Discover savings account interest rate
The Discover Online Savings Account is a high-yield savings account. That means you earn interest on it well above the average rate for many other bank savings accounts.
The Discover Bank savings rate is an APY of 4.10% regardless of your balance. That’s an important consideration when shopping for high-yield savings accounts because many only provide high-level savings benefits when you keep a certain balance—sometimes, it’s $5,000 or more.
There is no minimum deposit requirement to open a savings account with Discover. You also don’t pay any type of monthly fee for this service, but you are limited to six total withdrawals from your account each statement cycle. That’s more than one a week, though, so it should be plenty if you plan accordingly in accessing and using your savings.
Discover Online Savings Account Interest Rate & Other Key Features
| Feature |
Amount* |
| APY |
4.10% |
| Minimum deposit |
$0 |
| Minimum balance |
$0 |
| Monthly service fee |
$0 |
| Withdrawal limit |
Six per statement cycle |
*Figures are correct as of September 2024.
How much can I earn with a Discover savings account?
You earn 4.10% APY on money in this savings account.
The interest is compounded daily, with the total earned credited into your account on a monthly basis. Daily compounding allows you to earn a little bit more than you would at the same interest rate compounded monthly.
The exact amount you earn depends on:
- How much your initial deposit is
- When you make other deposits and how much they are
- How long you leave money in your savings account
To understand how interest may add up on your savings, consider some of the hypothetical situations below.*
You make an initial deposit and leave it for five years.
| Initial deposit |
Total amount after five years |
Interest amount earned |
| $2,500 |
$3,091 |
$591 |
| $3,500 |
$4,327 |
$827 |
| $5,000 |
$6,182 |
$1,182 |
| $7,000 |
$8,654 |
$1,654 |
You make an initial deposit and leave it for 10 years.
| Initial deposit |
Total amount after 10 years |
Interest amount earned |
| $2,500 |
$3,821 |
$1,321 |
| $3,500 |
$5,350 |
$1,850 |
| $5,000 |
$7,642 |
$2,642 |
| $7,000 |
$10,699 |
$3,699 |
As you can see, your interest earnings can add up to thousands of dollars over time — and all you have to do is set and forget your savings.
If you want to earn even more over time, you can add to your savings with future deposits. Each deposit you add begins to accrue interest in the same way, increasing the overall yield going forward.
To calculate how much you could earn, try using our savings calculator.
*The calculations shown are just simple examples. Always seek advice from a qualified professional before making important financial decisions or long-term agreements.
How the Discover savings interest rate compares
When compared with other bank account options, the Discover savings fares well.
First, the APY it offers is more than five times the national average, so you’ll earn more money with this account than you would with regular or basic free savings accounts at large banks.
The lack of balance requirements creates an easy entry for this savings account, which isn’t always the case with high-yield products. Many national banks—and even some smaller banks and credit unions—have deposit requirements on their high-yield products that make it harder to earn a better interest rate.
Finally, the Discover savings account doesn’t include account fees for monthly maintenance, official bank checks, stop payment orders and other common transactions. You’ll find that some other high-yield savings accounts do charge a fee—or may charge a monthly fee if your account drops below a minimum balance threshold.
These account options are very similar. Neither has a minimum balance requirement or account fees, and you’ll earn 4.10% APY with each account. Interest on the Capital One 360 Performance savings account compounds monthly rather than daily, and if you plan to hold a fairly high balance, that can make more than a negligible difference in long-term interest earnings.
The bigger deciding factor, however, may be where you live. The Discover savings product is a true online savings account, which means there are no branch options for in-person customer service. However, you do get access to 24/7 customer service via phone or chat.
In contrast, Capital One savings account customers who live near a branch or Capital One Café may be able to access in-person customer service as needed. If that’s important to you — and your geographic location makes it possible—the Capital One 360 Performance savings account may be a better choice.
Discover Online savings vs. American Express High Yield savings
The APY you earn is 4.10% both with the Discover Online savings account and the American Express High Yield savings.
When it comes to fees, minimum balance requirements and customer support, these savings accounts run neck and neck. Ultimately, the biggest difference between the Discover Online and American Express High Yield savings accounts is that you may be able to deposit larger checks more often into the Amex account.
Amex allows account holders to deposit up to $50,000 every seven days. Those deposits can be spread out over six total checks, and you can even deposit checks up to $25,000 each. With the Discover Online account, the mobile deposit limitations—particularly for new accounts—tend to be much more average in nature. You may be limited to hundreds of dollars or a few thousand dollars in mobile deposits a week. Otherwise, you may need to reach out to customer service for an overnight drop box where you can send checks to be deposited.
The average person probably isn’t worried about the need to drop $25,000 checks in their savings account quickly. However, if you want full flexibility in this regard, the Amex account may be the right choice.
Is a Discover savings account a good idea?
The Discover Online savings account is a solid choice for most people who want to leverage savings for a bit more interest earnings.
While you can certainly find high-yield savings accounts that offer slightly higher APY, those usually come with rate tiers or minimum deposit requirements—meaning you have to keep a certain amount in the account to accumulate maximum benefits.
On top of being accessible for anyone and not requiring a minimum balance for the 4.10% APY, the Discover Online account doesn’t come with any maintenance fees or other expenses that might eat into your interest earnings.
However, this is solely an online bank, which means there’s no option for visiting a brick-and-mortar branch. If you’re not comfortable operating primarily via a mobile banking app and the occasional phone call, you might want to look at high-yield savings products from your local bank or credit union.
You can consider these pros and cons when deciding whether or not to open a Discover Online savings account.
How to open a Discover savings account
You can open a Discover Online savings account online in a few quick steps.
First, you complete an account application. You’ll need to enter your name, address and other contact information and your Social Security number. You may also need to enter some basic financial data or estimates, but the application itself should only take a few minutes.
You can make your initial deposit right away or come back to this step later. You’ll need bank account information or a debit or credit card to fund your savings account initially. Once you’re done, your account will be confirmed via email.
How to withdraw money from a Discover savings account
You can’t simply run to the ATM to get a cash withdrawal from your Discover savings account, as it doesn’t come with a debit card.
However, you can make up to six withdrawals a month via the following methods:
-
Make an online transfer. You can transfer money from your Discover savings account to another account with Discover Bank or an external bank for free. For example, you might transfer the amount you need from your savings to a checking account with a debit card. Then, you can use that debit card to make a purchase or withdraw the money from an ATM.
-
Make a domestic wire transfer. You can use the domestic wire transfer service to withdraw money or send it to someone else. However, you may pay a fee for this service.
-
Make an international wire transfer. Use this option if you need to transfer money from your savings account to an overseas account or person.
-
Use an Official Bank Check. You can request an Official Bank Check to make a payment from your savings account. There is no fee for this option.
Other savings options at Discover Bank
Discover Online Bank is a fairly comprehensive bank that offers other ways to manage your money. You might consider other savings options, such as a money market accounts or certificates of deposit (CDs), from Discover Bank.
