Banks offer savings accounts to assist their profit-making objective. Since one of the primary ways a bank generates revenue is to make loans to consumers and businesses and collect the resulting interest payments, they require a supply of funds in order to make those loans. Offering checking, savings, money market, and certificate of deposit accounts are ways banks attract the capital they need in order to lend money to other customers. It's also how they can enhance their profit-making ability, as the interest rates banks pay on deposit accounts are lower than the rates they can collect on loans. As we've pointed out, most checking accounts pay no interest at all. And the national average rate for savings accounts is just 0.07%. So when a bank can extend an auto loan for 5% or 6% or a credit card rate of 15% to 25%, it generates revenue on the difference between the rate of interest paid and interest earned.