美国国家公共电台 NPR--How to score better savings account interest rates

How to score better savings¹ account interest rates

Transcript²

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

If you're stashing³ your money in a basic savings account at a major bank, there's a good chance you're making next to nothing keeping your money there. But it doesn't have to be that way. NPR's Arezou Rezvani reports.

AREZOU REZVANI, BYLINE⁴: Sixty-six-year-old Angela Cosimano has always been a dedicated⁵ saver. For years, the retired⁶ schoolteacher stashed⁷ a lot of her money at a major bank until she noticed something in her banking⁸ app a few months ago.

ANGELA COSIMANO: I was looking at it, and I saw that I was making .01% interest.

REZVANI: With the sharp increase in interest rates this last year, Cosimano expected to see a better rate of return for her savings to at least take some of the sting out of climbing inflation. But like many Americans who have basic savings accounts at the major banks, she'd been making mere⁹ pennies.

COSIMANO: I have all this money in your bank, and you give me 12 cents a month? And I keep seeing that banks are making all this money, and your CEOs are getting zillion-dollar bonuses. I'm not real happy.

REZVANI: So she moved her money. She opened an online account through American Express that offers 3.5%. It may sound like a hassle - the research, the money transfers and getting familiar with new systems. And those higher rates are still nowhere near the rate of inflation. But Greg McBride of bankrate.com says that's exactly why people should consider the move.

GREG MCBRIDE: Having your money in the right place could be earning you the best yields you may have seen in the last 15 years.

REZVANI: What that requires is shopping around. What banks pay for people to save with them depends on how much they need those deposits. And the bigger banks - many of them are doing just fine. During the pandemic, personal savings rates soared. Government stimulus¹⁰ checks boosted household income while household spending dropped. A lot of these excess savings ended up at those bigger banks. So why then the skimpy returns to savers?

MCBRIDE: They're running a business. And so what they pay on deposits is not done out of benevolence¹¹. What they're trying to do is keep their cost as low as possible until they can lend out what they have.

REZVANI: On the other hand, smaller institutions that are eager to bring in deposits - they'll do it by paying a higher interest rate.

MCBRIDE: And as a saver, you know, that's the only free lunch in finance.

REZVANI: Those higher rates are something Dennis Devine, the CEO of Alliant Credit Union, has been able to offer his members.

DENNIS DEVINE: We've increased our deposit rates now 15 times over the last eight months.

REZVANI: They're currently at about 3%. And at some other credit unions and small banks, they're even higher. But the rate at Alliant is high enough that its membership has skyrocketed in recent months. Devine says credit unions are able to offer significantly better rates than the bigger banks for two big reasons. One, there are fewer expensive brick-and-mortar branches to maintain. And two, there are no shareholders¹³ to impress.

DEVINE: Rather than having to worry about, what does the shareholder¹² return look like at the end of the quarter, we're able to think entirely¹⁴ about how do we do what's in the best interest of our members? Our members are the owners of the credit union.

REZVANI: Now, if you do move your savings, the American Bankers Association says to be sure, wherever your money ends up is covered by federal insurance. What you earn might not be life changing, like a few hundred bucks¹⁵ for a $10,000 deposit, but for Angela Cosimano, any little bit counts.

COSIMANO: I mean, I don't necessarily, quote-unquote, "need it." I'm happy to have it not be lost.

REZVANI: Not lost to the banks, only partly gobbled up by inflation.

Arezou Rezvani, NPR News, Los Angeles.

(SOUNDBITE Of GREY SONG, "OUT OF MY HANDS")

1 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 stashing   

v.贮藏( stash的现在分词 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 stashed   

v.贮藏( stash的过去式和过去分词 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她有一大笔钱存在几个不同的银行账户下。
• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她在不同的银行账户上秘密储存了一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

9 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

10 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

11 benevolence   

n.慈悲，捐助

参考例句：

• We definitely do not apply a policy of benevolence to the reactionaries.我们对反动派决不施仁政。
• He did it out of pure benevolence. 他做那件事完全出于善意。

12 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

13 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

14 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

15 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》