5Star Bank VS CIT Bank

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.5 Star Icon
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Pros:

  • Variety of personal accounts offered
  • Low opening required amounts
  • Reimbursement for ATM fees
  • Savings account offers good rates

Cons:

  • Money market account has tiered rates
  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • Daily debit card limits
  • Cannot open accounts completely online
  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
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Pros:

  • Custodial accounts available
  • Competitive interest rates on accounts
  • Wide range of CDs offered
  • No monthly fees

Cons:

  • High opening required amounts
  • Long transaction periods
  • Hard to access custodial account money
  • High early withdrawal fees for CDs
5Star Bank Review

5Star Bank offers a variety of accounts. They offer personal deposit and business accounts. These include:

  • 5Star checking account
  • E-Checking account
  • Basic savings account
  • Money market account
  • CD terms from six-months to five-years
  • IRA CDs from 18-months to five-years
  • Lending options
  • Credit cards
  • Business checking and money market accounts
  • Business CDs from six-months to five-years
  • Business lending and credit options

5Star Bank has low amounts required to open their accounts. The E-Checking requires $50. The 5Star checking and the basic savings account require $100 to open. Both the money market account and the different CD terms require $1,000 to open.

The 5Star checking account refunds up to five ATM transactions fees per month. You must keep at least $1,000 in the checking account to have ATM transactions refunded. The E-Checking account does not offer ATM reimbursement.

The basic 5Star savings account offers competitive rates. The rates are higher than typical brick-and-mortar rates. This account only requires $100 to open and keep in the account to waive the monthly fee. Any amount in the account earns the competitive rate. These rates are not tiered.

To earn the most competitive rates for the money market account requires an account balance over $1 million. Any balance over $1,000 does earn interest but a lower rate. The rates gradually increase the more money you have in the account.

Most 5Star Bank accounts have monthly maintenance fees. The savings account fee is $2. The money market fee is $5, and the checking account fee is $7. Waive each of these fees by keeping a set amount in the accounts. Those balances range from $100 to $1,000, depending on the account.

5Star has daily limits for your debit card. The limit for point of sale purchases is $1,000 per day. The daily limit for ATM withdrawals is $300.

Accounts through 5Star Bank are not available to open entirely online. To open the accounts, you need to visit a branch location. You may be able to open the accounts through the mail. Contact customer service for more information.

Read the full 5Star Bank review.

CIT Bank Review

CIT Bank offers custodial accounts. You open the account in your child's name, but you control the account until the child is eighteen years old. There are no limits on how much you deposit into the account. There are tax benefits to having a custodial account.

The interest rates for CIT Bank accounts are very competitive. The high yield savings account rates are much higher than your typical bank. CIT Bank rates are even higher than other online-only accounts. CD rates are also competitive.

CIT Bank offers a variety of CDs including regular term CDs, no-penalty CD, jumbo CDs, and Ramp Up CDs. The no-penalty CD is an eleven-month CD. You earn interest on a CD with the options to withdraw the money at any time after the first seven days. The Ramp-Up CDs allow you to get a better rate once during the term of the CD. With the Ramp-Up Plus CD, you can get a better rate and make a deposit once during the term of the CD.

CIT Bank does not have a fee to open any of their banking accounts. There are no monthly maintenance fees for any of their banking accounts either.

The required amount to open a CD with CIT Bank is high. The minimum deposit for CDs is $1,000, including custodial accounts. Jumbo CDs require $100,000 to open. Other CDs require either an opening balance of $25,000 or $50,000. The minimum deposit to open a savings account is $100.

Transferred funds are not available until five to ten business days after the deposit is made. Deposits transferred from an external account are available after five days. Deposits mailed take ten days after the deposit is received.

Any money deposited into a custodial account is an irrevocable gift. You cannot withdraw or transfer the money from the account. It cannot be used for any purpose that doesn't directly affect the child listed on the account. Once the child reaches eighteen years of age, the money can be accessed.

CIT Banks fees for early CD withdrawals are higher than other banks. The fee for withdrawing money early from a CD with a term of more than three years is twelve months of interest. The fee for terms from one to three years is six months interest. Fees for CD terms up to one year are three months interest.

Read the full CIT Bank review.

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