Open a Capital One 360 account

STEP 1 · ~1 min

Go to capitalone.com and find 360 Performance Savings

Head to the savings accounts section and click Open Account. Already have a Capital One credit card? It’ll pre-fill your info and save you a few minutes!

STEP 2 · ~1 min

Create your login

Enter your email and create a password. Write it somewhere safe — just not a note on your phone called passwords, because that would be silly.

STEP 3 · ~3 min

Fill in your personal information

Name, date of birth, address, Social Security number. Required by federal law for all bank accounts. Capital One may run a soft credit check here — this does not affect your credit score at all.

STEP 4 · ~2 min

Link your current bank account

Enter your current bank account number and routing number — find these on a check or in your banking app. Both accounts stay yours, you’re just connecting them.

STEP 5 · ~1 min

Fund your account — any amount

Technically just $0.01 is enough to open it! Transfer whatever you can right now. Even $25 is a real start. Money arrives in 1–3 business days and starts earning 3% APY immediately. That’s it — your HYSA is officially open!

Set it and forget it — automate your savings

The single best thing you can do after opening your HYSA is set up a recurring automatic transfer from your checking account. Seriously, this one thing is more valuable than any budgeting app you’ll ever download.

STEP 1

Before you leave your new Capital One account!

Find Transfer (or Transfer Money) in the menu options.

STEP 2

Select “Transfer from”

Pick your old bank — Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, wherever your money lands on payday. This is where the money came from when you set up your account initially.

STEP 3

Select “Transfer to”

Enter your new Capital One HYSA as the destination

STEP 4

Choose your amount

Start with what you won’t notice each month — $1, $25, $100. Keep it low stress. The habit matters more than the amount. You can always increase it later!

STEP 5

Set the Frequency to recurring

You can do weekly, every other week, monthly, etc. Pick your start date — Money should leave your checking account the same day you get paid before you have a chance to spend it — and your end date. Set the end date to at least 1 or 2 years, you can always change it later!

STEP 6

Done! The transfer happens on payday before you see the money. You can’t spend what isn’t there. Even $50/month = $600/year, earning 3% while building toward your emergency fund target. Set it once. Forget it. Check back in a few months and be surprised how much is there.