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Online Savings Accounts

Citi Accelerate High Yield Savings – Now 1.20% APY


image credit: online.citi.com

[Update June 23, 2020: Citi lowered the rate on their Accelerate Savings account to 1.20% APY from 1.35% APY.]

[Update: The Citi Accelerate High Yield Savings Account had its rate lowered to 1.35% APY. Down from 1.40% APY.

[Update: The Citi Accelerate High Yield Saving Account lowered its rate again at the end of May from 1.55% APY to 1.40% APY.]

[Update: The Citi Accelerate High Yield Savings Account saw its rate lowered at the end of April to 1.55% APY. Down from 1.60% APY.]

[Update: The Citi Accelerate High Yield Savings Account rate lowered to 1.60% APY from 1.70% APY on or around March 23rd. This marks the second rate decrease in a month since the FED moved rates back to zero.]

[Update: The Citi Accelerate High Yield Savings Account rate lowered to 1.70% APY from 1.85% APY on March 10, 2020.]

Some of the big retail banks are still competing for consumer deposits with better than average APYs despite an abysmal savings rate environment over the last several years. Not to mention the Fed’s commitment to keep rates near zero.

Citibank, the retail banking division of Citigroup, is one in particular that has remained competitive.

In February of 2019 they launched a noteworthy online savings account dubbed the Citi® Accelerate High Yield Savings Account that still holds a respectable APY compared to its peers in 2020.

Today the account comes with a standard interest of 1.19% and an APY of 1.20% on minimum monthly balances of at least $500.

The Citi Accelerate High Yield Savings account is one of the highest yielding, FDIC-insured accounts available.

Setting up a Citi Accelerate Savings Account

Prior to setting up your Citi Accelerate Savings Account you’ll need to first open one of Citibank’s five banking packages.

Below are the 6 packages to choose from. All come with the Citi Accelerate Savings Account:

  1. Citi Gold – For high net worth clients. In order to have a Citigold Account Package, you must have at least $200,000 across eligible linked deposit, retirement and investment accounts. There are no monthly service fees for Citi Gold clients.
  2. Citi Priority – Also tailored to higher net worth individuals or joint account holders. Package includes a regular or interest checking account and Citi Accelerate Savings Account upon opening. Must maintain a combined average monthly balance of $50,000+ in eligible linked deposit, retirement and investment accounts to avoid $30 monthly service fee.
  3. The Citibank Account – Package includes a standalone Citi Accelerate Savings Account upon opening. Link to a regular or interest checking account and maintain required balances to help avoid monthly service fees. Must maintain a combined average monthly balance of $10,000+ in eligible linked deposit, retirement and investment accounts to avoid $25 monthly service fee.
  4. Citi Elevate Account – Package includes an interest checking account and Citi Accelerate Savings Account upon opening.
  5. Basic Banking/Access Account – Package includes a standalone Citi Accelerate Savings Account upon opening.

Citibank claims that the APY you receive is determined by a multitude of factors including your physical or residential address and/or deposit amount.

That said, we ran a few search scenarios using their rate comparison widget to “compare savings rates across packages by amount” (you can find this on their Citi Accelerate page) and found a consistent 1.19% interest and 1.20% APY across multiple zip codes and various deposit amounts.

The only exception to this is when searching states in which the Citi Accelerate Savings Account is not available. In these states you are offered a standard Citi Savings Account as an alternative. This account comes with a lower, but still respectable APY.

If you live in an eligible state and see a different APY for the Citi Accelerate Savings Account based on the criteria you’ve selected then please let us know about it in the comment section.

More on the APY below.

Who’s eligible for the Citi Accelerate Savings Account?

Only residents in the following states are eligible for the Citi Accelerate Savings Account:

  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Colorado
  • Deleware
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Oklahoma
  • Maine
  • Massachusettes
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • New Hampshire
  • New Mexico
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Citi Accelerate Savings Account APY – 1.20%

As mentioned above, while Citibank stipulates rates and APY will vary depending on region and/or deposit amount, we don’t see that to be the case currently in any eligible state.

Below are a few examples we’ve run to give you an idea. The rates in the screenshots are slightly outdated but you can see that we get the same APY regardless of location. The same is true today with the 1.20% APY offer.

Screenshot of Citibank’s “Compare Saving Rates Across Packages” widget. Assuming a west coast zip code and deposits under $10,000.

First, we tried a Seattle-area zip code and assumed a deposit of $10,000 or less. Our results – 1.19% standard interest rate and 1.20% APY.

Second, we tried a Detroit-area zip code and assumed a deposit between $100,000 and $499,999.99. Our results – 1.19% standard interest rate and 1.20% APY.

Screenshot of Citibank’s “Compare Saving Rates Across Packages” widget. Assuming a mid-west coast zip code and deposits between $100,000 and $499,999.99.

Last, we tried a Charlotte, North Carolina zip code and assumed a deposit of $1,000,000 or more. Our results – 1.19% standard interest rate and 1.20% APY.

Screenshot of Citibank’s “Compare Saving Rates Across Packages” widget. Assuming an east coast zip code and deposits over $1,000,000.

As you can see above, regardless of location, account package types or deposit size, the Citibank Accelerate High Yield Savings Account seems to provide the lucrative 1.20% APY across all variables.

Keep in mind this is a variable rate and is subject to change at anytime. Interest is compounded daily and paid out monthly.

Citi Accelerate Fees, Requirements and Account Details

If you can keep a monthly minimum balance of at least $500, then Citi will waive the $4.50 monthly service fee that comes with the account.

You’ll also want to note that there is no check writing with the Citi Accelerate Savings Account and as a customer you’re limited to six outgoing transfers or withdrawals per month (per federal regulations).

The account is FDIC-insured up to $250,000 against bank insolvency.

Accessing your Citi Accelerate Savings Account

Citibank has taken pride in building industry-leading digital banking products and tools. In 2018 Citibank was named (again) as the “World’s Best Digital Bank” by Global Finance.

Once you have your username and password, you can login anytime, anywhere to your account here – https://online.citi.com/US/login.do.

You can also download their native app(s) on IOS or the Google Play Store.

image credit: apple.com

The app has 1.6 million user reviews on IOS and holds a 4.9 star rating out of 5.

The app has ~415,000 user reviews on Google Play and holds a 4.7 star rating out of 5.

Final Thoughts

If you don’t feel burdened by linking this account to one of their five Citibank account packages, then the APY alone makes it a decent option.

At 1.20% APY it beats the current national average by a significant margin. The current average savings rate hovers around 0.06% APY nationally to put this in perspective.

Be sure to monitor your average monthly balance closely if you think it could near the $500 mark as a $4.50 monthly service fee could wipe away interest earnings and even parts of the principal.

Bask Bank Review – Get Miles Rather Than Interest


image credit: baskbank.com

With so many online savings accounts to choose from, it can be difficult to decide where to park your money.

People tend to make this decision based mostly on interest rates, but what if you could have your interest paid in miles rather than dollars?

This is the question that Bask Bank, a subsidiary of Texas Capital Bank, asked when creating this unique savings account in response.

The account pays AAdvantage miles instead of interest, giving you one mile for every dollar you deposit in a year, plus any bonus you manage to snag (Bask currently offers three).

Bask Bank is an online-only institution, launched in January of 2020, that has a lot to offer for frequent flying individuals on American Airlines.

About Bask Bank

Bask Bank is certainly quite new, but its parent holding company—Texas Capital Bank—has been around since 1999 and has been a partner of American Airlines all this time.

Texas Capital Bank was also a pioneer in digital banking back in the late 1990’s. To create Bask Bank, they leveraged both their digital banking expertise and their strong partnership with American Airlines.

How the Bask Bank Account Works?

image credit: baskbank.com

With this account you earn American Airlines miles (or AAdvantage Miles) rather than interest – to the tune of 1 mile for $1 deposited.

Normally, frequent flyer miles are awarded on the spending side rather than savings. Customers are used to racking up miles when making certain purchases or booking flights with their credit card, but this account turns that model upside down.

With Bask Bank, the more money you save, the more miles you earn—no strings attached. It’ll keep your AAdvantage account active with a steady trickle of miles, plus you can earn unlimited miles and never have to worry about spending on a particular travel card or making purchases you don’t want through an online portal.

Keep in mind that like any other savings account, the rate of miles earned per dollar is variable and therefore subject to change at any time without notice. Miles are given based on your average monthly balance per month.

Bask Bank is an FDIC-insured bank and deposits are insured up to $250,000 per depositor or $500,000 on joint accounts.

How Are Miles Calculated and Deposited

According to NerdWallet, a single American Airlines mile comes out to a value of about $0.01. This means that for every $100 you save, you will nab $1.00 worth in American Airlines Miles at the end of the year.

In a nutshell, you’re banking the equivalent of 1.00% APY.

How does 1.00% APY compare to other online savings accounts? Here’s a current list of some of the top yields available through online savings accounts nationwide:

InstitutionAPYNotesMore
1.25%1.15% APY on $1k – $24,999 and 1.50% APY on $25k or more.Review
1.21%Review
1.20%Must avg. 12,000 daily steps.Review
1.20%Review
1.20%$4.50 monthly fee can be waived.Review
1.20%$4 monthly fee charged if account dips below $1k.Review
1.10%Review
1.05%Review

Miles are earned every day that you account is active with funds in it. Miles are deposited directly into your AAdvantage account monthly.

If you’re a member of the American Airlines loyalty program but aren’t yet familiar with it, AAdvantage miles can be used on many different expenses. From upgraded flights to merchandise, they can be used to pay for just about anything related to travel through American Airlines. 

American Airlines also partners with hotels and rental care agencies, and frequent flyer miles can be put toward these expenses as well. Redeem miles at any time—they’ll expire after 18 months of inactivity, but this expiration period resets every time Bask makes another deposit into your AAdvantage account, so you probably won’t need to worry about this. 

How to Set Up Your Bask Bank Account

To open an account with Bask Bank, you’ll first need be apart of the American Airlines frequent-flyer program. If you are not, this account will be of little use to you.

Assuming you are a member and you want to earn points via saving rather than spending, then click on the orange “open an account” button in the upper right on the Bask Bank website.

From here it will be a 4 step process that finalizes with transferring funds to the account.

The whole thing can be completed in minutes. The steps are as follows;

  1. Get started. You’ll need an email address and mobile number.
  2. Submit application. Here you’ll need things like your name, social security number, birthday and address.
  3. Create Login. Simple login creation (username and password).
  4. Transfer Funds. There’s no minimum deposit requirement or ongoing monthly balance requirement, but there are bonuses associated with deposits. We discuss this further down.

Bask Bank Account Bonuses

Bask Bank has special offers available for account holders that meet certain balance and action requirements.

For opening an account with Bask Bank and funding it with at least $5,000, you’ll be rewarded 5,000 bonus miles.

You will need to fund your account within 120 days of opening and maintain this balance for at least 90 days to qualify. These bonus miles are on top of what you will earn at the end of the year on your total balance (1 mile per $1).

There are other bonuses granted to qualifying accounts as well.

The Feedback Bonus is easy to obtain—all you need to do is take a short survey on your experience with the Bask Bank app and you’ll earn 1,000 AAdvantage bonus miles, credited to your AAdvantage account within 10 days of meeting the requirements. This survey can be taken through the online banking portal or mobile app and only takes a few minutes to complete. Offer expires June 30, 2020.

Finally, the Balance Bonus is a promotion that grants tiered bonuses. If you fund your account within 60 days of opening with at least $25,000, you qualify for this bonus offer.

Here’s how the Balance Bonus works:

  • Average daily balances of $25,000 or more will earn 5,000 miles every 180 days,
  • Average daily balances of $50,000 or more will earn 10,000 miles every 180 days (up to 20,000), and
  • Average daily balances of $100,000 or more will earn 20,000 miles (up to 40,000).

Please note that you will need to stay within your tier for 12 months to qualify.

Bask Bank Support and Customer Sentiment

The Bask Bank website is clean and simple and about as easy-to-use as it gets. Customers leave high marks on review sites for the ease of use of its online interface.

The negative remarks generally revolve around the miles that are rewarded. Many customers point out the fact that this account is – for all intents and purposes – just a 1.0% APY savings account. However, if you’re able to cash in on any of the three bonus offers (and depending on your deposit size) you can still beat that 1.0% APY mark.

If you struggle to set up or service your account, you can contact customer service at (833) 260-4320 or customersupport@baskbank.com.

The phones are open Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM and Saturday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Central Standard Time.

Because Bask Bank does not have any physical branches, you will need to open your account and manage your finances online or through the mobile app. This can be downloaded through the App Store or through Google Play.

Final Thoughts

If you’re a long standing American Airlines traveler, in need of a savings account and dissatisfied with the current interest rate environment, then a Bask Bank account could be right for you.

Just remember, you’ll probably need to be eligible for at least one of the three bonus offers to make this account compete with some of the top APYs out there through traditional online savings accounts.

Marcus Bank by Goldman Sachs Online Savings: 1.05% APY + 1.15% APY CDs


image credit: marcus.com

You’ve heard of Goldman Sachs, the global investment services firm, but you might not be familiar with their digital subsidiary, Marcus.

Marcus by Goldman Sachs is an online-only, FDIC-insured bank offering personal loans, a savings account, and CDs. Named after Goldman Sachs pioneer Marcus Goldman and founded in 2016, this bank is at the top of the game with its high-yield savings and deposit products. 

Marcus was recognized as one of the “Best Banks for Savings in 2019 by Nerdwallet” and as one of the “Best Savings Accounts of 2020 by GOBankingRates.”

Marcus by Goldman Sachs consistently features high yields on its variable rate savings account, but does that mean you should sign up?

Find out more about their deposit products and customer experience before you commit to this trendy banking platform.

Marcus by Goldman Sachs Online Savings Account Rate + Details

The Marcus savings account holds a very respectable APY. To put the yield below in perspective the current national average for savings accounts sits at just 0.07% nationwide.

Min DepositAPY
$01.05%

The no-hassle minimum deposit or daily active balance requirements make the account very stress free and widely available to all income groups.

To earn the noteworthy APY you just have to fund your account within 60 days of opening it, and maintain a positive balance after that.

There are four different ways you can make a deposit into this savings account. You can:

  • 1. link your savings account to an external bank account and transfer funds (Marcus won’t charge fees for this, but your other bank might),
  • 2. set up direct deposit payments from your payroll or Social Security,
  • 3. send a domestic wire transfer, or
  • 4. mail a check to this address – Goldman Sachs Bank USA P.O. Box 4571 Carol Stream, IL 60197-4571

Interest on a Marcus savings account is compounded daily and credited monthly. Per the standard and federally-enforced limit, you can make up to six transactions from a savings account per month for free. There is no excessive withdrawal fee, but you won’t be allowed to go over this limit. These accounts do not come with hidden monthly maintenance fees. 

Marcus does not offer a debit or ATM card for its savings accounts at this time, so you’ll have to have your funds transferred to another account if you wish to withdraw them. Use the savings calculator to find out how much your money will grow if you don’t touch it.

How does Marcus by Goldman Sachs Savings Account Compare?

Shown below are today’s highest yielding online savings accounts available nationwide. Online banks tend to offer higher APYs than brick and mortar institutions as they have lower overhead costs and return those savings to customers in the form of higher rates.

InstitutionAPYNotesMore
1.25%1.15% APY on $1k – $24,999 and 1.50% APY on $25k or more.Review
1.21%Review
1.20%Must avg. 12,000 daily steps.Review
1.20%Review
1.20%$4.50 monthly fee can be waived.Review
1.20%$4 monthly fee charged if account dips below $1k.Review
1.10%Review
1.05%Review

Marcus by Goldman Sachs CD Rates + Account Details

Marcus offers standard CD terms (shown below) with high yields as well as a “No-Penalty CD” that comes with a 7 month term and an APY of 1.00%. We discuss the no penalty CD a little further down.

Marcus CD Rates

CD TermAPY
6 month0.60%
7 month “No-Penalty CD”1.20%
9 month0.70%
12 month1.10%
18 month1.10%
2 year1.10%
3 year1.10%
4 year1.10%
5 year1.15%
6 year1.15%

To put the offers above in perspective, the current national average for 12 month CDs sits at just 0.26% APY nationally.

No- Penalty 7 Month CD

Earn a fantastic rate while still having access to your funds!

The no-penalty CD is much more flexible than your standard certificate. It’s a 7 month term that earns 1.00% APY—an excellent rate of return for such a short time period—and comes with no early withdrawal penalty.

You’ll earn the fixed interest rate for the duration of your CD, but you can withdraw up to 100% of the funds as soon as 7 days after issuance penalty-free. This is the only difference between a high-yield and no-penalty Marcus certificate as far as terms and conditions.

CD Account Details

Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly to your certificate account, or you can withdraw it as you please. You can have all interest automatically reinvested, all interest withdrawn, or some withdrawn and some reinvested—you can make any changes over the course of the term.

A $500 minimum opening deposit and average daily balance is required to earn interest on a certificate account. Marcus CDs are backed by a 10-day Rate Guarantee, which promises the highest published interest rate and APY Marcus has to offer on your term for 10 days after certificate issuance. Essentially, you’ll get the highest rate on your account as possible for a short time—you aren’t locked in to a rate until that 10-day period is up. To ensure that this safety net is enforced, just make sure you have the $500 minimum deposited in the account within this time period.

There is a 10 day grace period within which you should try to make any changes or withdraws after a CD renews. If you don’t and you find yourself needing to withdraw funds from a high-yield CD (not a no-penalty CD!) after this, get ready to pay. For terms of less than 1 year, you’ll be charged 90 days’ simple interest; for terms of 1 – 5 years, you’ll be charged 270 days’ simple interest; and for terms more than five years, you’ll be charged 365 days’ simple interest.

Banking Experience with Marcus by Goldman Sachs

There are no Marcus ATMs or in-person branches, which is typical of online banks but important to know.

There are also no Marcus ATM, debit, or credit cards, but there is the Goldman Sachs card. Goldman Sachs’ only credit card, the Apple card, had a rough start. When it first launched, the card drew heat for alleged gender discrimination in the algorithm used to assess a potential user’s credit and qualifications. With two high-profile corporations like Goldman Sachs and Apple teaming up to launch a card, this error was quickly spotted and users were turned off of the product by such an egregious glitch. But now that the media storm has mostly calmed and the issues have been addressed, the Apple card is considered a decent product for devoted Apple users.

User reviews of Marcus are about average, but the data is somewhat imprecise. This is because many users report about their experiences with the Apple card rather than with Marcus as a bank, so this leads to difficulty in condensing customer experience with the online bank. Nevertheless, the results that are in are as follows: out of 128 reviews on WalletHub, Marcus scored 3 stars out of 5. Out of 165 reviews on DepositAccounts, the bank landed, again, 3 stars. And out of 71 reviews on Trustpilot, Marcus scored about a 3.5. 

When you bank 100% digitally, you always run the risk of not being able to have your problems solved in a timely manner and, in some cases, at all. Unfortunately, Marcus is no exception. Some customers have reported not being able to get in contact with customer service representatives when their accounts were temporarily and inexplicably locked and have expressed frustration with slow, unsatisfactory service. 

Overall, it seems, customers are either highly satisfied or highly unsatisfied with Marcus, so this might be a case where you’ll want to see for yourself how accessible Marcus customer service is. You might try giving their help line a call before opening an account if you have any questions and see what that experience is like to get an idea of what you can expect, but of course, this isn’t a perfect measure. Customer Service can be contacted Monday through Friday from 8 am – 10 pm and Saturday to Sunday from 9 am – 7 pm  ET or you can call (855) 730-7283 to get in touch with someone.

The Marcus online portal is said to be more user-friendly than most banks, which is important when you’re managing your money digitally. The app gets 4.5 stars on Google Play and 4.9 stars on Apple.

Final Thoughts

The annual percentage yields offered on Marcus’s savings products are top notch. Both their online savings account rate and certificates of deposit rates put the national averages (and a large chunk of their competitors) to shame.

Even though the overall banking experience is mixed, if you’re simply after high yields and no frills, then the savings products offered by Marcus should be on your short list.

Barclays Online Savings Account: 1.00% APY + 0.85% CDs


image credit: banking.barclaysus.com

Barclays Bank Delaware is an online-only investment bank that was established in the U.S. in 2003. An online division of Barclays – the multinational financial services company headquartered in London that traces its history back to 1690 – this online institution has garnered recognition for convenience and high rates of return. For the purposes of this article, Barclays Bank Delaware, the online-only U.S. division of Barclays, will be referred to simply as Barclays. 

Barclays product suite is simple – with just an online savings account and a few standard term CDs.

That said, the accounts generally come with higher than average rates, plus zero fees or minimum balance requirements.

Barclays was also awarded a “Best Banks for Savings” rating by Nerdwallet in 2019 and consistently competes with the best products on the market.

You won’t be able to do all of your banking in one place with Barclays, but if you’re comfortable managing your savings digitally in the interest of earning better interest, Barclays might be a good fit.

Barclays Online Savings Account Rates + Details

Barclays has only one savings account, the Barclays Online Savings. This account offers a solid APY of 1.00%. Barclays is a member of FDIC, so all accounts opened with them are insured up to $250,000.

Minimum BalanceAPY
$01.00%

How to open an account:

You can deposit funds by any of the following methods:

  • you can set up direct deposits,
  • make remote deposits through the app or website,
  • transfer funds electronically through an ACH transaction,
  • or mail a check to the following address: Barclays P.O. Box 4538 Carol Stream, IL 60197

To put this in perspective, the current national average for savings accounts sits at just 0.07% APY, although some banks are still offering APYs of up to 1.45%. Keep in mind these rates are variable and can change at anytime without notice.

There’s no minimum balance to open a Barclays Online Savings account and there are no monthly maintenance fees to worry about either. To get paid interest, just maintain an average daily minimum balance of $1.00. Dividends are compounded daily and credited monthly to your savings account or an external account. 

You can easily transfer funds to accounts with other banks for free (though you will have to wait 2 – 3 business days for these to go through), but you can do this six times per month without incurring fees. For each transaction after that, you’ll be charged $5. The only other fee attached to this account that you’ll want to know about is the $5 non-sufficient funds fee, which is significantly lower than what most banks charge.

How Does Barclays Online Savings Account Compare?

Shown below are today’s highest yielding online savings accounts available nationwide. Online banks tend to offer higher APYs than brick and mortar institutions as they have lower overhead costs and return those savings to customers in the form of higher rates.

InstitutionAPYNotesMore
1.25%1.15% APY on $1k – $24,999 and 1.50% APY on $25k or more.Review
1.21%Review
1.20%Must avg. 12,000 daily steps.Review
1.20%Review
1.20%$4.50 monthly fee can be waived.Review
1.20%$4 monthly fee charged if account dips below $1k.Review
1.10%Review
1.05%Review

Barclay CD Rates + Account Details

Barclays’ certificate of deposit terms are fairly standard. Their APYs are higher than the current national averages for their respective terms, but better rates can be found elsewhere online and even through a handful of credit unions.

Barclays Online CD Rates

CD TermAPY
3 month0.35%
6 month0.65%
9 month0.70%
12 month0.85%
18 month0.85%
24 month0.85%
36 month0.85%
48 month0.85%
60 month0.85%

To give the yields above some context, a 12 month CD currently holds an average APY of just 0.26% nationally.

There are no bump-up or special CDs currently offered through Barclays.

Interest on these deposit accounts are compounded daily and credited monthly. You will have the option of either keeping earned interest in your CD or having it disbursed monthly to your Barclays Online Savings account. You can edit this preference at any time. 30 days before your CD reaches maturity, you will be asked whether you’d like to renew or not.

There are no minimum balances or monthly maintenance fees, but as with most deposit products they do impose early withdrawal fees.

Early withdrawal fees are as follows:

  • For terms of less than or equal to 24 months 90 days’ simple interest will be charged,
  • for terms of greater than 24 months 180 days’ simple interest will be charged

If you have to make any changes or remove funds after renewal, try to do so within the 14 day grace period.

Barclays Online Banking Experience

Barclays has ATMs, but you won’t be able to access them if you’re an online-only customer because the Barclays Online Savings account does not come with an ATM card. There is also no U.S. branch network. To access your funds, you’ll have to transfer them to another account or cash out checks. And remember, Barclays does not offer a checking account at this time.

So what do users think of this online-only institution?

Reviews are very mixed.

Until recently, customers have generally been satisfied with their experience with this bank. Out of 220 reviews on DepositAccounts, the bank earned a 4-star customer rating. Out of 472 customer ratings on ConsumerAffairs, the institution earned about 3.2 stars. Finally, on WalletHub, Barclays scored a 3.8 out of 24.2 thousand user reviews—overall, the bank is rated somewhere between 3 and 4 stars out of 5. (Keep in mind, however, that some reviews are of the global company and not of the online, U.S.-based retail bank alone.)

In normal environments consumers seem to be satisfied with this bank, especially for its interest rates and the ease of use of its digital platform. But in the past few weeks, amidst the panic of COVID-19 and the worrisome financial situations of so many Americans that have resulted, Barclays has received an outpouring of overwhelmingly negative reviews. 

As customers seek help in the form of mortgage relief, advice, answers, and more, Barclays has allegedly become flaky and unpredictable. Many users have reported unexpected account closures and freezes and countless customers are unable to reach customer service representatives at all. Though this might not be the typical Barclays experience, you’ll want to decide for yourself whether Barclays is a bank you can trust using this information.

As for the Barclays mobile app, this scores a 4.8 out of 5 on Apple’s App Store and a 4.5 on Google Play. Users report that this app is functional and easy to navigate—if basic—though the general consensus seems to be that its quality declines with each required update. You can do your banking online if you prefer, and customer service can be reached at (888) 710-8756 Monday through Friday from 8 am to 8 pm or through the live chat function on the site.

Final Thoughts

Barclays online bank may meet your savings needs, but there are a few considerations you’ll want to take into account. 

For one, their customer service seems to be unsatisfactory, at least for the time being. This is a red flag that shouldn’t be ignored, especially when the bank in question is online-only and you won’t be able to go into a branch to have your questions answered and concerns heard.

For another, Barclays doesn’t have many products, so doing all of your banking in one place won’t be possible. There has been talk of an online checking account option becoming available, but this has yet to happen.

On the positive side, Barclays accounts do not have minimum balances or monthly maintenance fees and are, of course, have higher than average yields.

WebBank Savings Account Review & CD Rates


image credit: webbank.com

WebBank is a small and relatively new industrial bank based out of Salt Lake City, Utah.

You’re probably unfamiliar with the name, but you may have indirectly conducted business with the bank without realizing it. WebBank works behind the scenes serving commercial partners such as Dell, Paypal and LendingClub with working capital, loans and/or branded credit cards.

On the consumer savings sider, WebBank offers a small suite of FDIC-insured deposit products – namely CDs and a savings accounts.

The savings account comes with a mediocre APY at the moment, but has been quite competitive in the past. Their CD rates are comfortably above the national average, but still less competitive than other offers found online.

In our review below we will take a look at the APY, features, and account details of WebBank’s savings products as well as general customer sentiment.

WebBank Savings Account Rate + Account Details

The WebBank savings account is the most competitive product in terms of APY in its suite of savings products. It requires a minimum balance of $1,000.

WebBank Savings Account APY

BalanceAPY
$1,000 +0.95%

To put this offer above in perspective, the national average for a savings account sits a just 0.07% APY currently. That said, there are several online-only banks with better rates.

Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly. You may choose to withdraw this and have it transferred to another account, or you can allow it to default back into this account to compound further.

The online savings account comes with no fees and also no in-person banking options. They have no mobile banking apps to conduct online banking activities and no debit cards or check writing capabilities. It is simply a place to stash cash and have it earn interest.

Web Bank Fee Schedule

TypeFee
Monthly Maintenance$0
Electronic Funds Transfer (ACH)Free
Outgoing Wire$25
Paper Statements$5

You can easily transfer money to or from this account via preauthorized/automatic transactions with an external account. This can be in the form of ACH, internal, or wire transfers and can be initiated through the online banking platform or by calling Customer Support.

WebBank CD Rates + Account Details

At the moment, WebBank’s certificate of deposit products are nothing special compared to competing offers out there, but they do beat the national average quite handily. To put the offers below in perspective the current national average for a 12 month CD sits at roughly 0.28% APY.

CD TermAPY
6 month0.35%
1 year0.55%
2 year0.55%
3 year0.55%
5 year0.55%

The minimum opening deposit for a WebBank CD is on the steep end at $2,500. Many of the other popular online banks set their minimum deposits on CD’s close to $1.

Interest is compounded daily and will be credited automatically back into the certificate account unless you elect to have it paid out instead, and this can be done whenever you choose—one-time, monthly, or periodic. It is all at your discretion.

Early withdrawal fees are charged as follows:

  • pay 3 months’ simple interest when you make an early withdrawal from an account of less than 1 year,
  • pay 6 months’ simple interest when you make an early withdrawal from an account of between 1 and 2 years,
  • pay 9 months’ simple interest when you make an early withdrawal from an account of 3 years, and
  • pay 1 year’s simple interest when you make an early withdrawal from an account of 5 years.

The maturity grace period is 10 days, so do your best to withdraw some or all of your money, change the terms, or renew your account within this time period when your account reaches its maturity date so that you’re not charged early withdrawal fees.

WebBank Banking Experience and Consumer Reviews

One major con of WebBank is its online platform. Your first impression of the WebBank site won’t be good and it likely won’t get better the more you explore. And not only is the website unattractive and dull, it also is not as comprehensive as it should be. There is very little information available on anything and the site is poorly organized. Even just finding the customer service phone number is a chore and, for some reason, account rates are listed in their own separate section rather than on the pages for their respective accounts.

Poorly done though as the website may be, it’s also your only option when you’re a WebBank customer. Don’t plan on managing your WebBank accounts from your phone—there are no WebBank mobile apps on the market. There is also, of course, no in-person banking as WebBank does not have in-person branches.

There are also no ATMs or ATM cards, so make sure you know what you’re signing up for if this will make things inconvenient for you. If technology-based banking feels more tedious to you than traditional banking, then WebBank—or any other fully digital bank—won’t be a good fit.

WebBank’s customer satisfaction is decent with an average user rating of over 3 stars. Out of 634 user reviews on WalletHub, WebBank scored a 3.6. Unfortunately, however, user ratings are often for WebBank’s Fingerhut credit accounts rather than for WebBank’s deposit products, making forming an accurate summary of reviews difficult. 

For those that are confused, Fingerhut is a mail order corporation offering users the option of applying for credit via a Fingerhut Advantage Credit Account issued by WebBank. This online retailer sells just about any product you can think of at discounted prices on top of approving customers for credit that might not otherwise be approved for credit. They also offer a Fingerhut FreshStart Installment Loan. These accounts can help you build your credit and give you access to the shop’s wide range of products.

Simply put, it isn’t exactly clear what the general consensus is on the overall banking experience provided by WebBank. Because many people that have a Fingerhut credit account might have no experience with other WebBank deposit and savings products, it wouldn’t exactly be accurate to count a review for Fingerhut as a review for WebBank. 

But from what has been said about WebBank banking specifically, customers are happy enough with the rates/terms but unhappy with the customer service and accessibility. Many WebBank users are discontent with the customer service they’ve received with this bank and others have said they haven’t been able to receive help at all due to busy phone lines and unavailability of representatives. Users have called the bank “difficult to contact” and the service “very bad” when they are able to get through to a representative. Hopefully, should you bank with WebBank, your experience will be different. 

To contact customer service, you have a few options. One, you can fill out the inquiry form on their website and wait an unspecified amount of time for someone to get back to you. You can also call 1-(844)-994-2265, but this line is only available Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 5 PM Mountain Time. Finally, you can email customer support at customercare@webbank.com or send a letter in the mail to the address: WebBank Attn: Deposit Operations 215 South State Street, Suite 1000 Salt Lake City, Utah 84111.

Final Thoughts

WebBank is probably a lesser-known online-only bank for a reason. The products and service quality you’re going to get when you bank with WebBank is likely going to disappoint and the uncompetitive rates on their accounts just aren’t worth it currently. Sure, WebBank’s accounts come with minimal fees and rates that are technically above average (a common pro of online banks), but the bank doesn’t have an app and its online platform isn’t comprehensive or user-friendly, which pretty much negates the point of an online-only bank.

It would be one thing if WebBank’s savings or CD accounts were far away and the best in terms of rates and/or flexibility, but at the moment they are just not, so there’s almost no reason to choose them over one of countless “other guys” when WebBank is less accessible, their customer service worse, and their overall usability lower than most.

PurePoint Financial CD Rates & Online Savings Account Review


image credit: purepoint.com

MUFG, short for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, is the fifth largest financial corporation in the world holding assets totaling around $2.6 trillion – yes with a “T.”

In the U.S., this institution operates as MUFG Union Bank, N.A., and PurePoint Financial is this behemoth of bank’s personal savings division.

PurePoint Financial’s savings account was named a “Best Savings Account” in 2018 by Kiplinger’s and the hybrid digital bank was granted a prestigious FIS Impact Award for innovation in the same year.

But recognition aside, PurePoint Financial is a simple online bank with a limited number of products. Offering just a savings account and 2 types of CDs, PurePoint isn’t trying to facilitate all of your banking needs, but they will try and entice you into one of their high yield deposit accounts.

Below we review the FDIC-insured, deposit products PurePoint Financial has available for you.

PurePoint Financial Online Savings Account Details + APY

With PurePoint Financial, deposits are federally insured by the FDIC up to the maximum allowable amount of $250,000 per depositor. For joint accounts coverage is up to $500,000.

PurePoint Financial Online Savings Account

BalanceAPY
$10,0001.25%

A PurePoint Financial Online Savings account comes with an APY of 1.25% making it a fairly competitive offer. This interest rate, of course, crushes the exceptionally poor national average of 0.06% APY and will certainly provide you with above-average returns.

That said, there are currently higher yields with lower minimum balance requirements offered through other online savings institutions. This doesn’t mean that 1.25% isn’t a solid offer, it just means that for you rate chasers out there, you won’t be locking in the top APY. Keep in mind too, that these are variable rate savings accounts and the APY can change at anytime without notice.

As mentioned, PurePoint Financial savings accounts require a high minimum opening deposit of $10,000. This is one of the primary drawbacks.

If you can meet the minimum deposit requirement, you’ll be relieved to know that the account doesn’t have any monthly maintenance fees. Plus, once you’ve made the initial $10k minimum deposit, you won’t be charged any fee if your balance dips below that $10,000 mark. Just know that you’ll only earn the advertised APY if your average daily balance meets the $10,000 threshold.

Interest is compounded daily and dividends are paid to your account monthly. Per federal regulation D, you may make no more than 6 transactions into or out of this account in a month. If you do, you’ll be charged an excessive transaction fee of $10 per deposit or withdrawal, not to exceed $50 per statement period under any circumstances.

This account can be easily funded via online funds transfer, wire transfer, mobile check deposit, or check by mail sent to the address below: PurePoint Financial P.O. Box 870 Glendale, CA 91209

PurePoint Financial CD Rates + Account Details

PurePoint Financial offers standard CDs and a No-Penalty CD. See the chart below for current rates on their certificates of deposits.

PurePoint Financial CD Rates

CD TermAPY
6 month0.75%
12 month1.10%
15 month1.10%
18 month1.05%
24 month1.01%
30 month1.01%
36 month0.90%
48 month0.90%
60 month0.90%

The going rate on a 12 month CD sits at just 0.26% APY nationally, making PurePoint Financial’s 12 month offer pretty attractive by comparison. However like their online savings account, better rates on 12 month deposits can be found elsewhere online and even through a handful of credit unions.

All PurePoint CDs, like the savings account, require a minimum deposit of $10,000. Interest is compounded daily and paid monthly. You may opt to have these dividends credited back into your certificate account or paid out to another account. 

You have 10 days after this certificate automatically renews to make penalty-free withdrawals or changes to your term. If you need to withdraw after this or before a CD matures, you will be charged a flat early withdrawal fee of 180 days’ interest. This is reasonable for longer terms, but steep for shorter ones.

Their No-Penalty CD provides a solid return without penalizing early withdrawals. So if you’re concerned that you may need some of your deposit before the product matures, you may want to consider one of these.

PurePoint Financial “No-Penalty CD” Rates

CD TermAPY
11 month1.01%
13 month0.95%
14 month0.90%

You may withdraw the total balance of your certificate as soon as 7 days after issuance without fear of fees or penalties with a No-Penalty CD.

The trade-off is that these rates are lower than those issued on their standard certificate counterparts, but the added flexibility may be worth the drop in APY.

The PurePoint Best Rate Commitment, attached to all certificate accounts, guarantees that you’ll get the best rate offered for 10 days after a new CD is issued or renewed.

PurePoint Financial Banking Experience & Customer Sentiment

ATM/debit cards are not available on any PurePoint accounts, so forget about using ATMs with any PurePoint Financial account. There are also no physical branches either, making cash access possible only through withdrawals by check.

So what do actual customers have to say about their experience banking with PurePoint Financial?

In general, not a lot. Very few user reviews have been left for this bank, especially when compared to the number of reviews usually left for banks and credit unions, so it’s difficult to definitively say how customers feel about their banking experience with PurePoint. However, PurePoint Financial, founded in just 2017, is a relatively new kid on the block and doesn’t have as many long-time customers as other digital banks do.

However, from what has been said about the bank, customer service is good and users can count on this, making for an overall positive experience. This support team is proactive enough in getting and responding to feedback that their representatives can be seen commenting on user ratings left on review platforms. Lowered interest rates are a common source of disappointment among customers, but this is pretty much a universal truth across many institutions. Many users have also reported that the application process can be a hassle, but this doesn’t seem to be the case for most.

At this time, PurePoint Financial doesn’t actually have a mobile banking app for Apple or Android devices. This doesn’t mean that you can’t log onto your account from your phone using the mobile web, it’s just not as user-friendly of an experience as native apps tend to be.

ACH transfers from external accounts into a PurePoint Financial account are limited to $250,000 per day and $1,000,000 per month. ACH transfers from a PurePoint Financial account into an external account are also limited to $250,000 per day and $1,000,000 per month.

The client support center is available to take your call Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM Eastern Time. There is no holiday or weekend availability. If you’d prefer, send a secure message through the online banking portal.

Final Thoughts

PurePoint Financial might fit the bill for some, but the majority of consumers might be wise to keep shopping around a bit more. PurePoint Financial never claimed to be a full-service bank, but its services and products are limited even for a digital institution. The fact that this bank doesn’t have a dedicated banking app definitely takes away from the convenience a digital bank is supposed to offer.

With no app, ATMs, weekend customer support availability, etc., the accessibility of this bank is somewhat poor compared to similar online-only banks. But if you are attracted by the rates at PurePoint, then this may be an OK option. Though their CD rates fall short of their competitors, PurePoint’s savings account is a solid option, and has remained near the top of the leaderboard over the past few months.