Money Market Rates at Wells Fargo
WellsTrade customers have access to a variety of cash equivalents and money-market products that are
delivering high yields, at least in some cases. In addition to paying interest on uninvested cash,
the brokerage firm offers a selection of money market mutual funds and fixed-income securities.
Interest on Idle Cash at Wells Fargo
Cash sitting in a securities account held at WellsTrade or Wells Fargo Advisors is automatically swept
into program banks where it earns FDIC insurance and an APY. Right now, the interest rate varies by
the level of household assets a client has. The yields are rather low by market standards:
Household Assets | APY |
$0 - $999,999 | 0.15% |
$1,000,000 - $1,999,999 | 0.50% |
$2,000,000 - $4,999,999 | 0.75% |
$5,000,000 - $9,999,999 | 0.85% |
$10,000,000 - $19,999,999 | 1.25% |
$20,000,000 and up | 1.30% |
Not all accounts are eligible for the FDIC-sweep program. Those that aren’t use the Allspring Government Money Market Fund (Sweep Class) as the vehicle for cash. This fund and others are discussed below.
Wells Fargo Money Market Funds Rates
Finding money market mutual funds with high yields isn’t too problematic on the WellsTrade site. Just head to the Research tab and select the link for screeners. On the next page, there is a red button to find mutual funds. This is where money market funds will be found.
The fund screener has a vertical menu on the left-hand side. Under the section for Fund Category, there is a radio button for Money Market. Select this to find money market funds available in the Wells account. During our investigation, we found 31 funds without loads or transaction fees. Some of these funds can have high minimum purchase amounts, though. Examples include:
Fund | Initial Purchase | Yield |
Dreyfus Government Cash Management Fund (DGCXX) | $10 million | 5.36% |
Fidelity® Money Market Fund (SPRXX) | $0 | 5.21% |
Vanguard Municipal Money Market Fund (VMSXX) | $0 | 3.43%* |
*(not tax adjusted)
Not all funds are available in all account types. For example, some money market funds may only be available in WellsTrade accounts and not in Wells Fargo Advisors accounts.
Placing a trade for one of these funds is really easy. Just click on the hyperlink to go to a fund’s profile. There, click on the trade button that appears on the fund’s profile.
The Allspring fund mentioned above for sweep positions does not have a ticker symbol and does not show up in search results. It currently pays a yield of 5.04%.
Wells Fargo Fixed Income Rates
A third area available to WellsTrade and Wells Fargo Advisors customers is fixed income. Both firms offer trading in bonds and other fixed-income securities. These assets are easy to find on the WellsTrade site. Go back to the Research tab and this time choose the bond scanner. When we did this, we received 2,186 fixed-income securities across several categories, including CDs, Treasury debt, and corporate bonds. Here are some specific securities we found along with their current yields:
Asset | YTM | Maturity Date |
Alcoa, Inc. 20-year bond | 5.56% | 02/01/2027 |
HSBC Bank CD | 5.00% | 06/30/2028 |
U.S. Treasury Note | 4.72% | 08/31/2025 |
Schwab as a Substitute
Accounts with less than a million dollars in cash, which undoubtedly make up the great majority of
brokerage accounts, can get a higher rate of return on their free cash balances at Charles Schwab.
The investment firm is paying 0.1% right now on uninvested cash in its FDIC-sweep program.
Like WellsTrade, Schwab has a selection of money market mutual funds for its self-directed accounts. These are all Schwab funds, which decreases the variety somewhat, although they do have good yields. Here are some money market funds available with zero loads and zero transaction fees:
Fund | Yield | Min purchase |
Treasury Obligations Money Fund (SNOXX) | 5.07% | $1 |
U.S. Treasury Money Fund (SNSXX) | 5.10% | $1 |
AMT Tax-Free Money Fund (SWWXX) | 2.81%* | $1 |
*(not tax adjusted)
Also like WellsTrade, Schwab provides self-directed trading in multiple fixed-income classes. But Schwab’s selection is much larger than WellsTrade’s. During our probing, we found tens of thousands of debt instruments from many issuers. Here are a few highlights above 5% in yield:
Product | Yield to maturity | Maturity Date |
Ford Motor Co, Callable Bond | 6.726% | 11/13/2025 |
Discover Bank CD | 5.166% | 11/23/2026 |
FHLMC, 6% coupon | 5.696% | 09/28/2027 |
The best place to find these and other fixed-income securities is under the Research tab on Schwab’s website.
Learn more about
Charles Schwab Money Market Rates
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Updated on 4/4/2025.
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