Chime VS People's United Bank

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 1.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • No monthly maintenance fees
  • Pay friends through the mobile app
  • Chime Automatic Savings
  • No credit check to open accounts

Cons:

  • Limited accounts with low interest rates
  • Does not offer ATM fee reimbursement
  • No overdraft protection
  • Daily withdrawal and spending limits
  • Financial Rates: 3.0 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:

  • Low opening required amounts
  • Checking accounts offer ATM rebates
  • Variety of CD term lengths
  • Business accounts available

Cons:

  • Accounts are not offered everywhere
  • MMA needs a large initial deposit
  • Low interest rates
  • Must have a checking to open savings
Chime Review

Chime accounts do not have monthly maintenance fees. The Spending and Saving account are completely free. There is not an overdraft fee or a monthly maintenance fee. There is no minimum balance required to keep in the account.

On the Chime app is a Pay Friends feature. You can send money to others instantly. You must have the person’s name, phone number, or email to transfer money. The intended person must have a Chime account or be approved for a Chime Spending account. You can only send up to $2,000 each month with this feature.

Chime offers an Automatic Savings tool. Each time you use your Chime debit card the amount rounds up to the nearest dollar. The extra amount is automatically transferred to your Chime Savings account. With direct deposit, you can have ten percent of your check automatically deposited into your savings account.

When you open a Chime account, they do not check your credit score or ChexSystems. If you have bad credit or no credit you can still be approved for a Chime account. Applying for a Chime account will not hurt your credit score.

Chime only offers a Spending account and a Savings account. The savings account with Chime does not earn a competitive interest rate. It does earn a small percentage of interest, but the rate is lower than traditional bank rates. The rate is not competitive with online or traditional bank interest rates. The checking account does not earn interest.

Chime offers 38,000 fee-free ATMs. If you use an ATM not included in the Chime network, you are charged a fee of $2.50 per ATM transaction. There is also a $2.50 fee for over the counter cash withdrawals. Chime does not reimburse these fees.

Most banks offer some type of overdraft protection. Chime does not. There is not a fee for over-drafting your account. But, if you do not have sufficient funds to cover the purchase, the transaction will not go through. You must have enough money in your account to cover transactions.

Chime limits the amount you can withdraw and spend with their Visa debit card each day. You are only allowed to withdraw $500 each day from an ATM, cash back during a point of sale transactions, or by an over-the-counter withdrawal. You are only allowed to make $2,500 in purchases with the debit card per 24 hours. The 24-hour period starts once the transaction is complete. Each of these different ways applies to the $2,500 allowed each day. No matter how you spend or withdraw the money, it cannot exceed $2,500 per 24 hours. Payments from the Chime Checkbook cannot exceed $10,000 in one month. You cannot make a check payment over $5,000.

Read the full Chime review.

People's United Bank Review

The amount required to open a checking or savings account is low. People's United checking accounts only require $25 to open. The savings accounts require $50.

Two of the People's United checking accounts offer free ATM use or reimburse ATM fees. The Advantage checking account has unlimited rebates for out of state ATM fees. The Premier Advantage checking account has free ATMs, including international ATMs. These accounts require high investment balances to waive the monthly fee. The Advantage is $7,500, and the Premier is $75,000 across all investment accounts.

People's United offers a variety of CD term lengths. Their terms range from 91 days to five years. The interest rates vary depending on the term. The best interest rate on a People's United CD is the One Year Plus CD. Those interest rates are competitive with other online accounts; the other rates are not.

There are a variety of different business accounts offered through People's United. Checking, savings, and money market accounts are available. CDs, credit cards, loans, and investment opportunities are available.

People's United accounts are not offered everywhere. The branches are currently in the North Eastern states. Those include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. If you do not live in one of these states, you cannot open an account with People's United Bank.

The amount required to open a money market account is $2,500. There is not a monthly maintenance fee on the money market account. You will earn interest on the money deposited into the account. The money market account offers tiered interest rates. This means the interest you earn depends on the amount you have in the account.

The interest rates of the different accounts are not competitive. They are much lower than other online-only accounts. The interest rates are similar to your typical bank rates. The Plus CDs offer slightly more competitive rates.

You have to have a checking account with People's United to open a savings or money market account. The checking account determines what savings and money market account you can open. You must open a checking account before a savings account can be opened.

Read the full People's United Bank review.

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American Express
Savings (Rate as of 11/21/2024)
APY 4.00%
Rate 3.92%
Min to Open $0
Min to Earn APY $0
Monthly Fee $0.00
Min to Avoid Fee $0
Checkbook No
Member FDIC
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EverBank
Savings (Rate as of 11/21/2024)
APY 4.75%
Rate 4.64%
Min to Open $0
Min to Earn APY $0
Monthly Fee $0.00
Min to Avoid Fee $0
Checkbook No
Member FDIC No monthly maintenance fee, $0 to open, easily grow your money
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