We mention on smilingdad different ways to boost your savings account interest rate. Upgrade.com is now offering 3.5% on their Premier Savings account. That’s the highest we have seen.
According to bankrate.com, the highest savings account is 3.25% from LendingClub, as of 11/18/22. Both LendingClub and Upgrade.com were started by Renaud Laplanche.
CNBC did a write up of this fintech.
Upgrade, a San Francisco-based startup founded by Laplanche in 2016, can afford to pay higher rates than rivals because of its network of 200 small banks and credit unions, according to the CEO. These institutions don’t have national deposit-gathering platforms and, as a result, are willing to pay more for funding, he said.
CNBC
Which is terrific. Small banks and credit unions benefit, earning more for their members by lending out the money to Upgrade.com. Upgrade.com benefits by offering more for savers and interesting you in other products. Large banks tend to be big promoters of fossil fuel exploration and production. If you’ve experienced a climate disaster recently, such as a wildfire, hurricane, or flooding, you are attuned to climate pollution and climate risk. Why support big banks that are ruining the planet for profits?
Here’s one feature I like. Upgrade.com turns credit card balances into installment loans. These tend to have lower interest rates than the insane rates on credit cards. If your credit card has an interest rate of 24%, your balance will double in 3 years, applying the Rule of 72. A lower rate of 12% would result in your balance doubling in 6 years, a huge savings on interest. Those numbers are hypothetical.
Upgrade, which was valued at $6.28 billionin a private funding round late last year, is best known for credit cards that turn monthly balances into installment loans.
That feature automates financial discipline for its users and generally reduces the interest they pay versus traditional cards. The product appears to be gaining traction; Upgrade was the fastest-growing card issuer by outstanding balances among the top 50 players, according to industry newsletter the Nilson Report.
CNBC
As inflation persists and interest rates go higher, more people are resorting to credit cards to pay for food, gas, and electricity. Here at smilingdad, we’re all in favor of getting out of debt as soon as possible. We wrote about it last year, in our piece called The Art of Paying Down Debt. Our blog was started again, chronicling the high levels of debt we incurred to buy our Model 3, and what we needed to do to get our debt under control. Having gotten out of credit card debt 3 times, we want to help everyone get out of debt.
With gratitude and good cheer.
Sincerely yours,
smilingdad
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