[Update January 2021: After holding strong at 0.75% APY for several months, First Foundation Bank finally dropped the yield on their online savings account to 0.60% APY on January 14, 2021.]
First Foundation Bank is offering one of the best APYs for an online savings account anywhere in the country currently.
Now available nationwide, First Foundation Bank is offering up to 0.60% APY on new money placed in their online savings account.
Learn more about First Foundation Bank and their generous online savings account below.
Who is First Foundation Bank?
First Foundation Bank was founded in 1990 by Rick Keller and his team at the Keller Group to provide wealth management services to individuals and businesses around the Orange County area in California. They differentiated themselves by always taking a fiduciary standard approach to investing their clients’ wealth. Industry jargon refers to this as the “fee only” approach where wealth managers take only a flat fee regardless of how well they perform on their client’s behalf.
In 2008 they officially began operating under First Foundation Bank and expanded their product line to include traditional banking products as well as trust services, legacy planning, consulting, and insurance services.
Today, their FDIC-insured product suite consists of checking, money market, CDs, and the online savings account.
They offer most of these products on the business side as well, however the online savings product is only available for personal accounts.
0.60% APY Online Savings Account Details
First Foundation Bank’s online savings account yield of 0.60% APY makes it one of the most noteworthy FDIC-insured, variable-rate savings products on the market today. But before you open the account make sure you know exactly what you’re getting and what’s expected of you to earn the advertised APY.
Account Details Below:
What are the minimum deposit and balance requirements? There is a $1,000 minimum balance requirement to earn the advertised APY and a $1,000 “new money” minimum deposit requirement to open the account.
Are there any fees to worry about? There are no monthly monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements. That said, if for whatever reason you need to withdraw your money and close this account within 90 days of opening it, a $20 fee will be assessed. Also, if you plan on making more than 6 transfers per month please note that a $20 fee will be imposed on the 7th transfer and on each subsequent transfer within the month.
Availability? Nationwide and can be opened online or branch if you live in one of the three states in which they are present. Currently 20 branches exist in California, Hawaii and Nevada. Locate one here. You can also give them a call at 1-888-405-4332.
How to fund your account? Depositing funds into the online savings account can be done in the following ways:
- ACH transfer
- Wire transfer
- Mailed check
- Mobile check deposit
- Visiting a First Foundation Bank branch (available only in Northern California, Southern California, Hawaii and Nevada)
Credit Inquiry? None. Security questions will be generated from public databases though to confirm your identity.
How to access your funds? Once you’ve opened the account you’ll have access to your funds in the following ways:
- ACH transfer
- Wire transfer
- Requesting a mailed check
- Visiting a First Foundation Bank branch
- ATM withdrawal (must first request an ATM card)
Variable Rate or Fixed? This is a variable interest rate and may change at any time.
Additional Account Features
You can expect all the standard bells and whistles in terms of account features.
If this will be one of your primary accounts you’ll want to familiarize yourself with their mobile banking app. You can download this for free on the App Store or through Google Play.
Once you’ve opened the account and downloaded the app you can do the following:
- Track your account activity. Access all your account information in one central location. See your transactions, balances, statements and check images.
- Pay bills online. Transfer funds (6 external transfers per month), send person to person payments, pay your bills, deposit checks and more.
- Send money to friends and family. Unlimited transfers to other First Foundation Bank accounts, plus the ability to send externally (6 free external transfers per month).
- Stress free banking with multiple layers of security. First Foundation Bank utilizes multiple levels of authentication security so you can bank with confidence.
Final Thoughts
If you can maintain a $1,000 balance or more and are looking for a high yield online savings account, then the 0.60% APY from First Foundation Bank is going to be hard to beat.
A major plus is that an ATM card can be requested with the online savings account. Online savings accounts in general don’t usually come with ATM cards or access.
Also, if you live in California, Hawaii or Nevada you’ll have the added benefit of being able to visit one of their 20 branch locations.