Banking

Your cash is probably earning nothing. It does not have to.

The gap between a typical savings account and a high-yield one is one of the few places in personal finance where meaningful money is available for an afternoon of paperwork and no added risk.

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Overview

Most people opened a checking account once, added a savings account beside it, and never revisited either. Meanwhile the rate on that savings account sat near zero while others paid many times more for the same federally insured deposit.

Cipili works out what your balance earns now, what it could earn at published current rates, and what the difference comes to over a year. Then it covers the rest of the cash question: how much belongs in an emergency fund, and where the rest should sit.

Are you leaving interest on the table?Sample
Your savings account
$9,500 at 0.01% APY
$1/yr
A high-yield account
$9,500 at a currently published rate
$399/yr
$398
Annual difference
2.4 of 3 months
Emergency fund

Rates in the app are shown with their source and the date they were recorded.

Illustration of the interest comparison. Sample balance and rates, used to show the layout.

Key benefits

See the gap in dollars

Not a rate comparison in the abstract. Your balance, the rate it earns, the rate available, and the annual difference between them.

Emergency fund, sized for you

The right buffer depends on your expenses and how steady your income is. Cipili sizes it from your figures and shows how close you are.

Checking that fits how you bank

Fees, minimums, and ATM access matter more day to day than a headline rate on an account you rarely touch. Compared on the terms that apply to you.

Rates with a source

Every rate shown carries its provenance and the date it was recorded, so you can see how current it is rather than trusting an unlabeled number.

Checking accounts

The account your money passes through. What matters is what it costs: monthly fees, minimum balance requirements, overdraft terms, and ATM access. Cipili compares on those, because a checking account is a utility and the goal is to stop it quietly charging you.

High-yield savings

Same deposit insurance, same access, materially different rate. Cipili shows what your current balance earns against what is currently available, in dollars per year rather than basis points, and explains the trade-offs, transfer times, minimums, and rates that can move.

Emergency funds

Before investing, before extra debt payments beyond the minimums, comes the buffer that stops one bad month becoming a credit-card balance. Cipili estimates your target from your expenses and income stability, and shows the gap between that and what you have.

Cash management

Once the buffer exists, the question becomes how much cash to hold and where the rest should go. Cipili explains the options and what each gives up, then hands you back to the order of operations so cash is not sitting idle while a higher-interest debt runs.

Frequently asked questions

Does Cipili open accounts or move my money?

No. Cipili compares and explains. Opening or moving anything is something you do yourself, at your bank.

How current are the rates?

Each rate is stored with its source and the date it was recorded, and both are shown to you. Rates on savings accounts change, so treat any figure as of its date.

Are the accounts you show insured?

Cipili shows deposit insurance status alongside each account. Verify it with the institution before you deposit, as coverage depends on how the account is titled.

Do I need to connect my bank to use this?

No. Enter your balance and rate and the comparison works. Connecting an account just saves you the typing.

Related features

Find out where you stand, in about two minutes.

Onboarding asks for your age, income, goals, and rough balances. Ranges are fine, and it never asks for account numbers. Your Financial Score is free.

Cipili provides financial education, comparisons, and estimates based on the information you provide. It does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice, and is not a registered investment adviser or fiduciary. Estimates rest on stated assumptions and are not guarantees of future results.