Quick Answer
A regular savings account in 2025, 2026 typically offers an APY of just 0.01%, far below inflation, which surged to 2.7%. Over five years, $10,000 loses nearly $1,300 in purchasing power. High-yield savings accounts (HYSA) at 4%+ APY are superior for cash storage.
Key Takeaways
- Chase’s standard savings account pays 0.01% APY, trailing inflation by a wide margin.
- Inflation rose 2.7% from 2024 to 2025, eroding real value even in low-lying deposits.
- A $10,000 balance loses over $1,300 in purchasing power in five years at 0.01% APY.
- High-yield savings accounts offer up to 4.2% APY, while FDIC insurance protects deposits up to $250,000.
Chase pays 0.01% APY on its standard savings account. Wells Fargo isn’t any better. That rate sat there long before inflation ticked up, and it hasn’t budged since, so anyone parking cash in one of these accounts is quietly losing ground every month. With prices still climbing and online banks paying 40x more, there’s no good reason to leave a five-figure balance sitting at a brick-and-mortar bank earning next to nothing.
Why Low Rates Hide a Cost
Regular savings accounts at big banks offer 0.01% APY on all balances. Do the math and that’s $1 a year for every $10,000 you keep parked there. Inflation, meanwhile, ran at 2.7% between 2024 and 2025. The gap between those two numbers is the whole problem.
Take a $5,000 balance sitting for three years. It grows to $5,001.50, technically. But at 2.7% annual inflation, the real value of that money drops by roughly $85 over the same stretch. The account balance goes up. What that balance can actually buy goes down. That’s the part most people never see on their monthly statement.
Key Takeaway: A $10,000 balance in a regular savings account at 0.01% APY loses over $1,300 in real purchasing power in five years. Top-tier HYSAs offer 4%+ APY.
What Constitutes a Regular Savings Account in 2025?
Low interest. Easy access. Almost no competitive pressure to improve. That’s the formula. Chase’s standard savings account pays 0.01% APY with no minimum balance required, and Wells Fargo’s version is basically a copy-paste job. These two aren’t unlucky outliers, they’re just what “normal” looks like at the big four banks.
Banks bundle these accounts with checking services and dangle fee waivers as the selling point. Fine, but you’re still paying what amounts to a convenience tax: 0.01% APY, full stop. Ally and Marcus offer 4%+ APY with the exact same ease of use, no branch visit required. At that point, the local branch isn’t earning its keep.
Key Takeaway: Regular savings accounts at Chase and Wells Fargo pay 0.01% APY. Compared to top-tier online institutions like Ally or Marcus, this rate is woefully inadequate.
Dollar-and-Cents Loss Over Time
Run the numbers on $20,000 sitting in a regular savings account at 0.01% APY: $2 a year, $10 over five years. Move that same $20,000 into a 4% APY account and you’re looking at $408 over the same period. Same money, same five years, wildly different outcome.
Smaller balances tell the same story, just with smaller numbers. $5,000 at 0.01% APY earns fifty cents a year, or $2.50 across five years. That same $5,000 at 4% APY earns $1,000 over five years. There’s no scenario where the math favors the 0.01% account.
Key Takeaway: Over five years, a $5,000 balance loses over $975 in real value at 0.01% APY due to inflation.
Better Alternatives for Cash Storage
Ally, Marcus, and SoFi all offer high-yield savings accounts with rates up to 4.2%. They’re FDIC-insured just like the big banks, and transfers hit your linked checking account almost instantly. There’s really no tradeoff here in terms of safety or access.
Want to lock in a rate for a fixed term? Capital One and Discover both offer 12-month CDs at 4.5% APY. Prefer something more flexible that still pays real interest? Fidelity and Schwab both run money market accounts that blend savings-account convenience with a bit of an investment-account edge.
Key Takeaway: A $10,000 balance in a HYSA at 4.2% APY earns over $400 more annually than the same amount in a 0.01% APY account.
| Account Type | APY (2026) | FDIC Insured |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Savings Account | 0.01% | Yes |
| Ally High-Yield Savings | 4.2% | Yes |
| Capital One 12-Month CD | 4.5% | Yes |
| Fidelity Money Market | 4.1% | Yes |
