The required amounts to open Comenity Direct accounts are low. The Comenity Direct savings account requires $100 to open. Each of the CDs offered through Comenity Direct require $1,500 to open.

The interest rates for Comenity Direct accounts are competitive. Their rates are much higher than typical bank rates. They are competitive with other online accounts. To earn interest on CDs, you must keep $1,500 in the CD. The high-yield savings account only requires $1.00 to earn interest.

Comenity Direct accounts do not have monthly maintenance fees. There are not set account balances required to avoid the monthly fees. Their accounts are free. The CDs have a fee if you withdraw the money before the maturity date, but no monthly fee.

All Comenity Direct accounts can be opened online. You do not need to visit a branch location or mail in part of the application. The entire account opening process is online. You must be at least 18 years old and have a social security number. You must be a resident of the United States with an address. You cannot open an account with a P.O. Box.

Comenity Direct offers limited accounts. They offer a high-yield savings account and CDs. The CD terms range from one to five-years. There are no CD terms shorter than one year. Comenity Direct does not offer checking or money market accounts.

Comenity Direct accounts require a linked external account. You can link an account with your current bank. Once you link the two accounts, you can transfer money electronically. You can also have money directly deposited into your Comenity Direct account.

The Comenity Direct high-yield savings account does not offer checks or debit cards. Federal law allows for six withdrawals each billing statement from a savings account. Make withdrawals through electronic transfers into the linked external bank account.

Comenity Direct offers CD terms from one to five-years. The early withdrawal fees for these CDs are high compared to other online CDs. For terms from 12-months to three-years, the fee is 180 days of interest. For terms four-years or longer, the fee is 365 days of interest.

Read the full Comenity Direct review.

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.

Read the full WaFd Bank review.