DollarSavingsDirect VS DCU

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 2.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
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Pros:

  • No minimum balance or monthly fees
  • High-interest rates offered
  • Accounts are entirely online
  • CD terms with competitive interest rates

Cons:

  • Limited personal deposit accounts
  • Must link to an external checking account
  • No business accounts available
  • Deposits are held for five days
  • Financial Rates: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
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Pros:

  • Variety of accounts offered
  • Competitive interest rate for savings
  • Can open all accounts online
  • Low opening amounts and no fees

Cons:

  • Must become a member first
  • Tiered interest rates on MMA
  • High balances to earn interest
  • Only one withdrawal per month for Ltd.
DollarSavingsDirect Review

Dollar Savings Direct does not require you to keep a specific amount in their accounts. There are no monthly fees for their savings account. As with all CDs, you will be charged a fee if you withdraw your money before the maturity date.

The interest rates for Dollar Savings Direct accounts are competitive. The interest rates are much higher than your typical brick and mortar banks. They are competitive with other online-only accounts. Any balance in the savings account and CDs earn the highest interest rates. There is not a specific amount required to earn those rates.

Everything for your Dollar Savings Account is online. You open your account online. To transfer money, you must link account to an external checking account. Transfer the money electronically between the two accounts. You can access everything for your account online.

Dollar Savings Direct has five different CD terms. Each of the different terms has competitive interest rates. All the CDs at Dollar Savings Direct required $1,000 to open. The terms range from six months to a five-year term. The longer the term, the higher the interest rates. Fees only apply if you withdraw the money before the maturity date.

Dollar Savings Direct only offers a savings account and CDs. No checking accounts or money market account are available. There are five different CD term lengths offered. Those terms are 6-months, one-year, 16-month, two-year, and five-year.

Dollar Savings Direct requires you link account to an external checking account. You can transfer money between the saving account and the linked external account. You can link another external checking account to the savings account after 60 days. The names on all accounts must match.

There are no business accounts offered through Dollar Savings Direct. The only accounts offered are personal deposit accounts. One saving account and five different CD term lengths are available.

Any deposit made into a Dollar Savings Direct savings account must be in the account for five days. You cannot withdraw the money until after the five days. Once the money is in the account five days, you can transfer the money.

Read the full DollarSavingsDirect review.

DCU Review

Digital Federal Credit Union offers a wide variety of personal deposit accounts. These accounts include:

  • Free checking with different benefit levels
  • HSA checking
  • Primary savings
  • Money market savings
  • Ltd. savings
  • Holiday Savings Club
  • Regular CDs with terms from 3 to 60 months
  • Jumbo CDs from 3 to 60 months
  • Jump-Up CDs with a 15-month and 27-month term
  • QuickStart CDs from 3 to 60 months
  • Loans and credit cards
  • Business accounts and lending options

The Primary savings account offers competitive interest rates. For the first $1,000, you earn over a six percent interest rate. Any amount over $1,000 earns a lower rate of 0.25 percent. Between the two rates, the account earns competitive interest rates. The Primary savings account is the account you must open to become a member of DCU.

You can open all DCU accounts online. You do not need to visit a branch location to open the accounts. To open DCU accounts, you must be at least 18 years old. You must provide a government-issued ID and Social Security Number. Your address, phone number, and date of birth are also required.

The highest amount required to open a DCU checking or savings account is only $5. To earn interest for some accounts requires a larger balance. The CDs require $100 or $500, depending on the CD. Jumbo CDs require $25,000. DCU accounts do not have monthly fees or a required amount to keep in the account to avoid a fee.

To open an account with DCU, you must become a member of the credit union. You become a member by opening the Primary savings account with at least $5. Once you open that account and become a member, you can open any other DCU account.

The DCU money market account has tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive interest rates requires a balance of at least $100,000. Lower balances earn interest, just not the highest rate.

The Ltd. savings account requires a balance of $25,000 to earn any interest. Any balance over $25,000 earns the most competitive rate, but balances below do not earn any interest.

Only one withdrawal is allowed per month from the Ltd. savings account. For every other withdrawal, there is a fee of $25. To earn interest on this account requires a balance of $25,000. There is no required amount to open the account.

Read the full DCU review.

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