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Key takeaways
- Having multiple savings accounts can help you track spending habits and progress toward savings goals.
- You can make more money with multiple savings accounts by getting the best of fluctuating yields and earning bank bonuses.
- Be sure to look out for any fees and minimum balance requirements, so you don’t end up losing your earnings to unnoticed charges.
Many consumers assume they only need one savings account to meet their needs, but that isn’t always the case. Having multiple accounts — at the same bank or different banks — can be useful for managing different savings goals, and there’s little harm in doing so, since it doesn’t impact your credit.
Spreading your savings across multiple accounts can also help ensure all your deposits are protected under insurance limits set by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). There are several ways in which having multiple savings accounts can help make managing your personal finances easier.
How many bank accounts should you have?
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here — the amount of savings accounts you should have depends on your personal finances and things like your income goals, how you prefer to manage your money and who you’re managing it with. Joint accounts can simplify shared expenses, for example, while individual accounts offer more control and privacy.
Below are five reasons for having multiple savings accounts.
Reasons for having multiple savings accounts
1. Earn more interest
If you want to keep some money at a traditional brick-and-mortar institution to have access to in-person banking or other perks of a big bank, you’ll be sacrificing interest as many big brick-and-mortar banks pay basically no interest. In this case, a second savings account that earns a high-yield would be worth your while since the best high-yield savings accounts are paying upwards of 4 percent annual percentage yield (APY). That yield is variable, though, and tends to move when the Federal Reserve changes the federal funds rate. So far in 2025, the Fed has kept rates steady and yields on the best accounts remain elevated.
2. Organize multiple savings goals
Having multiple accounts can make it easier to track savings goals. For instance, one account could be for emergency funds, another for travel and a third for large upcoming expenses. Keeping these separate can reduce the temptation to dip into money earmarked for other purposes. Some institutions — like Ally Bank — have savings accounts that allow you to create multiple “buckets” to divvy up your money based on your goals, all while earning the same yield.
3. Get more federal deposit insurance
The FDIC and NCUA only insures deposit accounts up to $250,000 per depositor, per account ownership type and per institution. So if you have a lot of money, you may want to open savings accounts at different banks to ensure all your wealth is federally insured.
4. Enjoy different account benefits
Some banks offer unique perks like higher interest rates, cashback or sign-up bonuses. Opening more than one account — especially if you’re comfortable managing them — can allow you to take advantage of different features across institutions.
Having multiple accounts can be a way to keep yourself on task with the specific goals you’re saving for, without the risk of funds getting commingled.
— Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate chief financial analyst.
What to watch for before opening multiple accounts
It’s important to do your research before opening a new account. These are some things to consider.
- Minimum balance requirements: An attractive yield for a savings account might have a catch: a minimum balance requirement to get that yield. If your savings are split between multiple accounts, it could be harder to meet that minimum.
- Bank fees: Watch out for any bank fees that apply to your savings accounts, including the most common: a monthly service fee. You may be able to waive the fee by meeting certain requirements, like having a certain amount on deposit. But just be sure you can meet the requirements to avoid paying fees.
- Transaction fees: Another fee to consider is an excess transaction fee. Some banks limit withdrawals from savings accounts to six per month, and there could be a fee if you exceed that limit. That’s a potential risk of having multiple savings accounts, since you may find yourself transferring money frequently between them. And even if a bank doesn’t charge a fee for going over the withdrawal limit, your savings account could be converted to a checking account if you frequently go above the withdrawal limit.
How to manage multiple savings accounts
Managing multiple accounts requires some work to make sure you’re staying on top of each account’s balance, fees and earnings.
One way to simplify managing accounts is to focus on fee-free accounts, which saves you the stress of having to remember each account’s monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. A spreadsheet is a useful tool for organizing all of your accounts’ information. Whenever you open a new account, add it to the spreadsheet so you have a single place where you can keep an eye on all your financial accounts.
There are also numerous personal finance apps that can help you track and build your savings. Your own bank’s app might even allow you to link external accounts so you can track all of your finances in one place.
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