Rates on savings and money market accounts aren’t blowing anyone’s socks off these days. But there are some banks where you can at least eke out a roughly 1 percent interest rate.

A quarterly survey by MoneyRates.com, called “America’s Best Rates,” shows that some banks consistently offer higher yields. The second quarter’s list of the top 10 money market rates, for instance, includes nine banks that have made the list for three quarters in a row. The list aims to identify banks that have decent rates on a continuing basis, rather than as a short-term marketing promotion.

Rates on savings accounts fell for the third consecutive quarter, while rates on money market accounts rebounded a bit after falling in the first quarter. But all the rates at banks on the list beat the national average savings account rate of 0.25 percent, and the national average money market account rate of 0.29 percent, as reported by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The top 10 banks offering consistently high savings accounts rates (by annual percentage yield) during the second quarter of 2011 were:

1. Discover Bank – 1.16 percent
2. American Express – 1.13 percent
3. Capital One Bank – 1.10 percent
4.(tie) Ally Bank – 1.01 percent
4.(tie) Zions Bank – 1.01 percent
6. ING Direct – 1.00 percent
7. Cashmere Valley Bank – 0.95 percent
8. One West Bank – 0.89 percent
9. Mile High Banks – 0.88 percent
10. Allstate Bank – 0.70 percent

The top 10 banks for money market account rates (by APY) were:

1. Hudson City Bank – 1.15 percent
2. Discover Bank – 1.06 percent
3. (tie) Ally Bank – 1.01 percent
3. (tie) One West Bank – 1.01 percent
3. (tie) Zions Bank – 1.01 percent
6. AIG Bank – 1.00 percent
7. Mile High Banks – 0.95 percent
8. State Farm Bank – 0.78 percent
9. (tie) Capital One Bank – 0.75 percent
9. (tie) Think Mutual Bank – 0.75 percent

To come up with the quarterly list, Moneyrates.com surveys the 50 largest banks by deposit amount in the United States, as well as 25 banks above and 25 banks below the mean deposit for American banks, to get a geographic cross section.

How does the rate on your savings or money market account compare with those on the list?

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=79c629df6e1dc1869f26c7ce6b0e2687