Brilliant Bank is an online-only division of Equity Bank which is a community bank based out of Wichita, Kansas with 51 locations in 4 states and over $5 billion in assets.

Equity Bank is the latest regional bank to expand their coverage nationwide via an online-online subsidiary offering FDIC-insured deposit accounts.

Brilliant Bank’s FDIC insurance is an extension of Equity Bank’s FDIC coverage, so if you have deposits already at Equity Bank and are looking to open a CD (certificate of deposit) or savings account with Brilliant Bank your coverage will be $250,000 across all deposit accounts from both banks.

Brilliant Bank currently offers some of the most competitive yields in the country right now on both their fixed-rate CDs and their variable-rate money market account. They also offer a checking account with a suite of digital tools to track spending and zero ATM fees on transactions.

To see if their deposit products are right for you, continue reading our review below.

Brilliant Bank CD Rates + Account Details

Brilliant Bank offers just 2 CDs (certificates of deposit) at the moment, but both come with highly competitive yields.

There is a minimum deposit requirement of $1,000 to open the account and a maximum deposit allowance of $500,000. All deposit sizes earn the same yield.

CD Rates

To give these CD rates some more context, the current national average for a 6 month CD and a 12 month CD sit at just 1.03% and 1.54% APY, respectively, according to FDIC data.

That said, top yields from online banks and nationally available credit unions are now topping 5.00% APY on ~12 month terms with Brilliant Bank’s 9 month offer among the rate leaders.

All CDs are subject to early withdrawal fees if funds are needed prior to their maturity. If you’d like specifics on these fees you’ll need to contact them at

Compounding and Crediting Interest

Although this is not noted on their website, Brilliant Bank compounds and credits interest monthly back into the CD.

We reached out to a customer service representative (via: customerservice@brilliant.bank) to gather this information.

They also noted that at this time you may not transfer interest payments out of the CD due to system limitations, however, they suspect this feature will be offered in the near future as their parent company (Equity Bank) does offer the service. This feature is beneficial to those who plan on using their CD interest payments for living expenses.

Grace Period and Early Withdrawal Fees

Upon the maturity of your Brilliant Bank CD you will be provided a 10 day grace period in which you may close out your CD or modify it in any way before it automatically renews into a new CD with the same terms and the going APY at that time.

If you need access to the funds in your CD prior to its maturity you will face an early withdrawal penalty.

Early withdrawal penalties equate to ½ the interest that would have been earned on the funds withdrawn over the remaining term. This is calculated at the current interest rate.

[The information above was provided from the digital bank manager at Brilliant Bank.]

How to Open and Fund your CD

To begin the application process, start here and have your personal information handy. This includes:

• full name
• physical address
• phone number
• social security number (must be a U.S. citizen)
• driver’s license or gov issued ID

Once approved for the CD, you may fund it via the following methods:

• ACH
• Wire
• Check
• Debit Card

If you plan to transfer for the funds from another bank account please have the following information readily available:

• bank or credit union routing number
• current account number (where the money will be withdrawn from to fund your Brilliant Bank CD)

Brilliant Bank Money Market Account

Brilliant Bank also offers a competitive money market account which they call the “Magnetic Money Market” account.

Like the CDs, it comes with a minimum deposit requirement of $1,000 and a maximum balance of $500,000.

Magnetic Money Market Rate

To put this yield into perspective, the current national average sits at just 0.57% for a money market account and 0.39% for a savings account with top yields from other FDIC-insured online banks just barely topping 5.00% APY.

Money Market Pros and Cons

The magnetic money market account is a relatively straightforward account with no fees or monthly balance requirement to earn the advertised rate. Take a look at the pros and cons to get a better idea on how this account might fit with your needs.

Pros:

✅ Unlimited check writing.

✅ Debit card available upon request.

✅ Mobile app for android and IOS.

✅ Mobile check deposit.

✅ Digital tools – make payments, transfer funds and track bills.

✅ High interest rate.

✅ Low minimum to open

✅ FDIC insurance up to $250,000.

Cons:

🛑 $2.55 fee each time you transfer funds from Brilliant Bank to an external bank account.

🛑 Funds deposited via the Mobile Check Deposit service are not available until the 5th business day if the amount is over $1,000 (if the amount is under $1k, they become available the next business day).

Brilliant Bank Checking

Brilliant Bank’s checking account doesn’t feature any interest rate on balances, however, it does come with a free debit card, zero ATM fees and a suite of digital tools to track your spending.

On the downside, while the account only requires a $100 minimum deposit to open, you must maintain a $2,000 balance to avoid a $10 service charge.

The online banking features are the same as the ones associated with the money market account which include mobile check deposit, online bill payments, ability to track expenses and income, etc.

You can learn more and get started with the Brilliant Checking account here.