Bank of the West VS Third Federal

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

  • Low opening required amounts
  • Variety of accounts offered
  • Online Savings Plus account
  • Competitive interest rates

Cons:

  • Tiered interest rates on accounts
  • CD early withdrawal penalty high
  • Checking account has monthly fees
  • Cannot open all accounts online
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.

Third Federal Review

Third Federal accounts have low opening required amounts. The high yield checking account requires $10 to open. CDs only require $500 to open. Third Federal money market account requires a high amount. That account requires $5,000 to open.

Third Federal offers a variety of accounts. Those accounts include personal deposit and business accounts. Those accounts include checking, savings, and money market accounts. The CDs range in terms from 30-days to 10-years. Lending and credit cards are also offered through Third Federal.

The Third Federal Online Savings Plus account is an entirely online account. This account requires $5,000 to open and to earn interest. There are no monthly fees and no limit on monthly transactions.

Interest rates for Third Federal accounts are competitive. They are higher than other brick and mortar bank accounts. The interest rates are competitive with other online accounts.

Third Federal accounts have tiered interest rates. The money market and savings account require a balance of $100,000 to earn the best interest rates. The checking account requires a $25,000 balance to earn the best rate. Balances under these amounts earn interest, just not the most competitive rate.

Third Federal CDs have high penalties for withdrawing money before the maturity date. CDs from one to three years require six months’ worth of interest. CD terms over four years require 18 months’ worth of earned interest.

The Third Federal checking account has a monthly fee. The fee is $7 a month. Waive that fee by keeping an average daily balance of $1,500 in the account. That average balance can come from all Third Federal accounts or just your checking account.

Not all Third Federal account can be opened online. To open a money market or checking account must be in a branch location. You can open a savings account and CDs longer than 6-month terms online.

Read the full Third Federal review.

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