Citizens Access VS EBSB Direct

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
4.50%APY
Savings/MMA
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Pros:

  • No monthly maintenance fees
  • Competitive interest rates
  • Any account balance earns interest
  • Good variety of CD terms

Cons:

  • High opening required amounts
  • Must link accounts to external bank
  • No ATM or debit cards or checks
  • Limited accounts offered
  • Financial Rates: 2.5 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • High interest rates on accounts
  • CDs have low opening required amounts
  • Accounts are entirely online
  • Debit card offered for MMA

Cons:

  • Limited deposit accounts offered
  • Highest rates require a large amount
  • MMA has a fee and high opening amount
  • Must link to another account
Citizens Access Review

Looking for Citizens Bank? Click here for our review on the local bank.

Citizens Access bank accounts do not have any fees. There are no monthly maintenance fees or fees to open the account. The Citizens Access savings account is completely free. The only fee with the CDs comes if you withdraw money before the maturity date.

The online savings account and each of the CD terms earn competitive interest rates. Citizens Access rates are much higher than your typical brick and mortar bank rates. They are competitive with other online accounts. To earn the most competitive rate requires a balance of $5,000 in each account.

Any account balance in the Citizens Access savings account earns interest. If the account balance falls below $5,000 the interest you earn is less, but you still earn interest. To earn the most competitive rate requires a $5,000 balance in the account.

Citizens Access offers a good variety of CD terms. Those terms range from six-month terms to five-years. Each of these CDs requires $5,000 to open. The interest rates are competitive on each term. The longer the CD term, the higher the interest rate.

To open an online savings account or CD with Citizen Access requires a large sum. Each of these accounts requires $5,000 to open the accounts. To earn the most competitive interest rate requires a balance of $5,000.

To transfer money in and out of your Citizens Access account you must link to an external bank account. That account can be a different banking institution. Once you link the accounts, you can transfer money electronically between the two accounts. To withdraw money, you could request a check.

Currently, Citizens Access does not offer ATM cards, debit cards, or checks for their online savings account. Access your money easiest through electronic transfers. You can call customer service to request a check.

Citizens Access has a limited variety of account. Only personal deposit savings account and CDs are available. No personal checking accounts or money market accounts are available. There are no business accounts offered.

Read the full Citizens Access review.

EBSB Direct Review

The EBSB Direct accounts offer good interest rates. The rates are slightly lower than other online-only accounts. They are higher than your typical brick-and-mortar bank rates.

The EBSB Direct accounts have low opening required amounts. The 15-month CD only requires $1,000 to open. The six-month CD and the money market account both require $2,500 to open.

EBSB Direct accounts are entirely online accounts. You apply for the accounts online, not at a branch location. You can make transactions for your EBSB Direct accounts at an EBSB branch location. Everything for your EBSB Direct accounts are online.

The money market account with EBSB Direct offers a debit card for you to access your money. Federal regulations allow six withdrawals per month from the money market account. There is a fee if you withdraw more than six times.

EBSB Direct only offers a money market account and two personal CD terms. The term lengths are six-months and 15-months. There are no other personal or business accounts available.

To earn the highest interest rate offered on the MMA, you must have at least $10,000 in the account. Balances from $10 to $9,999 earn interest, but a lower rate. The highest interest rate requires at least $10,000.

The money market account has a monthly fee of $8. Waive the fee by keeping at least $2,500 in the account. That is also the amount required to open the MMA. Keeping $2,500 in the account waives the fee and earns the lower interest rate.

To make electronic transfers, link your EBSB Direct accounts to an external account. You can link the accounts to another financial institution in the United States. More than one account can be linked to your EBSB Direct account.

Read the full EBSB Direct review.

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