FNBO Direct VS WaFd 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: 5.0 Star Icon
4.75%APY
Savings/MMA
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Pros:

  • No monthly fees or required amounts
  • Accounts offer competitive rates
  • Low opening balance
  • Any amount earns highest interest rate

Cons:

  • No business accounts available
  • Interest rates for CDs low
  • Limited personal deposit accounts
  • Savings account must be linked
  • Financial Rates: 2.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.5 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Good variety of accounts available
  • Low opening required amounts
  • Business accounts offered
  • Money market and CDs earn good rates

Cons:

  • Low interest rates on accounts
  • Tiered interest rates on some accounts
  • High rates require eligible checking
  • Accounts have monthly fees
FNBO Direct Review

The accounts offered through FNBO Direct do not have a monthly fee. There is not an amount required to keep in the account. There are no fees for not having that amount in the account each month.

FNBO Direct savings and checking accounts offer competitive interest rates. Those rates are competitive with other online-only accounts. They are much higher than your typical brick and mortar bank rates.

The amounts required to open FNBO Direct accounts is low. The savings and checking account only require $1 to open. The different CD terms all only require $500 to open. There is no set amount to keep in FNBO Direct accounts.

Any amount deposited in FNBO Direct accounts earns the highest interest rates offered. The interest is not adjusted based on the account balance. The minimum amount to open a savings and checking account is $1. Any amount over $0.01 earns the highest interest rate offered. The CD requires $500 to open.

There are no business accounts available through FNBO Direct. The only accounts offered are personal deposit accounts. There is a saving and checking account and different term lengths of CDs. The terms range from a six-month CD to a five-year CD.

The interest rates offered on the FNBO Direct CDs are lower than other online banks. They are not as competitive as FNBO Direct rates for their savings and checking accounts. Other online bank accounts offer more competitive interest rates for CDs.

There is a limited option of personal deposit accounts available through FNBO Direct. There is only one savings account, one checking account, and CDs. There are eight different CD term lengths. The terms range from six-month terms to a five-year term. There is no money market account offered.

The FNBO Direct savings account must be linked to a checking account. You must link an external account to transfer money electronically. You can link up to three external accounts.

Read the full FNBO Direct review.

WaFd Bank 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.

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American Express
Savings (Rate as of 4/26/2024)
APY 4.25%
Rate 4.16%
For APY $1
Monthly Fee $0.00
Checkbook No
Member FDIC
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