Here’s my monthly roundup of the best interest rates on cash as of March 2023, roughly sorted from shortest to longest maturities. We all need some safe assets for cash reserves or portfolio stability, and there are often lesser-known opportunities available to individual investors. Check out my Ultimate Rate-Chaser Calculator to see how much extra interest you could earn. Rates listed are available to everyone nationwide. Rates checked as of 3/7/2023.

TL;DR: 5% (fintech only) or 4.55% APY available on liquid savings. 5% APY available on multiple short-term CDs. Compare against Treasury bills and bonds at every maturity (12-month now above 5%). 6.89% Savings I Bonds can be bought with 2023 annual limits now.

Fintech accounts
Available only to individual investors, fintech companies often pay higher-than-market rates in order to achieve fast short-term growth (often using venture capital). “Fintech” is usually a software layer on top of a partner bank’s FDIC insurance.

• 4.45% APY ($1 minimum). SaveBetter lets you switch between different FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions easily without opening a new account every time, and their liquid savings rates currently top out at 4.45%. This system makes it easier for you to maintain a top rate even if one bank decides to drop out of the “rate race”. 😉 There is usually another bank waiting in the wings that is still looking for deposits.
• 5% on up to $25,000, then 4% up to $250k. Juno now pays 5% on all cash deposits up to $25,000 and 4% on cash deposits from $25,001 up to $250,000. No direct deposits required. $10 referral bonus. Please see my Juno review for details.
• 4.00% APY on $6,000. Current offers 4% APY on up to $6,000 total ($2,000 each on three savings pods). Must maintain a direct deposit of $200+ every 35 days. $50 referral bonus for new members with $200+ direct deposit with promo code JENNIFEP185. Please see my Current app review for details.

High-yield savings accounts
Since the huge megabanks STILL pay essentially no interest, everyone should have a separate, no-fee online savings account to piggy-back onto your existing checking account. The interest rates on savings accounts can drop at any time, so I list the top rates as well as competitive rates from banks with a history of competitive rates. Some banks will bait you with a temporary top rate and then lower the rates in the hopes that you are too lazy to leave.

• The leapfrogging to be the temporary “top” rate continues. UFB Direct at 4.55% APY. All America/Redneck Bank is at 4.25% APY for balances up to $75,000 ($500 to open, no min balance). Primis Bank dropped their rate, but grandfathered existing customers for the time being.
• SoFi Bank is now up to 3.75% APY + up to $275 new account bonus with direct deposit. You must maintain a direct deposit of any amount each month for the higher APY. SoFi has their own bank charter now so no longer a fintech by my definition. See details at $25 + $250 SoFi Money new account and deposit bonus.
• There are several other established high-yield savings accounts at 3.40%+ APY that aren’t the absolute top rate, but historically do keep it relatively competitive for those that don’t want to keep switching banks.

Short-term guaranteed rates (1 year and under)
A common question is what to do with a big pile of cash that you’re waiting to deploy shortly (plan to buy a house soon, just sold your house, just sold your business, legal settlement, inheritance). My usual advice is to keep things simple and take your time. If not a savings account, then put it in a flexible short-term CD under the FDIC limits until you have a plan.

• No Penalty CDs offer a fixed interest rate that can never go down, but you can still take out your money (once) without any fees if you want to use it elsewhere. CIT Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 4.10% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit. Ally Bank has a 11-month No Penalty CD at 4.00% APY for all balance tiers. Marcus has a 13-month No Penalty CD at 3.85% APY with a $500 minimum deposit. You may wish to open multiple CDs in smaller increments for more flexibility.
• Western Alliance Bank via SaveBetter has a 12-month certificate at 5.01% APY. $1 minimum. Early withdrawal penalty is 270 days of interest.
• BMO Harris has a 12-month certificate at 5.00% APY. $1,000 minimum. Early withdrawal penalty is 180 days of interest.
• Capital One Bank has a special 11-month certificate at 5.00% APY. Offer ends 3/14/23. No minimum deposit, early withdrawal penalty of 3 months of interest.

Money market mutual funds + Ultra-short bond ETFs*
Many brokerage firms that pay out very little interest on their default cash sweep funds (and keep the difference for themselves). * Money market mutual funds are regulated, but ultimately not FDIC-insured, so I would still stick with highly reputable firms. I am including a few ultra-short bond ETFs as they may be your best cash alternative in a brokerage account, but they may experience losses.

• Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund is the default sweep option for Vanguard brokerage accounts, which has an SEC yield of 4.51%. Odds are this is much higher than your own broker’s default cash sweep interest rate.
• Vanguard Ultra-Short-Term Bond Fund currently pays 4.54% SEC yield ($3,000 min) and 4.64% SEC Yield ($50,000 min). The average duration is ~1 year, so there is some term interest rate risk.
• The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) has a 4.71% SEC yield and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) has a 4.79% SEC yield while holding a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

Treasury Bills and Ultra-short Treasury ETFs
Another option is to buy individual Treasury bills which come in a variety of maturities from 4-weeks to 52-weeks and are fully backed by the US government. You can also invest in ETFs that hold a rotating basket of short-term Treasury Bills for you, while charging a small management fee for doing so. T-bill interest is exempt from state and local income taxes.

• You can build your own T-Bill ladder at TreasuryDirect.gov or via a brokerage account with a bond desk like Vanguard and Fidelity. Here are the current Treasury Bill rates. As of 3/6/23, a new 4-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 4.68% annualized interest and a 52-week T-Bill had the equivalent of 5.06% annualized interest.
• The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has a 4.41% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.10 years. SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has a 4.34% SEC yield and effective duration of 0.08 years.

US Savings Bonds
Series I Savings Bonds offer rates that are linked to inflation and backed by the US government. You must hold them for at least a year. If you redeem them within 5 years there is a penalty of the last 3 months of interest. The annual purchase limit for electronic I bonds is $10,000 per Social Security Number, available online at TreasuryDirect.gov. You can also buy an additional $5,000 in paper I bonds using your tax refund with IRS Form 8888.

• “I Bonds” bought between November 2022 and April 2023 will earn a 6.89% rate for the first six months. The rate of the subsequent 6-month period will be based on inflation again. More on Savings Bonds here.
• In mid-April 2023, the CPI will be announced and you will have a short period where you will have a very close estimate of the rate for the next 12 months. I will have another post up at that time.
• See below about EE Bonds as a potential long-term bond alternative.

Rewards checking accounts
These unique checking accounts pay above-average interest rates, but with unique risks. You have to jump through certain hoops which usually involve 10+ debit card purchases each cycle, a certain number of ACH/direct deposits, and/or a certain number of logins per month. If you make a mistake (or they judge that you did) you risk earning zero interest for that month. Some folks don’t mind the extra work and attention required, while others would rather not bother. Rates can also drop suddenly, leaving a “bait-and-switch” feeling.

• Genisys Credit Union pays 5.25% APY on up to $7,500 if you make 10 debit card purchases of $5+ each, and opt into receive only online statements. Anyone can join this credit union via $5 membership fee to join partner organization.
• Pelican State Credit Union pays 5.11% APY on up to $10,000 if you make 15 debit card purchases, opt into receive only online statements, and make at least 1 direct deposit, online bill payment, or automatic payment (ACH) per statement cycle. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization membership.
• The Bank of Denver pays 5.00% APY on up to $15,000 if you make 12 debit card purchases of $5+ each, receive only online statements, and make at least 1 ACH credit or debit transaction per statement cycle. Thanks to reader Bill for the updated info.
• All America/Redneck Bank pays 4.50% APY on up to $15,000 if you make 10 debit card purchases each monthly cycle with online statements.
• Presidential Bank pays 4.625% APY on balances between $500 and up to $25,000 (3.625% APY above that) if you maintain a $500+ direct deposit and at least 7 electronic withdrawals per month (ATM, POS, ACH and Billpay counts).
• Find a locally-restricted rewards checking account at DepositAccounts.

Certificates of deposit (greater than 1 year)
CDs offer higher rates, but come with an early withdrawal penalty. By finding a bank CD with a reasonable early withdrawal penalty, you can enjoy higher rates but maintain access in a true emergency. Alternatively, consider building a CD ladder of different maturity lengths (ex. 1/2/3/4/5-years) such that you have access to part of the ladder each year, but your blended interest rate is higher than a savings account. When one CD matures, use that money to buy another 5-year CD to keep the ladder going. Some CDs also offer “add-ons” where you can deposit more funds if rates drop.

• Credit Human has 24-month to 35-month CDs at 5.50% APY. $500 minimum to open. The early withdrawal penalty is 365 days of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization (no fee).
• Sallie Mae Bank via SaveBetter has a 27-month CD at 4.85% APY. $1 minimum. Early withdrawal penalty is 180 days of simple interest.
• Seattle Bank has a 5-year certificate at 4.70% APY ($1,000 min), 4-year at 4.65% APY, 3-year at 4.60% APY, 2-year at 4.55% APY, and 1-year at 4.50% APY. The early withdrawal penalty for the 5-year is a very reasonable 180 days of interest.
• Lafayette Federal Credit Union has a 5-year certificate at 4.63% APY ($500 min), 4-year at 4.58% APY, 3-year at 4.52% APY, 2-year at 4.47% APY, and 1-year at 4.42% APY. They also have jumbo certificates with $100,000 minimums at even higher rates. The early withdrawal penalty for the 5-year is very high at 600 days of interest. Anyone can join this credit union via partner organization ($10 one-time fee).
• You can buy certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. You may need an account to see the rates. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance and easy laddering, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. Right now, I don’t see any competitive 5-year non-callable CDs. Be wary of higher rates from callable CDs, which means they can call back your CD if rates drop later.

Longer-term Instruments
I’d use these with caution due to increased interest rate risk, but I still track them to see the rest of the current yield curve.

• Willing to lock up your money for 10 years? You can buy long-term certificates of deposit via the bond desks of Vanguard and Fidelity. These “brokered CDs” offer FDIC insurance, but they don’t come with predictable early withdrawal penalties. You might find something that pays more than your other brokerage cash and Treasury options. Right now, I see a 10-year CDs at (none available, non-callable) vs. 3.80% for a 10-year Treasury. Watch out for higher rates from callable CDs where they can call your CD back if interest rates drop.
• How about two decades? Series EE Savings Bonds are not indexed to inflation, but they have a unique guarantee that the value will double in value in 20 years, which equals a guaranteed return of 3.5% a year. However, if you don’t hold for that long, you’ll be stuck with the normal rate, currently 2.10% for EE bonds issued November 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023. As of 3/6/23, the 20-year Treasury Bond rate was 4.14%.

All rates were checked as of 3/7/2023.

Charles Schwab became a major player by offering discounted stock trades back when high commissions were the norm. These days, nearly every broker offers $0 commission trades on online equity/ETF trades. Where they differ is how they choose to squeeze out profit in such a lean environment. Even though Schwab will deny it publicly to retail customers, they have chosen to focus on skimming interest from their customers’ idle cash as a primary source of profits. This “net interest revenue” added up to $3 billion dollars in 2022 Q4 alone and makes up roughly half of all their revenue.

Here are two sample slides from the Charles Schwab Corporation 2023 Winter Business Update, which is meant for shareholders. The first one talks about the growth of “net interest revenue” over the years:

The second one talks about “sorting”, which is basically when a customer realizes their cash is earning very little interest and actually puts forth the effort to earn some more interest by moving away from the default cash sweep options. More sorting is bad for Schwab’s profits. But not to worry! Schwab is happy to report that “A growing portion of our client base is less prone to sorting.”

First, some perspective. Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, they all make money by making money off your idle checking account balances while paying you nothing or 0.01% APY. They could all pay you more interest, but they don’t. This is why I post regular updates and monthly summaries of better banking options. Take your money and walk.

However, let’s also be clear that if Schwab was truly client-first, then they would offer a high-yield, low-cost money money fund that would be paying 4%+ interest as their default sweep. Instead, their mandatory default cash sweep pays only 0.45% APY as of 2/28/23. They purposefully make the default profitable for them while making the alternative more hassle.

For comparison, Vanguard’s default cash sweep is the Vanguard Federal Money Market Fund, which has an SEC yield of 4.52% as of 2/28/23. If I make a sale or receive a dividend distribution, my Vanguard cash automatically waits in this low-cost fund and earns a competitive interest rate. I may complain about how Vanguard is slipping in the customer service area, but this feature by itself is a major reason that I maintain my Vanguard brokerage account.

Schwab will say “Oh, but our cash sweep is FDIC-insured! That’s what people want!”. Well, if you care what I want, then how about letting me have a choice?

For another comparison, Fidelity has an FDIC cash sweep available as well, but they also let me switch my “core position” (their term for default cash sweep) to a higher-yield money market fund like Fidelity Treasury Money Market Fund (FZFXX) which has an SEC yield of 4.23% as of 2/28/23 or Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (SPAXX) which has an SEC yield of 4.22% as of 2/28/23. I find it amusing that Schwab is so chippy with Fidelity in this article Zero Confusion: Setting the Record Straight. I think Fidelity’s cash setup is more customer-friendly than that of Schwab.

In the end, the most important thing is for you as the customer to understand the situation. Schwab still has other positive attributes and a reputation for good customer service. The good news is that there are several options for you self-motivated individuals (those that read posts like this!) that are willing to put forth a little effort to earn what could add up to hundreds or thousands in extra interest.

Manually invest in Schwab money market funds. The key is to visit this page: Schwab Purchased Money Funds for the most current fund options, minimums, and rates. These are not FDIC-insured, but they are still regulated by the SEC and required to hold very safe investments of a very short duration. Here the the available Schwab funds and SEC yields as of 2/28/23 with zero minimums. No transaction fees. There are higher-yielding options if you have more than $1 million.

• Schwab Value Advantage Money Fund® – Investor Shares (SWVXX) 4.47%
• Schwab Government Money Fund – Investor Shares (SNVXX) 4.18%
• Schwab Treasury Obligations Money Fund – Investor Shares (SNOXX) 4.27%
• Schwab U.S. Treasury Money Fund – Investor Shares (SNSXX) 4.21%

Again, these money market mutual funds can’t be set as an automatic sweep; you must manually move money in and out of the product. Every time you have a dividend or capital gains distribution, or you made a sale, you have to remember to move your cash (“sort”) into a higher-yielding option. This also means that if you want to for example buy new shares of stock, you would need to first put in an order to sell your money market mutual fund shares into cash (in order to have the funds available to buy that stock). The system won’t be able to automatically sell your fund. You’ll have to coordinate settlement times.

Treasury bills (auction and secondary). You can buy US Treasury bills and bonds directly through the Schwab fixed income desk. You can place either an auction order for a “new” T-Bill or buy them on the secondary market. There is no commission for online orders and a $25 fee per broker-assisted trade.

Buying an outside ETF. You can also use your free stock trades to buy an ETF that is close to cash (ultra-short duration, high-quality bonds). These will not be FDIC-insured and carry a bit of duration risk, but if your ETF holds T-Bills then those are also fully backed by the US government. Here are a few ideas (note the the reported rates may lag by up to one month):

• The iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) has an effective duration of 0.10 years. SPDR Bloomberg Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) has an effective duration of 0.08 years.
• The PIMCO Enhanced Short Maturity Active Bond ETF (MINT) and the iShares Short Maturity Bond ETF (NEAR) hold a portfolio of investment-grade bonds with an average duration of ~6 months.

Bottom line. Charles Schwab has a default cash sweep option with a relatively low interest rate. Schwab offers no other better cash sweep options, but you can manually move your money. If you have significant assets with them, you might want to call your rep and tell them your opinion and try to create a change. Otherwise, I detail your available options if you want to keep your cash at Schwab and earn a much higher interest rate.