AARP and Barclays are running a Saving account promotion right now. Open the account, deposit $40,000 within 30 days, and keep it there for 120 days to get a $400 bonus (roughly an extra 3% APY). The Saving itself already pays 4% APY, and with the bonus factored in, the effective APY comes out to 7%, which is pretty good. If you happen to have some spare cash, you may want to give it a try. The promotion ends July 31, 2026.

If you've opened Barclays Saving before, you may not be eligible for the bonus this time. This account requires an AARP membership to open, so you'll need to buy one for the regular $15. You can buy it through your favorite cashback portal, for example TopCashback offers $15 cash back. Although AARP is often described as a seniors' association, it's really a membership program anyone can join, and it offers extra discounts at some merchants. This signup bonus is pretty good; the deposit requirement is high, so I've added it to the high-APY account bonus list.

Barclays' own Saving now also has a $200 bonus, but you'll need to deposit $30,000, and the rate is a little lower than the AARP offer at 3.75%. Of course, the upside is that you don't need an AARP membership. In addition, this account is said to be ITIN-friendly, so you can give it a try. The offer ends July 31.

About Barclays

Barclays Bank is the second-largest bank in the UK, behind HSBC Group. With more than 300 years of history, Barclays is the oldest bank in the UK, tracing its roots back to 1690. Barclays was the first bank in the world to have an ATM, issued the UK's first credit card in 1966, and issued the UK's first debit card in 1987. As of 2023, it had 81,000 employees worldwide. As of 2022, total assets reached £1.514 trillion. Its headquarters are at One Churchill Place in Canary Wharf, London.

Barclays does not have physical branch locations in the U.S., so its accounts can basically be viewed as online-only accounts. Of course, basic functions like check deposits and transfers are not a problem. If it offers a good signup bonus or a high interest rate, it can be a useful addition to your banking setup. In theory, it may also provide some benefit when applying for credit cards.

At the moment, they only offer savings and CDs; there is no checking account.

Barclays Saving

Signup bonus (no current bonus for their own product)

Right now Barclays Saving has a nice promotion: you can earn up to a $200 bonus for opening an account, and the account itself pays 4.35% APY, so parking your money there isn't a bad deal.

Features and fees

There is no minimum deposit requirement and no monthly fee. The features are also very simple, supporting only transfers and deposits.

Application links