Synchrony is the rare online HYSA that gives you an ATM card with fee reimbursement, which can be genuinely useful for households that occasionally need cash without setting up a separate checking account. Marcus has a higher rate but no ATM access. If you want one account that earns a high yield and gives you a card for occasional cash needs, Synchrony is unusually well-suited. If you just want maximum yield, Marcus wins by 0.10 points.
Today's top HYSA rate: —. See the live HYSA leaderboard.
- 1.Marcus APY: 3.65% flat
- 2.Synchrony APY: 3.55% flat
- 3.ATM card: Synchrony yes / Marcus no
- 4.ATM fee reimbursement: Synchrony up to $5/cycle / Marcus N/A
- 5.Joint accounts: Both yes
Most online high-yield savings accounts are deliberately limited to ACH transfers in and out. The reasoning is simple: keep money "sticky" by adding a small friction layer between the high-yield savings account and any spending impulse. Synchrony took a different approach — they kept the ATM card on the savings product even after most peers dropped it. For some savers that is a real selling point; for others it is irrelevant.
Side-by-side
| Feature | Marcus | Synchrony High Yield Savings |
|---|---|---|
| APY | 3.65% | 3.55% |
| Minimum deposit | $0 | $0 |
| Monthly fees | $0 | $0 |
| Tiered rates | No (flat) | No (flat) |
| ATM card | No | Yes, free |
| In-network ATM fee | N/A | $0 (Plus, Allpoint) |
| Out-of-network ATM reimbursement | N/A | Up to $5/cycle |
| Joint accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | 4.9 stars | ~4.6 stars |
| External transfer | ACH, $125K/day after warm-up | ACH, $250K/day |
| Customer service | 24/7 phone | 24/7 phone |
| FDIC | Goldman Sachs Bank USA | Synchrony Bank |
The two-line summary: Marcus pays 0.10 more, Synchrony gives you an ATM card and modest fee reimbursement.
Where Synchrony wins
The ATM card on savings. Worth saying twice because most HYSAs do not offer this. With Synchrony you can walk up to a Plus or Allpoint ATM and withdraw cash directly from your high-yield savings account. No transfer to checking, no intermediate steps. If your only checking account is at a separate bank, this lets your HYSA double as a backup cash source.
Out-of-network ATM reimbursement. Up to $5 per statement cycle in fee reimbursement covers approximately 1-2 out-of-network ATM withdrawals. Modest, but better than zero, and meaningful for travelers or people in areas with sparse in-network ATM coverage.
Synchrony's higher transfer limits. $250,000 per day in external ACH transfers without a ramp-up period. Marcus has higher absolute limits eventually but takes time to unlock them on new accounts.
No-minimum CD options. If you want to ladder into Synchrony CDs alongside the savings account, Synchrony offers competitive CD rates with no minimum deposit. Marcus CDs require $500 minimum.
FDIC charter diversification. Synchrony Bank is a separate FDIC-insured institution from Goldman Sachs Bank USA. For depositors with substantial cash, holding accounts across charters preserves more FDIC coverage.
Where Marcus wins
Rate. 3.65 percent versus 3.55. Ten basis points on a $50,000 balance is $50/year — small but worth knowing.
App and customer experience. Marcus's mobile app and customer service consistently rate near the top of online banking. Synchrony's app is good but a step below Marcus on polish.
Brand and tenure. Marcus is part of Goldman Sachs's consumer arm. Synchrony Bank, while large and well-capitalized, has a brand that is more associated with retail-store credit cards (Amazon Store Card, etc.) than with consumer banking. For some savers that brand association matters; for most it does not.
No card-related complexity. The absence of an ATM card at Marcus is a feature for some savers. No card to lose, no PIN to forget, no temptation to dip into savings for impulse spending. The simplicity is part of the appeal.
ATM cards on savings used to be limited by Regulation D. Before April 2020, federal Regulation D capped savings account transactions at 6 per statement cycle, and ATM withdrawals counted toward that limit. The Fed suspended this rule during COVID and never reinstated it. Synchrony retained the ATM card; most peers did not retrofit. Banks can still impose their own transaction limits on savings accounts, but Synchrony does not currently apply a per-cycle cap on ATM withdrawals.
When the ATM card actually matters
The ATM card on a HYSA is worth real money in a few specific cases:
-
You do not have a primary checking account. Some people keep their main banking simple — one HYSA and a credit card. The ATM card on the HYSA replaces a checking account for cash needs.
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Your checking account is at a brick-and-mortar bank with poor ATM coverage. If your checking bank does not have ATMs where you actually travel, the HYSA card becomes your backup cash source.
-
Emergencies and travel. Being able to get cash directly from a high-yield savings account, in a Plus or Allpoint ATM, without an intermediate transfer, is genuinely useful in real emergencies.
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You want fewer accounts overall. Fewer accounts means less monitoring, fewer logins, less surface area for fraud. The Synchrony HYSA-with-card consolidates two functions into one.
For most savers, none of these apply, and the slightly higher Marcus rate is the better trade. But for the cases above, the Synchrony card is a real feature, not a marketing line.
The 10 basis-point math
On various balances over 5 years assuming rates stay roughly stable:
- $10,000: Marcus earns ~$50 more total
- $50,000: Marcus earns ~$250 more total
- $100,000: Marcus earns ~$500 more total
- $250,000: Marcus earns ~$1,250 more total
At lower balances the gap is immaterial. At $100K+ it is real money but still a small fraction of the total balance. For most readers the decision should hinge on whether the ATM card is genuinely useful, not on the rate gap.
Live HYSA comparison
- ✦Synchrony is the rare HYSA that includes an ATM card with fee reimbursement
- ✦Marcus pays 0.10 points more (3.65% vs 3.55%) with no ATM access
- ✦Both are fee-free, minimum-free, FDIC-insured, and support joint accounts
- ✦ATM card matters most if you do not have a primary checking account
- ✦For most savers, the rate gap is small and the ATM feature is the deciding factor
What to Do Now
Related guides
Rates verified May 13, 2026 from each bank's official rate page. Synchrony Bank is FDIC-insured separately from Synchrony Financial's credit card business. SwitchWize may earn referral revenue from links on this page; this does not affect our editorial conclusions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Synchrony ATM card fee reimbursement?+
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Ranked by composite score: rate + trust + ease
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