Rates keep moving up and rate leaders keep changing. December brought another lead change for the best nationally-available savings account rate.  At the time of writing the king is Colorado Federal Savings Bank with their Premium Savings account that earns 1.65% but requires a minimum deposit of $50,000. For deposit amounts under $50K, their High Yield Savings account yields only 1.00%.

Another nationally-available alternative to keep in mind is Ally Bank’s 11-Month, No-Penalty CD which earns 1.75% on deposits of at least $25,000. This product allows you to withdraw your entire deposit amount (no partial withdrawals allowed) without an early withdrawal penalty. Keep in mind that you can also open multiples of this account type, so, for example, instead of $50K in a Colorado Federal Savings Bank Premium Savings account earning 1.65%, you could have two Ally No-Penalty CDs earning 1.75% with the option to withdraw your money, penalty free, in $25K tranches.

As always, you can use our bank accounts tool to find nationally-available rates that are best for your situation.