Online savings accounts offer some attractive features including minimum balance requirements that are generally lower than traditional savings accounts. In fact, the typical online savings account has no minimum balance at all, compared to minimum balances of hundreds of dollars required by many financial institutions with physical branches. However, some online savings accounts may require a minimum balance to keep the account open, which could be as little as $1 or as much as several thousand dollars.

Its important to note that while online savings accounts with no minimums are likely to be more appealing to savers who are just getting started putting away money, maintaining a low savings balance can have some opportunity costs even if it’s not required to avoid fees. For instance, sometimes online banks offer higher interest rates for accounts with higher balances.

In contrast, traditional savings accounts typically require a minimum balance of around $300 to $500, although amounts vary and some banks have no minimum balance requirement.

To summarize, the typical minimum balance for an online savings account is usually structured one of three ways:

• No minimum balance
• A minimum balance to keep the account open, which could be as little as $1 or as much as several thousand dollars
• A minimum balance to earn a higher interest rate