Dime Bank VS SmartyPig

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

  • Free savings account
  • Tiered Interest Rates
  • Set up multiple goals
  • Direct withdrawals

Cons:

  • Only offer one type of account
  • Six withdrawals allowed per month
  • Maximum account balance
  • One external funding source allowed
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.

SmartyPig Review

SmartyPig accounts do not have monthly maintenance fees. There is not a required amount to keep in the account. The first initial deposit to open the account is $25.

This savings account offers tiered interest rates. This means the more money you have in the account, the more interest you will earn. The interest rates do not vary much between tiers. The difference from a low amount to the higher amount is around 0.05%.

With this SmartyPig account, you can set up different savings goals. The savings accounts can be long-term, like saving for a college education. They can also be short term, like saving for a mountain bike or birthday party. You can transfer money from your SmartyPig primary account to different savings goals.

The best way to save money is to set up direct withdrawals. You set up when you want the money to come out of your account and how much to withdraw. Then, SmartyPig does the rest. Once the money is deposited into your account, you can transfer it into different savings goal. The withdrawals can be set up to occur monthly or biweekly.

SmartyPig has only one account offered: a high yield savings account. They do not offer checking accounts, CDs, money market accounts, or business accounts. The interest rate on this savings account is considerably higher than other banks savings accounts.

The website says you can withdraw money anytime, but federal regulation only allows six withdrawals per billing cycle. This includes transfers between your SmartyPig primary account and your different savings goals. The transfer or withdrawal will not take place if you have made more than six in a billing cycle. If you repeatedly try to make more than six, your account will be closed. Once you reach your goal, you cannot withdraw part of your money back to your external funding source. You must withdraw it all, or transfer the money between other savings goals.

This account is not meant for high account balances. There is a maximum account balance of $250,000. If your account has $250,000, you will earn interest on the money in the account, but you cannot add to the account.

Each SmartyPig account is only allowed to have one external funding source set up for it. That means you can only have one bank account connected to each SmartyPig account. You can change your external funding source if you want, but never have more than one.

Read the full SmartyPig review.

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