Bank5 Connect VS GTE Financial

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
1.50%APY
Savings/MMA
Advertiser Disclosure
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Pros:

  • Competitive rates on all accounts
  • ATM fee reimbursement
  • Low opening required amounts
  • No monthly maintenance fees

Cons:

  • Limited personal deposit accounts
  • External transfers only for checking
  • Daily withdrawal amounts low
  • Customer service not always available
  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
Advertiser Disclosure
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Pros:

  • Variety of accounts offered
  • Competitive interest rates on accounts
  • Low opening required amounts
  • Add-on option for CDs

Cons:

  • Must become a member
  • Daily withdrawal limits
  • Money market account has tiered rates
  • Accounts have monthly maintenance fees
Bank5 Connect Review

Bank5 Connect offers competitive interest rates on all accounts. The rates are much higher than your typical brick and mortar bank rates. They are competitive with other online accounts. Interest rates are not tiered. Any amount over $100 earns the most competitive rate.

To get cash from a Bank5 Connect account, you can access any ATMs in the SUM network. If you withdraw money from an ATM that is not in the SUM network, Bank5 Connect will reimburse you the ATM fee. Bank5 Connect will reimburse up to $15 each month in ATM fees.

Bank5 Connect has low opening required amounts. The checking and savings account only require $10 to open. The CDs require $500 to open. To earn interest on the checking and savings account you must have $100 in the accounts.

Bank5 Connect accounts do not have monthly maintenance fees. There is not a required balance to keep in the account. To earn interest, you must have $100 in the checking and savings account. However, you will not be charged a fee for not having that balance.

Bank5 Connect does not offer a wide variety of accounts. Only personal deposit accounts are available. Those accounts include a checking account, savings account, and CDs. CD terms range from 6-months to 36-month terms. They also offer one investment CD. That term is a 24-month CD. There are no business accounts offered through Bank5 Connect.

Only money in a Bank5 checking account can be transferred to an external bank account. You cannot transfer funds from the Bank5 Connect savings to an external account. You must transfer the money from the Bank5 Connect checking account.

The Bank5 Connect checking account has daily withdrawal and purchase limits. You can only withdraw $500 each day from an ATM. There is a daily purchase limit of $1,000 with your debit card. If you need to spend more money, you must contact a Bank5 Connect representative.

Bank5 Connect customer service are not available 24/7. Their hours vary depending on the day. They open at 7:30 a.m. every day, except Sunday. They open at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. They are open until 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Wednesday, and 7:00 p.m. Thursday and Friday. They close at 3:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Online chat is available Monday thru Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. All times are Eastern Standard Time.

Read the full Bank5 Connect review.

GTE Financial Review

There are a variety of accounts available from GTE Financial. They offer personal savings, checking, and money market accounts. They offer personal CDs, loans, and credit cards. They also offer business accounts and accounts specifically for students.

GTE offers CDs and a checking account with competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with online accounts. These account interest rates are much higher than typical bank rates. To earn the most competitive rate on the checking account, you must meet set requirements. That includes receiving eStatements, having a direct deposit over $500, and 15 debit card transactions each month.

GTE accounts have low amounts required to open. The savings accounts only require $5 to open. To earn interest requires $100. Each of the CD terms require $500 to open. The checking accounts do not have a required amount to open.

GTE Financial CDs offer an Add-On Feature. This allows you to add money any time during the CD term. You must add at least $20 each time you add money to the CD. Sometimes there is a limit of $6,000 you can add to the CD. GTE Financial offers promotions where there is not a cap on the amount you can add to the CD.

Before you can open an account with GTE Financial, you must first become a member of the credit union. You are eligible to join if a family member is a member of the credit union or if you work for a specific company. Your business can join, and living in certain areas makes you eligible to join. If these don’t work, you can join CU Savers, a non-profit educational financial club. There is a one-time $10 fee to become a member.

GTE Financial has daily withdrawal limits. You can withdraw up to $500 per 24-hour period from an ATM. There is a $5,000 limit that you can transfer from another bank into a GTE Financial CD.

The money market account with GTE Financial has tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive rate on your money requires a balance of $100,000. Balances below this amount earn interest, just not the most competitive rate.

Most GTE Financial accounts have monthly maintenance fees. The checking account fees range from $4.95 to $9.95 each month. The Go Premium checking account has a fee of $4.95. There is no way to waive this fee. You can pay the fee with Go Points, but you cannot waive the monthly fee. There are ways to waive the other checking account fees.

Read the full GTE Financial review.

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