American Express National Bank VS FNBO Direct

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
4.25%APY
Savings/MMA
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Pros:

  • Options on how to receive interest
  • No opening required amount
  • Pay credit card bill from savings account
  • Competitive interest rates on accounts

Cons:

  • Only offer savings and CD accounts
  • Must link account to a different bank
  • Funds not transferred immediately
  • No checks, debit cards, or ATM cards
  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
4.75%APY
Savings/MMA
Advertiser Disclosure
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Pros:

  • No monthly fees or required amounts
  • Accounts offer competitive rates
  • Low opening balance
  • Any amount earns highest interest rate

Cons:

  • No business accounts available
  • Interest rates for CDs low
  • Limited personal deposit accounts
  • Savings account must be linked
American Express National Bank Review

American Express Bank offers ways to receive the money you earn off interest. You can deposit it back into the account earning the interest. The interest can be transferred to your CD account. You can deposit the money into your linked external account, or receive a check. You can request a check to come monthly, quarterly, or annually.

There is no minimum amount required to open an account. You start earning interest with any amount deposited into the high-yield savings account. The more money you deposit, the more interest you earn, but no required amount.

Once you open a savings account with American Express, you can link that account to your credit card. Log into your account and link the savings account to the credit card. Paying your credit card bill from your savings account does count as a withdrawal.

American Express Bank offers higher interest rates than your typical bank. Their rates are competitive with other online banks. You can find the current rates are on their website.

American Express Bank only offers a high-yield savings account and CDs. To deposit money into the accounts, you must link it to your current banking accounts. You can also sign up for direct deposit from your employer or to make automatic deposits.

You must link your American Express accounts to your current bank account. You can then transfer money between the different accounts. Federal regulations only allow six transactions each billing cycle for savings accounts.

Transferring money to and from your American Express personal account is not immediate. Money coming into your American Express account is not available until the fifth business day. All other transfers take 1-3 business days.

American Express Bank does not offer checks, debit cards, or ATM cards for their accounts. To get your money, you must transfer it from your American Express savings account back into your linked external account. If you open a CD, you must wait until the maturity date to access your money without a penalty.

Read the full American Express National Bank review.

FNBO Direct Review

The accounts offered through FNBO Direct do not have a monthly fee. There is not an amount required to keep in the account. There are no fees for not having that amount in the account each month.

FNBO Direct savings and checking accounts offer competitive interest rates. Those rates are competitive with other online-only accounts. They are much higher than your typical brick and mortar bank rates.

The amounts required to open FNBO Direct accounts is low. The savings and checking account only require $1 to open. The different CD terms all only require $500 to open. There is no set amount to keep in FNBO Direct accounts.

Any amount deposited in FNBO Direct accounts earns the highest interest rates offered. The interest is not adjusted based on the account balance. The minimum amount to open a savings and checking account is $1. Any amount over $0.01 earns the highest interest rate offered. The CD requires $500 to open.

There are no business accounts available through FNBO Direct. The only accounts offered are personal deposit accounts. There is a saving and checking account and different term lengths of CDs. The terms range from a six-month CD to a five-year CD.

The interest rates offered on the FNBO Direct CDs are lower than other online banks. They are not as competitive as FNBO Direct rates for their savings and checking accounts. Other online bank accounts offer more competitive interest rates for CDs.

There is a limited option of personal deposit accounts available through FNBO Direct. There is only one savings account, one checking account, and CDs. There are eight different CD term lengths. The terms range from six-month terms to a five-year term. There is no money market account offered.

The FNBO Direct savings account must be linked to a checking account. You must link an external account to transfer money electronically. You can link up to three external accounts.

Read the full FNBO Direct review.

Sponsored Offers

Advertiser Disclosure
Featured Offers
American Express
Savings (Rate as of 4/26/2024)
APY 4.25%
Rate 4.16%
For APY $1
Monthly Fee $0.00
Checkbook No
Member FDIC
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