Now there's a gripping title for this site's blog!!  We usually try to be more pithy with our title selection, but not today. In fact, those are the keywords the folks at the Gradock Bulletin entered into Google to see what the prevailing interest rates are in the HSA market today.

If you' don't have a health savings account (HSA), this will give you a bit of a feel for what is out there.  If you do have an HSA, this will give you an idea of where the rate with your bank falls relative to some competitors.  If you are an SEO (search engine optimization) geek or a competitive bank, this will show you for sure, whose websites and SEO initiatives are working best against the keywords "Interest Rates Health Savings Accounts."

Now the purpose of providing these rates is to provide points of comparisons with regard to rates.  They are by no means comprehensive and IMPORTANTLY they are NOT apples-to-apples comparisons.

These rates do not factor in other fees these banks charge to set up an account and then maintain it on an ongoing basis.  Additionally, these rates are stated as a range because in all cases below the banks pay higher interest rates on larger deposits (an incentive for you to save).  It is also worth noting that rates fluctuate all the time so what you see here may not match what you find when you go look for yourself.

So if you are shopping please read all the terms of the bank at which you are looking, to see if their offering meets your specific needs.

These rates represent the APY or Annual Percentage Yield (not to be confused with APR, Annual Percentage Rate) for monies deposited into a health savings account (HSA).  APY is generally a little bit higher because it takes into account the value of interest earned on interest paid, so long is your interest is in an account that compounds (if the bank states interest as APY then you know it is compounding).

So here we go:

HSA Bank                                                 1%       - 3%

State Farm Insurance Bank              1.1%   - 2.5%

First Bank                                                 1%      - 2%

Farm Bureau Bank                                0%     - 1.01%

Harris Personal Fin. Svcs.                 1.5%   - 3%

Principal Bank                                        .51%   - 2.67%

US Bank                                                     2%      - 2.5%

Sovereign Bank                                      2%      - 2.75%

Interest rates overall are down so these rates, agreeably, are not too sexy on the surface.  But remember you pay no tax on the interest in your HSA either when you earn it or spend it on qualified medical expenses, and the money you deposit into them is tax deductible.  In baseball, a triple play is a very good thing.  The same can be said for health savings accounts.  Happy shopping!