High‑yield rates hit decade highs
High‑yield savings accounts are offering up to 5.00% APY as of Mar 13 — many top accounts sit around 4%+, and CDs are also at multi‑year highs near 4% APY on several terms rates rates. If you’ve been holding cash, now is a competitive window to lock short‑term yields.
Varo’s savings product pays up to 5.00% APY on the first $5,000 (with balances above that earning 2.50%) [Varo].varomoney.com Axos Bank, Newtek Bank and Wealthfront are listed among other top payers at roughly 4.20% APY on competing products.fortune.com SoFi’s advertised 4.00% top rate is a temporary 0.70% APY “boost” that requires enrolling in SoFi Plus or setting up eligible direct deposits by the program deadline.sofi.com Axos’s 4.21% promotional APY requires either $1,500+ in monthly direct deposits or $5,000+ in qualifying deposits to hit the top tier for the statement cycle.cnbc.com The best short‑term CD offers tracked by industry sites top out around 4.15%–4.30% APY — Bankrate’s live tracker shows a highest CD rate of 4.20% (Mountain America Credit Union) while NerdWallet lists select CDs up to about 4.30%.bankrate.com Those headline yields stand in sharp contrast to the FDIC’s national average savings rate of 0.39% (February 2026 data),fred.stlouisfed.org and analysts note online banks and credit unions have been using promotional APYs and deposit bonuses to compete for balances since policy moves last year.forbes.com
