Dime Bank VS Bank of the West

Which bank is better for you?

  • 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
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Pros:

  • Most accounts have low opening balance
  • myDime Student account
  • ATM fees refunded with DimePrime
  • Business accounts are available

Cons:

  • Opening accounts done at a branch
  • Accounts not offered everywhere
  • Low-interest rates
  • Most accounts have monthly fees
  • Financial Rates: 2.0 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:

  • Business accounts are available
  • Direct deposit is not required
  • A variety of different lengths of CDs
  • Transfer money to others with PopMoney

Cons:

  • Low-interest rates on accounts
  • High initial required amounts for CDs
  • High required amounts for accounts
  • Products change based on states
Dime Bank Review

Most of the Dime accounts only need $25 to open the account. Those accounts include checking, savings, and money market accounts. The cost to open a CD is $500. The money market account requires $500 to establish the account. The minimum amount per check is $500 for money market accounts.

The myDime Student account is a basic checking account for students. There is no minimum balance to open the account. This account refunds fees charged from using other banks ATMs. myDime account offers an "oops rebate." Students are refunded the fee of one overdraft per calendar year. Online, mobile banking and bill pay are available. When students open this account, they receive three free deals from DimePerks.

DimePrime offers free withdrawals from any ATM. If you use a non-Dime ATM, they will refund the ATM fees. They refund up to $10 each month in ATM fees. To qualify for DimePrime, you must have $15,000 in Dime checking and savings accounts. Another option to qualify is to have a consumer or residential Dime loan balance of $150,000.

Dime offers a variety of business accounts. Checking, savings, and money market accounts are available for your business. CDs, commercial mortgages, loans, and credit lines are also available.

Even when you meet the required account balance to earn interest on your accounts the interest rates are low. Only a few of the CD term interest rates are competitive. All other interest rates are considerably lower than other online-only banks. They are competitive with typical banks.

To open an account with Dime, you have to visit a local branch. Their branches are in southeast Connecticut and west Rhode Island.

Since you have to visit a branch to open an account, accounts are not available everywhere. To be an account holder, you must live in southeast Connecticut or western Rhode Island.

Most all Dime accounts have a monthly service fee. The fees vary in range from $2 to $20 per month. The fees vary from accounts. To have the fee waived there are requirements you must meet. You must also have a certain amount in the accounts to earn interest.

Read the full Dime Bank review.

Bank of the West Review

Bank of the West offers checking, savings, CDs, and money market accounts for your business. Credit cards, loans, and lines of credit are also available. Bank of the West offers payroll services and payment processing options. Foreign exchange services for business accounts are also available. Interest rates for their different business accounts are not listed on the website.

Bank of the West does not require you to have direct deposit into their checking account. There is a monthly maintenance fee, but you can waive that fee by depositing money into your account each month. You can deposit any amount by an ATM, in-branch, direct, or mobile deposit to waive the fee.

Bank of the West offers Flexible-Term CDs, Premium Money Market CD, and a Relationship CD. Within these different CD types are a variety of term lengths, except the Relationship CD. That only has a 12-month term option. To apply for a CD and get the specific term lengths and rates you have to visit a branch. You cannot apply online.

With Popmoney you can send or receive money with only an email, text, or account number. You decide where the money is deposited. You will receive an alert when the transaction is complete. There is a fee to send money overnight, and not all customers qualify to use Popmoney.

Personal banking accounts of Bank of the West do not have competitive interest rates. The rates are much less than online-only banks but similar to typical bank interest rates.

To open a CD, you must have an opening balance of $1,000 for the Flexible-Term CDs and Premier Money Market CDs. To open a Relationship CD, you must have $2,500 and a checking account with Bank of the West.

To waive the Premier Checking account fee, you must have $25,000 in qualifying accounts. The Choice Money Market account requires $5,000. CD accounts require $1,000 to $2,500 to open. The Classic Savings account requires $300. There are other options for ways to have monthly fees waived. Know the options if you cannot keep the required amounts of money in the accounts.

Bank of the West accounts are not available in all states. To apply for an account, you must have an address in one of the states listed. Interest rates and products differ between states. The name of the bank may be slightly different as well depending on the area.

Read the full Bank of the West review.

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