Citizens Access VS First Bank

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
No Rate Information
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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: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
Advertiser Disclosure
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Pros:

  • Checking account for 55 and older
  • Anywhere Accounts
  • Business accounts offered
  • Variety of personal products offered

Cons:

  • Accounts have fees
  • Online banking is not free
  • Accounts not offered everywhere
  • Low-interest rates
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.

First Bank Review

FirstBank offers a checking account for anyone over 55 years old. This account earns interest. There is no minimum balance to earn interest or required to keep in the account. This account does not have any fees, and direct deposit is not required.

The Anywhere Accounts are a savings and checking account. Both of these accounts do not have monthly fees. There is no minimum balance required to keep in the account. You can sign up to have money from transactions rounded up to the nearest dollar. The difference is deposited into your Anywhere eSave Savings account. Those transactions include debit transactions, bill pay, or other electronic transfers.

FirstBank offers accounts for businesses. Checking and money market accounts are available. There is a checking account offered specifically for nonprofits. There are no fees for the nonprofit checking and the basic business checking. The other accounts have a monthly fee.

Not just personal deposit accounts are available at FirstBank. Personal credit cards, home equity loans, and personal construction loans are available. Health Savings Accounts and accounts to help save for college are also offered.

Most FirstBank accounts have a monthly fee. The fees range from $5 to $20. The debit card has a yearly fee of $10. You are only allowed 25 deposits into the eSave Savings account per month. You are charged $0.10 for each item over 25.

Account interest rates at FirstBank are not competitive with other online banks. The interest rates are similar to your typical bank rates.

FirstBank offers products and accounts in Arizona, California, and Colorado. They have over 115 branch locations in these three states with over 200 ATMs. To open an account, you must live in one of these three states.

Online banking with FirstBank is only free if you sign up to receive electronic statements. The fee is $3 each month if you do not sign up. The money will be automatically withdrawn from your checking account on the first day of each month. If you want to receive paper statements, you must keep $10,000 in FirstBank accounts to waive the monthly fee.

Read the full First Bank review.

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