-
Financial Rates:
3.0
-
Customer Service:
4.0
-
Website Experience:
5.0
-
Bank Fees:
5.0
Pros:
- Unlimited ATM fee rebates
- No monthly fees
- No amounts required in accounts
- Offer investing products and advice
Cons:
- Must link checking account to a brokerage
- Low-interest rates
- Opening savings account is not online
- CDs have fees
-
Financial Rates:
2.0
-
Customer Service:
5.0
-
Website Experience:
4.0
-
Bank Fees:
3.5
Pros:
- Good variety of accounts available
- Low opening required amounts
- Business accounts offered
- Money market and CDs earn good rates
Cons:
- Low interest rates on accounts
- Tiered interest rates on some accounts
- High rates require eligible checking
- Accounts have monthly fees
Charles Schwab refunds any ATM fees acquired worldwide. Unlike other banks, there is no limit to the number of times your ATM fee can be refunded. If you make use of ATMs, this is an ideal benefit.
There are no monthly maintenance fees for Charles Schwab savings or checking accounts. The checking account does have a fee, but the fee is waived when you open the brokerage account. The brokerage account is a requirement for a Charles Schwab savings or checking account.
Charles Schwab does not have a set amount you must keep in their savings and checking accounts. You will earn interest on whatever amount you deposit with no monthly fees.
Charles Schwab has a wide variety of products to help you invest and trade. They offer accounts for trusts, college, retirement, small businesses, and IRA accounts. Their website offers tools and advice in these different areas. This can help ensure you open the right account for you.
When you open a Charles Schwab checking account, you have to open a Schwab One brokerage account. Opening this account waives the checking account fee. There isn't a required amount to keep in either account, but you must open both accounts.
The interest on their checking account is competitive with other banks for low account amounts. The interest on their savings account is slightly higher than typical banks. The savings account rates are significantly lower than other online banks.
To open a savings account, you must download an application, fill it out, and send it back to Charles Schwab. Other banks let you open a savings account all online. You can open a checking account with Charles Schwab online, but not a savings account.
Charles Schwab CDs have a fee. They charge a set amount based on the CD opened. There is also a fee to sell based on a broker-assisted fee. The interest rates for their CDs are competitive with other banks, but there are fees.
WaFd Bank offers a good variety of accounts. Those include:
- Savings account
- Savings account for minors
- Checking accounts
- Money market accounts
- CD terms from three-months to five-years
- Retirement accounts
- Lending options
- Credit cards
- Small business accounts
- Commercial options
The opening required amounts for WaFd accounts are low. Most savings and checking accounts only require $25 to open. A savings account for minors requires $10 to open. The Stellar Plus checking account requires $100 to open. The money market accounts require $100 to open. All CD terms require $1,000 to open.
WaFd Bank offers business accounts along with personal accounts. Those accounts include small business checking and savings accounts. They also offer some commercial business accounts. To open those accounts, you need to contact a commercial banker.
The WaFd Gold Money Market account has competitive rates. These account rates are the most competitive rates offered at WaFd. They are lower than other online money market accounts but still competitive. The seven-month and 13-month special CDs also earn higher rates than other WaFd CDs.
WaFd accounts besides the Gold MMA and special CD terms have low interest rates. These rates are similar to other brick-and-mortar bank rates. They do not compare to other online-only accounts.
Some WaFd accounts have tiered interest rates. To receive the highest rate for the Stellar Plus checking account requires a $10,000 balance. The regular money market account requires $90,000 to earn the best rate. Even the highest interest rate for these accounts is low.
Specific WaFd accounts require you to open other eligible accounts. To earn the best rates on the special CD terms, you must have an eligible checking account. The rates are only 0.05% higher if you have the checking account.
Most WaFd Bank accounts have monthly fees. The checking account fees range from $0-8 per month. The savings accounts have monthly fees from $3-10 per month. There are ways to waive some of the monthly fees. Those include keeping a set account balance. That balance ranges from $100-$20,000, depending on the account.
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From Our Partners
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 3.80% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 3.73% |
| Min to Open | $0 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. | |
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 4.75% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 4.65% |
| Min to Open | $500 |
| Min to Earn APY | $500 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. | |
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 3.80% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 3.80% |
| Min to Open | $0 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. Promoted offer: It only takes about 5 minutes to open a fee-free account. |
|
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 4.40% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 4.30% |
| Min to Open | $0 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. Promoted offer: No monthly maintenance fee, $0 to open, easily grow your money |
|
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 4.35% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 4.35% |
| Min to Open | $0 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. Promoted offer: $200 Bonus w/ Tiered Savings Account and Qualifying Activities |
|
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 4.35% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 4.35% |
| Min to Open | $100 |
| Min to Earn APY | $5,000 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. Promoted offer: CIT Bank, a division of First Citizens, 125+ years of experience. |
|
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 4.30% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 4.21% |
| Min to Open | $0 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. | |
| MMA (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 4.10% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 4.02% |
| Min to Open | $0 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | Yes |
| Member FDIC. | |
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 4.10% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 4.10% |
| Min to Open | $0 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. | |
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 4.75% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 4.64% |
| Min to Open | $1,000 |
| Min to Earn APY | $1,000 |
| Monthly Fee | $5.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. | |
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 4.75% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 4.75% |
| Min to Open | $10 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| FDIC insured at program banks†. Promoted offer: var. APY a/o 11/8/24. New customers only. Betterment LLC, not a bank |
|
| Savings (Rate as of 12/21/2024) | |
| APY | 4.10% |
|---|---|
| Rate | 4.02% |
| Min to Open | $0 |
| Min to Earn APY | $0 |
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| Min to Avoid Fee | $0 |
| Checkbook | No |
| Member FDIC. | |
The rate information is obtained by Bankrate from the listed institutions. Bankrate cannot guarantee the accuracy or availability of any rates shown. Institutions may have different rates on their own websites than those posted on Bankrate.com. The listings that appear on this page are from companies from which this website receives compensation, which may impact how, where, and in what order products appear. This table does not include all companies or all available products.
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1 APY stands for Annual Percent Yield. It's different from Rate because it takes into account compounding interest for the year.
2 MMA stands for Money Market Account. It's a savings and checking hybrid, allowing you to earn interest and use checks 6 times a month.