Business Insider's personal finance team compared Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier to the high-yield savings account guide and found it to be an industry leader. We've provided a breakdown of what Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier has to offer and how it compares to other accounts on the market to help you find the best savings account for you.
Western Alliance Bank Savings Account Overview
Western Alliance Bank offers both business savings accounts and personal savings accounts. One of the latter is a Western Alliance Bank high-yield savings account called the High-Yield Savings Premier. This account offers a great interest rate with no monthly service fees.
It also lets you withdraw funds from the account as many time as you want, although how you withdraw funds is limited; you can only ACH transfer money to one linked account. You can't use wire transfers with this account, and you can't withdraw money to any account besides the account you have linked.
no account fees
4.30%
$500
- High APY
- No account activity or maintenance fees
- $500 minimum opening deposit
- Can only link to one external bank account
- Can’t use checks or wire transfers to fund account
Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier pays significantly more than the average interest rate on savings accounts. It may be a good choice if you have at least $500 to open an account.
- FDIC insured up to $250,000 for individual accounts and $500,000 for joint account
- Open an individual or joint account online in five minutes or less
- No account activity or maintenance fees
- Enhanced security by connecting one external account from which money can be moved to and from
- Open with $500 minimum deposit
Current Western Alliance Bank Savings Interest Rates
Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier offers 4.30% APY. This is one of the highest interest rates you can currently get for an online high-yield savings account, making Western Alliance competitive with some of the best online banks.
Benefits of Western Alliance Bank Savings Accounts
Competitive Western Alliance Bank Interest Rates
Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier's most standout feature is its high interest rate. At 4.30% APY, its interest rate is high enough to compete with the best banks' rates.
Easy Western Alliance Bank Online Access
This personal savings account is an online account, which means you won't be able to go into physical branches to manage your account. However, you'll be able to access your account any time through Western Alliance Bank's website or through its personal mobile banking app, although its app has fairly low ratings on the Apple App Store and Google Play store.
Western Alliance Bank Customer Service and Support
Western Alliance Bank does not offer 24/7 customer service. However, it does offer customer service options on the weekends, albeit at limited hours; you can contact personal account customer service from 6:00 am PT to 6:00 pm PT Mondays through Fridays and from 8:00 am PT to 2 pm PT on Saturdays. You can also email customer support if you don't want to make a phone call.
How to Open a Western Alliance Bank Savings Account
Western Alliance Bank Account Eligibility and Requirements
In order to open a personal savings account with Western Alliance Bank, you'll need to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident with a physical address in the U.S. According to Western Alliance Bank's website, you'll also need to provide your Social Security number. If you don't have a Social Security number, you might not be able to open an account, which means this might not be the best bank for immigrants. You'll also need access to a pre-existing checking or savings account to fund your new account.
Step-by-Step Western Alliance Bank Savings Account Opening Process
To open a Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier, you'll need to go to the Western Alliance Bank website and start an application. You'll provide the information you need to open a savings account, and you'll link an existing checking account or savings account to your new account in order to fund it. You'll need at least $500 to fund your new account, so make sure to choose an account that has at least that much in it. This is also the account you'll receive money in when you transfer money out of your Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier account.
Additional Western Alliance Bank Savings Account Features and Services
One of Western Alliance Banks' savings account features is that it does not charge monthly service fees, making it great for avoiding bank fees. Interest also compounds daily, which can add up over time depending on how much money you have in the account. Being able to withdraw money as frequently as you want sets it apart from other banks that might limit you to 6 withdrawals per month for their savings accounts. And Western Alliance Bank is FDIC-insured, which means your money is safe up to $250,000 per depositor, per account type, in the case of a bank failure.
Otherwise, the Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier doesn't come with a lot of extra features. This account isn't a savings account with buckets or other helpful budgeting features, and you will only be able to withdraw money into the one bank account you linked when you funded the account. If you're looking for a feature-rich bank account, you might be better off looking elsewhere.
Western Alliance Bank Savings Pros and Cons
Western Alliance Bank Savings Pros
- High interest rate
- No monthly service fees
- Unlimited withdrawals
- FDIC-insured
- Interest compounds daily
Western Alliance Bank Savings Cons
- Steep minimum opening deposit
- Can only link to one external bank account
- Can't use checks or wire transfers to fund account
- Online-only account
Western Alliance Bank Alternatives
Western Alliance Bank Savings vs. American Express Savings
When comparing Western Alliance Bank savings account rates with American Express rates, the Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier account comes out on top. American Express® High Yield Savings Account pays 3.80% (as of 12/17/24) APY (Annual Percentage Yield), which is significantly lower than what Western Alliance pays. But American Express National Bank (Member FDIC) is a good option for people who already use the company's credit cards — then you'll qualify to open its rewards checking account, which pays interest and offers cash-back rewards.
American Express National Bank Review
Western Alliance Bank Savings vs. Ally Savings
You'll earn 3.80% APY with the Ally Savings Account. While this is much less than what Western Alliance pays, you still might like Ally Bank if you want organize your savings while planning how to budget. Its savings account has buckets, so you can organize your savings goals and set timelines for reaching them.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Western Alliance Bank
At Business Insider, we use our bank account rating methodology to review all of our banking products, including this one. For savings accounts, we consider an account's minimum opening deposit, monthly service fees, interest rate, customer support options, mobile app ratings, miscellaneous features, security, and ethics.
We use a scale of one to five stars to review bank accounts. We use a weighted average to get our star rating, which means we weigh certain features, like interest rates and fees, at a higher weight percentage than others. We understand that these areas can more heavily impact a person's overall banking experience.
Western Alliance Bank Savings FAQs
Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier currently has an interest rate of 4.30%.
There aren't any Western Alliance Bank savings account fees for Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier. However, it does have a minimum opening deposit of $500.
You can open a Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier account by going to their website, providing information like your name, Social Security number, and address, and linking a pre-existing bank account so you can transfer over at least $500 via ACH transfer. Western Alliance Bank does not let you fund your account with checks or wire transfers.
The Western Alliance Bank High-Yield Savings Premier account features a very strong interest rate, no monthly service fees, and a mobile banking app.
