Earn Bank VS Synchrony Bank

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 4.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Competitive interest rates on accounts
  • Low opening required amount for MMA
  • No tiered interest rates on accounts
  • Accounts are entirely online

Cons:

  • CDs have high opening required amounts
  • MMA has monthly maintenance fees
  • Must link accounts to external account
  • Limited accounts offered
  • Financial Rates: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
4.10%APY
Savings/MMA
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Pros:

  • No monthly fees or required balances
  • Variety of CD terms available
  • Competitive interest rates
  • Reimbursed ATM fees

Cons:

  • Best perks require Diamond member
  • No checking account offered
  • High opening amounts for CDs
  • Tiered interest rates not offered
Earn Bank Review

earn.bank accounts offer competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online accounts. Their interest rates are much higher than typical bank rates.

The money market account through earn.bank has a low opening required amount. To open this account only requires $100.

The earn.bank money market account does not have tiered interest rates. You do not have to have a set amount in the account to earn the most competitive interest rate.

All earn.bank accounts are entirely online. You can open their money market account or CD terms from anywhere. Because they are an online bank, the interest rates are much higher than typical bank rates. To open an account, you must have a social security number and a government issued ID. You must have the amount required to open the account. You can fund the initial amount with a credit card, or external savings or checking account.

To open a CD with earn.bank requires a large sum. Each of the CD terms require $25,000 to open. The CD terms available are a one-year and a two-year.

The money market account has a monthly maintenance fee of $10. To waive this fee requires an account balance of $10,000. This fee is not assessed for the first three months of opening the account. After that time, if you do not have a $10,000 balance, you will be charged $10 each month that the balance is below $10,000. There is also a $25 paper statement fee. Avoid this fee by signing up for electronic statements.

The easiest way to withdraw money from your MMA is to link the account to an external account. The linked account allows you to also deposit money easily into your earn.bank accounts. You can withdraw money through a wire transfer by calling customer service.

earn.bank does not offer a wide variety of accounts. They only offer one personal deposit money market account and two CD terms. The CD terms offered are a one-year and two-year term. They do not offer checking accounts, savings accounts, or business accounts.

Read the full Earn Bank review.

Synchrony Bank Review

The high yield savings account and money market account do not have any monthly fees. Synchrony does not require a set amount be kept in their accounts. There is no required amount to open a savings or money market account.

Synchrony offers a variety of CD term lengths. The terms range from three months to five years. As with any CD, the longer the term length, the higher the interest rates offered on the account. There are no monthly fees for the CD accounts. A fee is charged if you withdraw your money before the CD reaches maturity.

The interest rates for all Synchrony accounts are competitive. The savings and money market accounts and CDs are much higher than your typical bank rates. They are competitive with other online-only accounts.

Synchrony will refund the ATM fees charged by other financial institutions. The fees for every account holder will be reimbursed up to $5 each billing cycle. If you are a Diamond Reward member, you will receive unlimited ATM reimbursements.

All customers receive some perks for being an account holder with Synchrony bank. To earn the best perks, you must become a Diamond Reward member. To qualify to be a Diamond Reward member, you must have over $250,000 in Synchrony accounts. You must also be a customer for at least five years.

There is no checking account offered through Synchrony Bank. They offer a high yield savings account, money market account, and CDs.

The amount required to open a CD is high. Synchrony offers a variety of different CD terms. To open any of the terms requires $2,000 as a minimum opening deposit.

The savings and money market rates do not increase based on how much money you invest. If you invest $1,000 or $250,000, you will earn the same interest rate for each amount. Some banks offer tiered interest rates based on how much money you invest in the account.

Read the full Synchrony Bank review.

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