Is Giant Bank to be the next Giant in the online banking industry?

What is it you are looking for when you are comparing online banks? Does a navigable website make you smile? Maybe you look at the highest APY rates combined with lowest fees. Quite possibly, you are looking for the site that has the online chat option so you may ask your questions and get immediate feedback. With the economic mayhem of the past couple of years, FDIC insurance is a must to your money safety. This review will take a look into Giantbank.com to see how they fare with these questions and more.

Giant Interest Checking –

Start off with a checking account that you only need $100 as a minimum deposit is nice. Giant Bank says your money earns interest on a tiered level basis, however, anything below $1000 will not earn any interest and everything over $1000 is at the same rate. (A red flag goes up for me.) I do a bit of checking and find that they are giving a better interest rate than Chase Bank or Bank of America, so, I continue to research the rest of Giant bank. Statements are available online, with interim activity for up to 12 months. (user friendly and informational – good) I can also transfer my money between other accounts I have at Giant Bank – I am sure this will come in handy. No monthly service fee is a big plus, and they do not stop there, they also offer pre-paid self-addressed return deposit envelops and free basic checks upon opening your account. You may also get hooked up with direct deposit, online bill pay, overdraft protection among other services you may, or may not, take for granted.

Giant Money Market

Ok, so let’s take a look at Giantbank’s Money Market account. With a minimum of $1000 deposit, you may open your money market account. The APY rate on this account is again the same if you leave that $1K or if you deposit $9,999,999 into this account. Seems kind of crazy, but this high interest money market account vies as one of the best rates in the country. Again, Giant Bank will provide free stuff upon opening this account, much like the checking account. They do tell you that your interest will be compounded daily which is the best way to go. Again, no monthly service charges on this account – no strings attached. Some banks (like Ally) do not require a minimum deposit, whereas other banks (like Bank of America) you better keep more than $5K or they will charge you.

Giant Bank Personal CDs –

“Because giantbank.com doesn’t have the overhead expenses that a brick and mortar bank does, they are able to offer tremendous rates . . .” This is their opening statement on their CD page. Let’s take a closer look inside to see if they have the highest interest cds. Checking with bankrate.com statistics, I see Giant bank cds with a term of 3, 6 and 12 month terms outdistance the average in the industry by quite a good margin. When it comes to the 5 year cd, they are still above the industry average, but just barely. Opening a Giant bank CD will require a little more than the money market, however, you are getting a better rate so that is a good thing right? $2,500 is required for a regular CD, $1K is required for an IRA and students can get a Coverdell account started with only $500.

Summary of Giant Bank –

Giant Bank’s website does not have that instant chat set up (but they do have the ‘contact us now’ information) and some of the information is rather difficult to access, however, many of their interest rates may be good enough to get over those hurdles. The Money Market and Certificates of Deposit are among the highest interest rates in the nation. I was a little disappointed in the interest checking account as it seems to be in competition with the lowest rates in the nation. This is why it is good to compare all aspects of what you are looking for and not take anything for granted. You can compare best banks on our website and find just which accounts have the highest APY rates and which banks don’t.