Should you get yourself an Apple Savings account? The answer to this question has changed since Apple first rolled out the high-yield savings account.
Apple
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Savings drew attention when it was released for its competitive rate and its convenience factor, with the ability to stash cash just a tap away for Apple Card users. A partnership between Goldman Sachs
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and Apple, the card gives users up to 3% cash back, and the savings account has a 4.15% annual interest rate. But that rate isn’t as appealing as it once was, experts say.
When Apple Savings was unveiled in April, the 4.15% annual rate was significantly higher than the average rate for online-only savings accounts at the time, which was 3.76%, according to DepositAccounts.com. Now, the average rate for online-only savings accounts has risen to 4.46% as of November, while the rate on Apple Savings has stayed the same.
“Now you can get any of the major online banks, including Goldman Sachs, Marcus itself, you can get a better online savings account rate,” said Ken Tumin, a senior industry analyst at personal-finance platform LendingTree
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and founder of DepositAccounts.com. Marcus is Goldmans Sachs’s digital consumer bank.
In April, Marcus was offering 3.9% on its savings account. Now, Marcus’s savings account has a 4.4% rate.
To be sure, Apple Savings’s rate is still higher than what most brick-and-mortar banks’ savings accounts can earn. The national average rate for traditional banks’ savings accounts was 0.46% as of Oct.16, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. National brick-and-mortar banks usually cannot compete with online banks on rate offerings, said Tumin, because traditional banks have to cover expenses associated with having physical branches.
See also: Banks are guaranteeing rates over 5% on savings accounts into 2024. Here’s the fine print.
For younger consumers, higher yield rates might not be everything now
While Apple Savings could be losing its allure for rate chasers, the same might not be the case for younger consumers, analysts said.
And for anyone who has an Apple Card, there’s no reason not to use Apple Savings, Tumin told MarketWatch. This person could still open up other online savings accounts, too, if they wanted to get the best rates from today’s high-interest rate environment, he said. “But definitely, I can see a big convenience for anyone who has an Apple Card,” Tumin said. If you have an Apple Card, “it makes sense to have Apple savings so your cash back goes into the Apple savings and naturally, you’re earning some interest while you are waiting to use the cash back rewards.”
The Apple Card is best for people who are devoted Apple customers who already use Apple Pay and own Apple devices, according to Bankrate. “While the Apple Card offers some generous benefits and rewards, it’s definitely not for everyone,” Bankrate wrote in a recent analysis of Apple Card pros and cons. To take full advantage of all of the Apple Card’s features, users must add their Apple Card “to an eligible iPhone or iPad that you own with the latest version of iOS or iPadOS,” Bankrate noted, citing the Apple website.
But consumers may still be drawn to Apple Savings because of its convenience, which could pose a threat to traditional banking services going forward, said Stephen Beck, managing partner at consulting firm CG42. Consumers, especially younger ones, increasingly show an openness to non-traditional banking services, and an interest in better user experiences, he said.
“It’s a bigger question than just rate,” Beck said of comparing Apple Savings to other savings accounts. “Rate matters, of course, but it’s a bigger question than that. It’s how seamless it is, how easy it is, and how integrated into the other apps that I use.”
In a recent survey CG42 conducted, 43% of Gen Z respondents said they would switch to Apple if it offered full banking services that would let them deal with day-to-day needs. That’s compared with 17% for the general population. Gen Z reported similar interest in other non-bank brands such as Amazon
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and Paypal
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Apple may be counting more on convenience and ease of use to draw customers, which could explain why Goldman Sachs and Apple haven’t raised the savings rate since April, Tumin said. In August, Apple announced that its savings account had reached $10 billion in deposits.
“Why offer a higher deposit rate if it is already very successful?” Tumin said.
Apple announced a revenue decline for the fourth quarter in a row this week, posting $89.5 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter Thursday, down from $90.1 billion a year before.
Apple and Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment.
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