago and it was uneventful. Had a substantial $100K daily/monthly limit, which you don’t see at a lot of banks.
Hopefully it will only be a short suspension, but if you want to report it, submit a CFPB complaint.
They give you a warning now when you deposit money into the savings that you can’t withdraw it for months (I can’t remember the exact amount of time, but it was months) so only keep $1000 in there now. Let us know if you find out.
Erik
At what part of the transfer process do you receive that warning? I move money into and out of my Upgrade account almost every week and don’t recall ever seeing such a message.
When I did the Savings bonus, yes, it gave a warning about 60 days before being able to remove the funds from anywhere other than the originating account. But, we were required to hold for the promotion for 90 days, IIRC, so it was not a problem.
The 60 day rule was mentioned by me here: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/upgrade-premier-savings-75-500-referral-bonus-for-each-party-5-21-apy/#comment-1816695
Currently I am just keeping a $1 in there… waiting for the next big thing, whatever that is.
I’ve got about $150,000 or so in my account. I thought the 5.02% rate was pretty good. If you’ve moved your money out is there a better rate I’m missing out on?
LendingClub at 5.3% looks intriguing. See the below comment from
ShawntheShawn👈🏾 from today. I asked him and Ben some questions so you might want to wait for answers from them or me before you decide if it’s worth applying.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/#comment-1909682
Thank you.
Currently I am just a tad higher at CFG Bank. (5.23%) I’d rather roll with a real bank than a fintech for anything longer term than a bonus offer. So glad I got out of Juno months before Synapse/Evolve imploded.
I looked at the HYSA DoC list a couple weeks ago, and given that almost everyone above CFG pulls Chex, I backed off switching. At the time, the only one I could confirm didn’t pull Chex was Western Alliance. But, if they come back with the Swagbucks offer, I will be pissed I missed it again.
We know the rates are coming down, so how do you pick the winner?
Chex is my Achilles heal. I try to avoid pulls, within reason.
The newcomer (formerly known as Radius Bank) Lending Club bank looks interesting. I already have a high-yield account there, which is 5% APY. I may split up some of my eggs into more baskets. But, then I have a small hoop to run to do every month ($250 ACH). Technically, it is a real bank vs fintech.
I actually just doubled down with CFG and P1 & P2 opened a Checking account (without a bonus – egad), with one being a joint account to make moving money between players easier, so I have that handy checkbook when the need arises, vs. their less than fast ACH transfers (3-day). Sometimes it’s so much easier to write a check than deal with all the ACH transfer shenanigans.
I appreciate the information. I’m in the same boat. I hate to switch. My Chex #’s are high. I was involved with Lending Club years ago. I think I averaged about 8% lending money. I didn’t realize they now have a bank. Be my luck I switch and the rate drops. As you said the rates are coming down. I’m hoping for something on DOC soon? Most likely my 5.02% rate will drop again at the end of the month.
Well, it’s definitely going to drop, based on recent news. All you can do is try to pick a horse near the top of the pack, or split up into more egg baskets, IMO. Really not a bad idea to have a couple/few, in case any little hiccup occurs (i.e. account gets froze, need a check or check deposit, cannot link bank a to b, need a debit card, etc.) It’s easier to move $50K than $150K at some banks with their low limits. Erik above having a frozen account is a good reminder – It’s best to send the big lump sums back where they came from, or pull from an ext bank.
Personally I will probably add another bank to my stockpile of banks, and casually move money over as things progress.
I wouldn’t necessarily expect a special DoC post about rates going down and what to do. Guess we will see. They did do the below post last year, but it was just an reader opinion piece.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/reader-submission-top-high-yield-savings-accounts/
I typically just monitor the DoC HYSA page. Of course there are other options, like
PaulinTexas (name should be a direct link to comment) recommending annuities, Treasury Direct, and investing at risk, of course. No Chex issue on any of those.
I opened an account at CFG. They pulled Chex. I received an alert. I didn’t think they would? I funded through plaid pulling from Upgrade. Hopefully it goes through with no issues?
I tried first to open with Lending Club, but was denied for an unknown reason?
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-savings-to-get/#comment-1910023
Thank you. I was surprised.
Were you immediately declined or did the app go pending 1st?
Immediately.
Were you approved instantly or did it go pending 1st?
Approved instantly.
Are you referring to CFG? I’m not interested in getting a CFG account.
I was actually asking
ShawntheShawn👈🏾 if he was approved instantly for LendingTree.
Sorry, I apologize. Yes it was CFG.
I applied as an existing customer and got the approval message instantly (along with a note that they are working on opening my account, which may take 2-3 business days). The account showed up in my online account the next day.
Weird. CFG never pulled my Chex. Guess they are like Laurel Road and treat some people differently.
Definitely surprised me when I received the On Alert email.
That’s why it’s best to freeze your Chex before applying to something fairly unimportant. FIs can change their policies at any time.
However, you have so many Chex hits than 1 more probably won’t hurt too much, right?
🙂
Just so you know I triple-checked my Chex (P1 & P2) and CFG never pulled my Chex. However, that was over a year ago when I applied for our Money Market accts, and only recently opened Checking separately.
Wayne
Hardly anyone is providing Chex DP’s…. and the below page is not up to date. If you search the comments, two people said CFG did pull Chex. Best advice may have been to go in with Chex frozen, and then decide if you wanted to commit to getting a Chex hit. Sometimes that is more trouble than it’s worth though.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/banks-credit-unions-dodont-pull-chexsystems/#CFG_Bank
As an existing savings customer, I have tried to open Lending Club “LevelUp” savings but I keep getting an error about not being able to save the application. Contacted support twice, useless so far. Asked to product change/convert, not possible. Supposedly they submitted a ticket yesterday to fix my application. Waiting, but not holding my breath.
I went and looked since you said that
Gadget - Bank Bonus Geek 🔗 and here’s the rule:
To access the funds in your Premier Savings account, you can initiate an ACH transfer to your linked external bank accounts (or if you have a Rewards Checking account, an internal transfer to your Rewards Checking account) via your account dashboard in the Upgrade website or mobile app. You can only transfer funds up to your available balance that are not linked to other external accounts. Specifically, any deposits by ACH transfer you initiate through Upgrade that are over the Threshold Limits are linked and only available to be withdrawn to the external bank account they came from for a period of 60 days from the transfer date of those funds. After 60 days, those funds will be available to be transferred to any linked bank account.
This is inconvenient if you need to link a new bank to withdraw funds for a bonus that requires you to hold a large sum. This is probably the message I saw.
Erik
As I mentioned above, I had the funds there for 82 days and I was told that I could move them out w/o any restrictions.
They tell me that there is nothing they can do for me to get access to my money. I will have to wait for an investigation and E-mails that typically takes 30 days or more! They cannot talk to me on the phone.
They state that they have the right to hold my money because it is in the Terms that I agreed to when opening the account.
One of Upgrade supervisors states that they are regulated by OCC. However, OCC states that they are regulated by FDIC because Upgrade is “owned” by Cross River Bank, which is regulated by FDIC.
I will call FDIC tomorrow. If they are regulated by FDIC, could CFPB also take the case? Can I file with both agencies?
I had planned to do several bonuses that I no longer can do because they hold my money… I wish that I had never deposited money with Upgrade; BIG MISTAKE!
(I wish that they were located in Southern CA; I would then take them to small claims court trying to get compensated for lost opportunities…)
p.s. I wonder if they will even pay interest during the suspension?
Yes, I would complain to all the available agencies since it’s been more than 60 days, but I don’t know all the rules about doing that. Personally, I have only complained once about a FinTech and that was resolved with them paying me the bonuses they owed, but it did take about a month from the time I filed the official complaint. We had several email exchanges between us with them trying to weasel out of it. I hope you get this worked out soon. Maybe some people with experience making the complaints will chime in and help.
If they close the account after a few months of “investigation”, they may not even pay interest. A great way for them to save money…..; Just prepare to close accounts while “investigating” for a few months….
F.4. Rules for Closing Your Account. We may restrict your Account in preparation for closing. As we do so, we will not pay any additional interest on your Account, and we may limit deposits to, or withdrawals from, your Account. We may send you written notice that we have closed or will close your Account and return the balance less any fees, claims, setoffs or other amounts.
Can we bypass the Threshold limits by pulling out instead of pushing?
Yes, ACH limit listed for a bank is for when you initiate the ACH transfer from the bank’s side. To move money from bank A to bank B:
While this is correct for Upgrade, it’s not good advice to give it as a blanket policy. I used to have a DSD account and they did not allow what you wrote. I believe that I’ve seen at least 1 other similar DP for another FI.
I think it is fair to say it is generally a good advice, hence the recommendation of having a good HUB account for it. True that some may impose additional restrictions (e.g., some may even disable ACH debit from external parties), but those are still in the minority group.
What do we think about this savings account? I already received all my bonuses from them and I’m considering moving to a different bank. I’m hearing that some people don’t like this bank after what happened to Synapse.
What does Synapse have to do with Upgrade?
Upgrade sent me an email today informing me that the rate dropped from 5.21% APY to 5.02% APY. Now it is only .02% higher than my BP account. ☹
3/13: Opened via referral and old terms
Tried to fund as late as possible but couldn’t get a wire sent in and didn’t know the incoming ACH limit was so high
5/03: Closed
5/04: Reopened via referral and new terms
5/07: ACH in $50K
Withdrew all interest to keep balance to $50K
8/05: $200 referral for me and my referrer
Opened the account on 3/31, never had a bonus tracker or any payment show up. I deposited $15k just to make sure but now support is denying there was ever a promotion in the first place. I didn’t take a screenshot of the terms like an idiot.
Any chance someone has a screenshot or copy of the offer terms so I can CFPB?
Same boat here sadly without screenshot, wondering have you proceed with CFPB complaint?
Upgrade said it can’t find the account (with 100k) deposited opened with a referral on 3/18/24. Asking for screenshot. But I didn’t happen to take one back then since it’s so straightforward.
Does anyone has any of the following?
TIA!