Upgrade Premier Savings Account Review
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- Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
- Up to
4.14%
- Fee
- $0
- Minimum deposit to open
- $0
Our verdict
A high-yield savings account with no monthly fees, but you’ll need at least $1,000 to earn interest.
Upgrade is a fintech company that’s partnered with Cross River Bank. The Upgrade Premier Savings account offers a high 4.14% APY on balances of $1,000 or more and comes with no monthly fees. You’ll also have up to $1 million in FDIC or NCUA insurance. But if your balance falls below $1,000, your APY drops to 0%.
Best for: Those who prefer digital savings with high APYs.
Pros
-
High 4.14% APY
-
No monthly fees
-
High FDIC or NCUA insurance
-
Stellar customer reviews and ratings
Cons
-
$1,000 balance required to earn any APY
-
No physical branches
What we like about Upgrade Premier Savings
Upgrade’s Premier Savings account is a pretty no-frills account. It has no monthly fees, opening deposit requirements, balance requirements or complicated APY tier structures.
Premier Savings isn’t what we’d call “an account bursting with features,” but Upgrade itself has a decent range of products and services. You can pair the savings account with the Upgrade Rewards Checking Plus account to earn cashback rewards on everyday purchases, and that account also has no monthly fees. Upgrade also offers personal loans, auto loans and lines of credit.
High 4.14% APY
Upgrade’s savings account sports a 4.14% APY, which is significantly higher than the national average rate of just 0.42%, according to the FDIC. Interest on the Upgrade Premier Savings account compounds daily and is credited monthly.
Really high FDIC and/or NCUA insurance
With Upgrade’s Premier Savings, you’ll have up to $1 million in deposit insurance, thanks to its network of program banks. Most other deposit accounts are insured only up to $250,000 per depositor.
Where it falls short
Upgrade is a fintech, so it doesn’t have any physical branches like a traditional bank. However, it offers email and phone support.
Requires balance to earn APY
The Upgrade Premier Savings account requires a $1,000 balance to earn the 4.14% APY — if you don’t maintain that balance, you earn nothing. If your savings balance drops below $1,000 on any day, your APY will drop to 0% for that day.
To be clear, there’s no minimum balance requirement to keep the account open, but you’ll need at least $1,000 in the account to earn any interest.
Compare Upgrade Premier Savings to other savings accounts
Narrow down top savings accounts by APYs, fees and features. Select Compare on up to four accounts for a side-by-side comparison.
What is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score crunches over 250 savings accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees, opening deposit and features - this gives you a simple score out of 10.
To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of savings accounts against FDIC-reported national averages as a baseline. Accounts with rates well over the national average are scored the highest, while accounts with rates well below are scored low.
Customer experience
We have to say we’re impressed with Upgrade’s stellar customer reviews and ratings. It’s pretty common to see fintechs with poor ratings, often due to slow customer service response times and difficulties resolving issues due to a lack of physical branches.
Upgrade is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and holds an A+ rating, the highest possible. Unlike most fintechs and banking services, Upgrade holds a very high BBB customer rating of 4.41 stars from over 2,000 reviews.
On Trustpilot, the story is similar, with Upgrade sporting a very high 4.4-star rating. Most fintechs and banks struggle to achieve a 2-star rating, and Upgrade has amassed nearly 50,000 reviews on Trustpilot alone.
Across the BBB and Trustpilot, most Upgrade customers are very happy with its deposit accounts and personal loans. Customers report great customer service, speedy application processes and fair rates on accounts and loans, and many praise the Upgrade Card for helping to build their credit history.
Frequently asked questions
Is Upgrade a reputable bank?
Upgrade isn’t a bank — it’s a fintech with a bank partner. Though Upgrade isn’t a bank itself, its deposit accounts are insured by the FDIC and/or NCUA deposit insurance through its partner bank, Cross River Bank, and its network of program banks for up to $1 million per depositor.
Can I withdraw cash from Upgrade Savings?
The Upgrade Premier Savings account doesn’t come with an ATM or debit card. To access cash in an Upgrade Savings account, you can perform an ACH transfer to an external bank account or an Upgrade Rewards Checking account, and then withdraw cash from an ATM with the associated card.
Savings account ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
We analyze top savings accounts and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. These factors include: interest rates, monthly fees, minimum deposits, customer service and account features.
Your reviews
Bethany Finder
Editor, Banking
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