Marcus High Interest Savings Account Review

Update: As of February 2023, the new interest rate on Marcus Savings accounts is 3.25%.

Update 2: As of February 9, 2023, the new Marcus interest rate is 3.50%

High Yield Savings Worth It Again

After a few years of the Fed running along with near zero interest rates yielding high-yield savings account earning only a few cents more, online high yield savings accounts are back. With interest rates up over 3% for the first time in a long while, watching that monthly interest payment hit is a whole lot more fun now.

Sometimes, something as simple as a savings account can be a quick way to improve your personal finances. Will an online high interest savings account help you, and who are the banks with high interest savings accounts?

Today, we are going to do a Marcus Online Savings Account review to show you how.

High Interest Savings Account Online

One of the most common tricks for online banking is to only offer the high-interest rate on only part of the balance, say the first $500 or even the first $5,000. The remaining balance earns a much more mundane online savings account rate of interest.

For example, the Farmers Insurance Credit Union offers a high yield checking account with an eye-popping 4% interest rate. But, before you transfer your account, note that the highest interest rate only applies to the first $5,000, subject to several criteria including a minimum $1,000 per month direct deposit, and a minimum number of debit card transactions each month.

Check out the Credit Karma reviews.

Marcus Goldman Sachs Online Savings Account

Goldman Sachs has traditionally catered to high-net worth individuals and their investing needs. For many services, you’ll need a million-dollar minimum to even talk to someone. Recently, however, the company has reached into the standard retail world with Goldman Sachs Marcus brand online banking. And, as a company used to dealing with big dollar amounts, they aren’t going to limit your high online interest rate to a small portion of your balance. There is a limit to how much you can deposit, it’s a million dollars.

I’d love to think that lots of multimillionaires are reading this personal finance site for advice, but my guess is that most of my readers can fit comfortably under the million-dollar account limit 🙂

Marcus Personal Loan Review (A quick, mini one)

You can also get a Marcus personal loan for $3,500 up to $40,000. These loans are fixed-interest personal loans with no sign-up fees, and no prepayment penalty, so if you need a personal loan, this is as good a route as any. You can also get a discounted personal loan interest rate by signing up for autopay. They give you a 0.25 percent discount. They also offer a quirky little feature where if you pay on-time every month for 12 months, then you can skip one month’s payment and they won’t charge you interest during that month. Basically, your loan term just gets extended one month for free.

Marcus Savings Account Review

First, let’s start with the basics. This Goldman Sachs savings account is provided by the Goldman Sachs Bank division of Goldman Sachs. As a member FDIC bank, all funds in Marcus online banking are FDIC insured up to the usual limits of $250,000 per person, or $250,000 per owner (or $500,000 total) for joint accounts.

What about Marcus online savings fees?

What is Rakuten?

The Marcus savings account doesn’t come with any unusual fees. There are no monthly fees, and no minimum balance fees either. (Technically, you have to have at least $1 on deposit to earn the full interest rate.)

There is no Marcus ATM card or Marcus savings debit card available with the account, so obviously, there are no ATM fees or card fees either. There are no Marcus savings account fees for transfers. However, your bank on the other end of the transfer might charge its own fees.

Once, the interest rate was 2.0 percent on every dollar. Here at the beginning of 2023, the rate is 3.25%, which is quite a bit higher than most regular savings accounts.

There is no minimum balance and no maximum other than the account limit. Currently, Goldman has a Marcus maximum balance limit of $1,000,000. Most regular money market and bank accounts are paying around 1% interest these days. That means this high-interest savings account is still much higher than your local bank or credit union savings interest rate.

See my Acorns review.

After that, all the Marcus savings account cons are just the usual negatives attached to dealing with savings accounts and online banking.

Per federal banking law (Thanks, big bank lobbyists!), you are only allowed up to six withdrawals per month from any savings account. Since it is an online bank, you need to transfer your money to another financial institution to get full access to it. ACH transfers to and from your Marcus account will take a standard 3 to 5 business days depending on which bank is on the other end of the transfer.

There is a maximum withdrawal from Marcus savings accounts of $125,000 using the online banking interface, but higher amounts can be achieved by calling the bank.

Frequently Asked Questions About Marcus Online High Yield Savings

Is Marcus Savings Worth It?

As an overdraft account, or for your emergency savings, Marcus probably isn’t a good fit. It just takes too long to get access to your money if you need $1,000 right now.

However, as a place to put your cash reserve, the high-interest Marcus account is a good financial tool. A high rate on your whole balance, and full FDIC insurance, makes Marcus a comfy place to park three to six months of living expenses, while letting that money still grow.

Marcus will not replace your “regular” bank, but it does offer a lot of upsides for savvy users with sizable savings.