Bank of the West VS Connexus Credit Union

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 2.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Business accounts are available
  • Direct deposit is not required
  • A variety of different lengths of CDs
  • Transfer money to others with PopMoney

Cons:

  • Low-interest rates on accounts
  • High initial required amounts for CDs
  • High required amounts for accounts
  • Products change based on states
  • Financial Rates: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
0.25%APY
Savings/MMA
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Pros:

  • Competitive interest rates
  • No monthly maintenance fees
  • Free ATMs and fee reimbursements
  • Variety of accounts available

Cons:

  • Must become a member of credit union
  • CDs have high opening required amounts
  • Tiered interest rates for money market
  • Requirements for checking interest rates
Bank of the West Review

Bank of the West offers checking, savings, CDs, and money market accounts for your business. Credit cards, loans, and lines of credit are also available. Bank of the West offers payroll services and payment processing options. Foreign exchange services for business accounts are also available. Interest rates for their different business accounts are not listed on the website.

Bank of the West does not require you to have direct deposit into their checking account. There is a monthly maintenance fee, but you can waive that fee by depositing money into your account each month. You can deposit any amount by an ATM, in-branch, direct, or mobile deposit to waive the fee.

Bank of the West offers Flexible-Term CDs, Premium Money Market CD, and a Relationship CD. Within these different CD types are a variety of term lengths, except the Relationship CD. That only has a 12-month term option. To apply for a CD and get the specific term lengths and rates you have to visit a branch. You cannot apply online.

With Popmoney you can send or receive money with only an email, text, or account number. You decide where the money is deposited. You will receive an alert when the transaction is complete. There is a fee to send money overnight, and not all customers qualify to use Popmoney.

Personal banking accounts of Bank of the West do not have competitive interest rates. The rates are much less than online-only banks but similar to typical bank interest rates.

To open a CD, you must have an opening balance of $1,000 for the Flexible-Term CDs and Premier Money Market CDs. To open a Relationship CD, you must have $2,500 and a checking account with Bank of the West.

To waive the Premier Checking account fee, you must have $25,000 in qualifying accounts. The Choice Money Market account requires $5,000. CD accounts require $1,000 to $2,500 to open. The Classic Savings account requires $300. There are other options for ways to have monthly fees waived. Know the options if you cannot keep the required amounts of money in the accounts.

Bank of the West accounts are not available in all states. To apply for an account, you must have an address in one of the states listed. Interest rates and products differ between states. The name of the bank may be slightly different as well depending on the area.

Read the full Bank of the West review.

Connexus Credit Union Review

The interest rates for most Connexus accounts are competitive. The CDs and checking accounts offer rates competitive with other online accounts. The HSA and money market account also offer competitive rates. These rates are higher than typical brick-and-mortar bank rates. The Connexus regular saving account does not offer rates competitive with other online accounts.

The personal deposit accounts with Connexus do not have monthly maintenance fees. There are no required amounts to keep in accounts to avoid fees. The checking, money market, and savings accounts are completely free. The HSA account has a fee and the business checking account does as well, if your balance falls below $200.

The Connexus Xtraordinary checking account offers ATM fee reimbursements. ATM transactions are free at any Connexus, CO-OP, and MoneyPass ATMs. The Xtraordinary checking allows up to $25 in ATM fee refunds. You must meet the account requirements to earn the ATM refund.

Connexus Credit Union offers a good variety of personal deposit accounts. They offer:

  • Xtraordinary checking account
  • Teen checking account
  • Money market account
  • Savings account
  • CD terms of 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60-months
  • Holiday savings account
  • Health savings accounts

To open Connexus accounts, you must first become a member of the credit union. Employees of certain businesses or residents of certain cities qualify to become members. Relatives of members also qualify. You can become a member with a one-time $5 donation to the Connexus Association. Just because you apply does not mean you qualify to become a member. It can take up to three business days to hear if you receive approval.

The CDs through Connexus Credit Union all have high opening balances. Each of the CD terms requires $5,000 to open. Their CDs include 12, 24, 36, 42, or 60-month terms. The interest rates are competitive for each term length.

The Connexus money market account has tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive rates requires an account balance of $100,000. Balances below $100,000 still earn interest, just not the most competitive rate.

The Connexus checking accounts have requirements you must meet to earn competitive rates. Those include eStatements, one direct deposit, and one online bill payment each month. You must also make a set amount of debit card transactions each month. If you meet these requirements, you earn the competitive rates. If you do not meet them, you are not charged a fee, but you do not earn the best rates.

Read the full Connexus Credit Union review.

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