PayPal Savings Account Review 2024
- Pros and Cons
- About PayPal
- FAQs
- PayPal Savings Account Review
- How PayPal Savings Compares
- Why You Should Trust Us
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PayPal Savings Start saving On PayPal's website
Insider’s Rating A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star A five pointed star Feesno monthly service fee
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)4.30%
Minimum Deposit Amount$0
Pros- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. No minimum balance requirements
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. No monthly service fees
- Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Create individual personal finance goals
- con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. No joint bank accounts
- PayPal personal account required to use PayPal Savings
- Interest compounded daily, deposited monthly
- Banking services provided by Synchrony Bank, Member FDIC
The bottom line: You might like the PayPal Savings if you use the PayPal app often and are looking for a savings account that pays a high rate. If you prefer more of a traditional banking experience or more bank account options, you might choose another institution. The best high-yield savings accounts pay up to 6.17% — see how PayPal compares.
PayPal Savings Pros and Cons
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About PayPal
PayPal is a payment app that allows you to send money electronically to friends, family, or businesses. You can also choose to open a PayPal Savings with PayPal if you have a PayPal personal account.
To add money to the PayPal Savings, you'll need to use your PayPal Balance. You may transfer money from a linked bank account to your savings account via your PayPal Balance. However, transfers between accounts might take up to six business days to process. If you would like to deposit cash into your savings account, you could go to a select retailer and deposit money into your PayPal Balance (the retailer may charge a fee of up to $3.95). Then you can move money from the PayPal Balance to your savings account.
PayPal Balance has additional features, like early direct deposit and mobile check deposit.
Customer support is available by phone or live chat from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET every day.
PayPal is a fintech company, not a bank. However, banking services are provided by Synchrony Bank, an FDIC-insured bank. Money deposited in the PayPal Savings is eligible for up to $250,000 in FDIC insurance coverage.
Is PayPal Trustworthy?
We use ratings from the Better Business Bureau to see how banks respond to customer issues.
PayPal received an A rating from the BBB because it has a high volume of customer complaints, and its partner bank, Synchrony, also has an A+ rating.
Synchrony has also been involved in a couple of recent public controversies. In 2023, Synchrony was required to pay $2.6 million in a settlement when accused of calling customers about bank accounts they didn't have. In 2021, the bank also was required to pay $3.5 million in a settlement when accused of making unreasonable phone calls to debtors living in California.
PayPal Savings FAQs
Does PayPal offer a savings account? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.Yes. PayPal offers a PayPal Savings. Paypal is a fintech company, not a bank. That said, banking services are provided by Synchrony Bank, Member FDIC.
Is PayPal Savings FDIC insured? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.Yes, the PayPal Savings Account is FDIC insured through Synchrony Bank. Up to $250,000 is secure in an individual bank account.
Who is eligible to open a PayPal Savings Account? Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.You may open a PayPal Savings Account if you have the PayPal app and have set up a personal account. You won't be eligible for an account if you only have a PayPal business account.
PayPal Savings Review
The PayPal Savings is a solid option if you're comfortable with an online-only banking experience. You'll primarily manage your account through the PayPal app and utilize PayPal Balance to manage your account.
The account notably pays a competitive interest rate and doesn't charge monthly service fees. It also lets you set up individual goals by using the accounts Goals feature. You may create Goals with a specific name and target amount to help you monitor your progress.
How PayPal Savings Compares
How the PayPal Savings Account comparesChime Savings Account
Ally Savings Account
PayPal Savings Account vs. Chime Savings Account
Chime and PayPal are two online-only fintech platforms. Both have strong fee-free high-yield savings accounts with zero minimum balance requirements. Deciding between the two will likely depend on what you're looking for in your bank experience.
PayPal could be a better choice if you're searching for a competitive interest rate. The PayPal Savings pays 4.30% APY (Annual Percentage Yield), while the Chime Savings Account only offers 2.00% APY. However, keep in mind rates can fluctuate, so this may change in the future.
You also might favor PayPal if you'd like a savings account that lets you save for individual goals. The Chime Savings Account doesn't have this feature.
If you are also looking to open a checking account, you will likely lean more toward Chime. You will need to open a Chime® Checking Account before you open a Chime Savings Account. In combination, the two accounts provide a lot of beneficial banking features. For example, with Chime Checking, you won't have to worry about foreign transaction fees if you're traveling overseas and using an ATM. You'll also be able to round up debit card purchases up to the nearest dollar and put spare change in your Chime Savings Account.
PayPal Savings Account vs. Ally High Yield Savings Account
Both PayPal and Ally offer fee-free high-yield savings accounts with budgeting tools to help you save for individual goals.
You may favor Ally if you would prefer to open multiple types of bank accounts at one financial institution. Ally has a checking account, savings account, money market account, and CDs. At PayPal, you'll only be able to open a savings account.
If you're strictly searching for a high interest rate on a savings account, you might find PayPal compelling. The PayPal Savings currently pays a slightly higher interest rate than the Ally Savings Account.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed PayPal Savings
At Business Insider Insider, we use our bank account methodology to rate bank products and services. We use a scale of 0 to 5 stars to rate bank accounts.
To review the PayPal Savings Account, we looked at minimum opening deposit requirements, monthly service fees, and interest rates. We also consider the overall banking experience, examining customer support availability, mobile app ratings, and ethics.
Sophia Acevedo, CEPF Banking Reporter Sophia Acevedo is a banking reporter at Business Insider. Sophia joined Business Insider in July 2021. She writes bank reviews, banking guides, and banking and savings articles for Personal Finance Insider. She is also a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF).Sophia is an alumna of California State University Fullerton where she studied journalism and minored in political science. She is based in Southern California.You can reach out to her on Twitter at @sophieacvdo or email sacevedo@businessinsider.com.Read more about how Personal Finance Insider chooses, rates, and covers financial products and services >>Below are links to some of her most popular stories:- Are banks open today? Here's a list of US bank holidays for 2023
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Betterment Cash Reserve Account New Customer Offer: Earn 5.50% APY when you open your first cash account with $10 deposit. Terms apply. A tooltip *Current promotional rate; annual percentage yield (variable) is 4.75% as of 7/31/23, plus a .75% boost available as a special offer with qualifying deposit. Terms apply; if the base APY increases or decreases, you'll get the .75% boost on the updated rate. Cash Reserve is only available to clients of Betterment LLC, which is not a bank, and cash transfers to program banks are conducted through clients’ brokerage accounts at Betterment Securities. **The national average savings account interest rate is reported by the FDIC (7/17/23) as the average annual percentage yield (APY) for savings accounts with deposits under $100,000. Start SavingEditorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards.
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.
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