The Dividend Rewards checking account earns competitive interest rates. To earn the most competitive rate has some requirements. You must have 12 debit card purchases each month and have one direct deposit or ACH withdrawal. You must also receive electronic statements. The competitive rate is for any balance from $0.01 to $15,000. Balances over $15,000 earns a lower rate.

First Tech savings and checking accounts do not have monthly fees. There is no minimum balance required to keep in the account to waive the monthly fees. These accounts are free.

The CDs offered through First Tech offer good interest rates. The terms range from six-month to 60-month terms. Each of the terms earns rates slightly lower than other online CDs. Each traditional CD term requires $500 to open.

First Tech has low required amounts to open their accounts. The checking accounts require $0.01 to open. Two of the savings accounts require $0.01 or $5.00 to open. Each of the CD terms requires $500 to open.

To open an account with First Tech, you must be a member of the credit union. You are eligible to be a member if you work for certain tech companies or the state of Oregon. If you live or work in Lane County, Oregon, you are eligible. Immediate family members of members are eligible. You can also become a member by joining the Computer History Museum or the Financial Fitness Association.

The Instant Access savings account with First Tech has tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive rate, you must have a balance over $250,000. Lower account balances earn interest, just not the most competitive rate.

The Instant Access savings account has a high opening required amount. To open the account requires $5,000. There is no monthly fee for this account. Interest rates for the Instant Access account are tiered.

First Tech members can only withdraw $500 per day, per cardholder, from First Tech ATMs. Other ATMs may allow for a higher withdrawal, but you may face a fee. If you need more than $500 at one time, visit a branch location.

Read the full First Tech Federal Credit Union review.

WaFd Bank offers a good variety of accounts. Those include:

• Savings account
• Savings account for minors
• Checking accounts
• Money market accounts
• CD terms from three-months to five-years
• Retirement accounts
• Lending options
• Credit cards
• Small business accounts
• Commercial options

The opening required amounts for WaFd accounts are low. Most savings and checking accounts only require $25 to open. A savings account for minors requires $10 to open. The Stellar Plus checking account requires $100 to open. The money market accounts require $100 to open. All CD terms require $1,000 to open.

WaFd Bank offers business accounts along with personal accounts. Those accounts include small business checking and savings accounts. They also offer some commercial business accounts. To open those accounts, you need to contact a commercial banker.

The WaFd Gold Money Market account has competitive rates. These account rates are the most competitive rates offered at WaFd. They are lower than other online money market accounts but still competitive. The seven-month and 13-month special CDs also earn higher rates than other WaFd CDs.

WaFd accounts besides the Gold MMA and special CD terms have low interest rates. These rates are similar to other brick-and-mortar bank rates. They do not compare to other online-only accounts.

Some WaFd accounts have tiered interest rates. To receive the highest rate for the Stellar Plus checking account requires a $10,000 balance. The regular money market account requires $90,000 to earn the best rate. Even the highest interest rate for these accounts is low.

Specific WaFd accounts require you to open other eligible accounts. To earn the best rates on the special CD terms, you must have an eligible checking account. The rates are only 0.05% higher if you have the checking account.

Most WaFd Bank accounts have monthly fees. The checking account fees range from $0-8 per month. The savings accounts have monthly fees from $3-10 per month. There are ways to waive some of the monthly fees. Those include keeping a set account balance. That balance ranges from $100-$20,000, depending on the account.

Read the full WaFd Bank review.