Discover Bank VS 5Star Bank

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
4.00%APY
Savings/MMA
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Pros:

  • No monthly fees or required balances
  • Personal deposit accounts offered
  • Can open all accounts online
  • Competitive interest rates on accounts

Cons:

  • Only personal deposit accounts
  • Not wide variety of accounts
  • Outgoing wires have a high fee
  • MMA has high opening balance and fee
  • Financial Rates: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.5 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Variety of personal accounts offered
  • Low opening required amounts
  • Reimbursement for ATM fees
  • Savings account offers good rates

Cons:

  • Money market account has tiered rates
  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • Daily debit card limits
  • Cannot open accounts completely online
Discover Bank Review

Most Discover online bank accounts do not have monthly fees. They also do not have required balances to keep in the accounts. The online checking account, savings accounts, and CDs do not have a monthly fee. They are completely free. Only the money market account has a fee if your balance falls below $2,500.

Personal deposit accounts are available through Discover. They offer online savings, money market, and checking accounts. Their CDs range in terms from three months to ten years. Discover offers IRA CD terms as well as regular CDs.

These Discover accounts are entirely online accounts. Open the savings, money market accounts, and CDs online or by calling customer service. The checking account can only be opened online. Everything for these accounts is done online.

Discover accounts offer competitive interest rates. The rates for every account are much higher than your typical brick and mortar bank rates. The rates are competitive with other online accounts. The only account that has tiered interest rates is the money market account. The difference between the two-tiered rates is very small. Balances over $100,000 in the money market account earn a slightly higher rate. All balances earn competitive rates.

Discover Bank offers only personal deposit accounts. Those accounts include a savings, checking, and money market account, as well as CDs. Discover Bank does not offer any business accounts.

There is not a wide variety of personal deposit accounts offered through Discover. Discover offers one savings, one money market, and one checking account. No business accounts are available. CD terms range from three months to ten years.

One way to access your money in your Discover accounts is through a wire transfer. There is a fee to complete each wire. That fee is $30 for each outgoing wire sent from your Discover account. There is not a fee for domestic wire transfers received into Discover accounts. There may be a $20 fee for wire transfers received in a foreign currency.

The Discover money market account has a high opening required amount. That account requires $2,500 to open. There is a monthly fee of $10. Waive that fee by keeping $2,500 in the money market account.

Read the full Discover Bank review.

5Star Bank Review

5Star Bank offers a variety of accounts. They offer personal deposit and business accounts. These include:

  • 5Star checking account
  • E-Checking account
  • Basic savings account
  • Money market account
  • CD terms from six-months to five-years
  • IRA CDs from 18-months to five-years
  • Lending options
  • Credit cards
  • Business checking and money market accounts
  • Business CDs from six-months to five-years
  • Business lending and credit options

5Star Bank has low amounts required to open their accounts. The E-Checking requires $50. The 5Star checking and the basic savings account require $100 to open. Both the money market account and the different CD terms require $1,000 to open.

The 5Star checking account refunds up to five ATM transactions fees per month. You must keep at least $1,000 in the checking account to have ATM transactions refunded. The E-Checking account does not offer ATM reimbursement.

The basic 5Star savings account offers competitive rates. The rates are higher than typical brick-and-mortar rates. This account only requires $100 to open and keep in the account to waive the monthly fee. Any amount in the account earns the competitive rate. These rates are not tiered.

To earn the most competitive rates for the money market account requires an account balance over $1 million. Any balance over $1,000 does earn interest but a lower rate. The rates gradually increase the more money you have in the account.

Most 5Star Bank accounts have monthly maintenance fees. The savings account fee is $2. The money market fee is $5, and the checking account fee is $7. Waive each of these fees by keeping a set amount in the accounts. Those balances range from $100 to $1,000, depending on the account.

5Star has daily limits for your debit card. The limit for point of sale purchases is $1,000 per day. The daily limit for ATM withdrawals is $300.

Accounts through 5Star Bank are not available to open entirely online. To open the accounts, you need to visit a branch location. You may be able to open the accounts through the mail. Contact customer service for more information.

Read the full 5Star Bank review.

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