Advantages of Having a Savings Account (2024)

Establishing a savings account and developing good money habits are some of the first steps in preparing for financial goals during times of uncertainty.

Whether you’re saving for a large purchase, vacation, or a rainy day, there are several advantages of using a savings account to build your emergency fund or goal-focused savings.

1. Provides a Secure Way to Save

Savings accounts at Huntington are FDIC insured up to applicable insurance limits. The standard insurance amount provided by the FDIC is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category^†.

Huntington also takes measures to help keep the money in your savings account secure. We’re dedicated to providing a secure online banking experience. We take your privacy and security very seriously, but online threats aren’t the only concerns when it comes to account security.

We encourage you to keep your login credentials and PINs private and keep your ATM and debit cards secure. Should your card be lost or stolen, we can help. If you see unauthorized activity on your account, we can help you with disputing a debit charge.

This support, if something should go wrong, is a major benefit of having a savings account rather than keeping your savings with you as cash. Although it’s a good idea to keep some cash in a secure location at home, keeping all of your savings as cash can work against you in two main ways.

First, if the cash is lost, stolen, or destroyed in a disaster, there’s little recourse. Second, cash sitting at home isn’t earning interest. In fact, it may be losing value due to inflation.

2. Accrues Interest Over Time

Accruing interest is another benefit of savings accounts. All deposit savings accounts at Huntington are interest bearing accounts. The interest earned in deposit savings accounts is earned over time. It is compounded on a monthly or quarterly basis and then deposited into your account.

In the next cycle, you earn interest on what you’ve deposited as well as any funds that have already been credited to your account. We have a variety of savings calculators to help you see what interest can do for you and how different accounts can help you reach your financial goals. As a Huntington customer, you also have access to The Hub, our digital banking tools that can help you manage and build your savings.

Open a Huntington Savings Account

Savings accounts are great for setting aside cash for big purchases, like buying a house, or for emergency rainy day funds. You can set up scheduled transfers from your Huntington checking account to your savings account which can help you reach your savings goals even faster.

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3. Funds Are Easily Accessible

In addition to earning interest, money in a deposit savings account is readily available.

One of the biggest advantages of a savings account is that your money is fully accessible to you. You have access to your money through an ATM, online banking, our mobile app, or a transaction with a teller at one of our branches. Having instant access to your cash is what makes deposit savings accounts great for emergency savings.

This is in comparison to a CD (Certificate of Deposit). CDs can play a role in an overall savings plan, but they’re better for planned purchases than when you need quick access to the funds. With a CD, the money isn’t accessible without paying penalties until the CD matures. Deposit savings accounts don’t have maturity dates, and you have access as soon as the funds are deposited into to your account.

4. Easy to Open

You can open a savings account online in just a few minutes. It’s simple, and secure. You can also open an account at one of our branches if you prefer to speak to one of our bankers about how Huntington can help you with your financial goals.

Savings Account Considerations

Deposit savings accounts are an important part of a personal savings plan, but they don’t serve the role of a checking account, and there are other ways of building personal wealth that might be more tailored to specific goals.

Transaction Limits Exist

It’s important to remember transaction limits when evaluating the pros and cons of savings accounts. Regulation limits certain savings account withdrawals to six per statement cycle^‡. This can make savings accounts impractical to use in day-to-day activities or to pay household bills. Checking accounts are better suited for daily expenses. Checking accounts and savings accounts differ in a variety of ways, but a big difference is that checking accounts don’t have transaction limits.

Higher Interest Options Available

Huntington offers a variety of savings accounts to help you save for life’s expected and unexpected expenses. CDs and Money Market Accounts can offer a higher interest rate than traditional deposit savings accounts, but there are additional considerations with those types of accounts. If you want to build a larger personal wealth plan, you can compare savings accounts to see which account will better serve your needs. Depending upon how much money you have to start with for your savings account, you may be able to take advantage of these higher interest rate options.

Minimum Balance Requirements

Savings accounts are not one-size-fits-all. If you’re able to maintain a higher minimum balance, you can often earn better interest rates. However, we offer interest-bearing savings accounts that don’t have minimum balance requirements too. A deposit savings account can be opened with no money and starts earning interest with balances above zero. In contrast, at Huntington, Money Market Accounts require a balance of at least $25,000 to earn interest and CD’s require $1,000 as an initial deposit.

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^† Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), “Your Insured Deposits,” Accessed May 2020.

^‡ Consumer Compliance Handbook. Federal Reserve. Regulation D1 Reserve Requirements. Accessed May 2020.

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