GTE Financial VS M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB

Which bank is better for you?

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

  • Variety of accounts offered
  • Competitive interest rates on accounts
  • Low opening required amounts
  • Add-on option for CDs

Cons:

  • Must become a member
  • Daily withdrawal limits
  • Money market account has tiered rates
  • Accounts have monthly maintenance fees
  • Financial Rates: 2.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
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Pros:

  • Low opening required amounts
  • MYSB Direct CDs and MMA
  • Classic and jumbo CDs terms offered
  • Business accounts offered

Cons:

  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • CDs have high opening required amounts
  • Rates low and require large sum
  • Cannot open MYSB Direct accounts online
GTE Financial Review

There are a variety of accounts available from GTE Financial. They offer personal savings, checking, and money market accounts. They offer personal CDs, loans, and credit cards. They also offer business accounts and accounts specifically for students.

GTE offers CDs and a checking account with competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with online accounts. These account interest rates are much higher than typical bank rates. To earn the most competitive rate on the checking account, you must meet set requirements. That includes receiving eStatements, having a direct deposit over $500, and 15 debit card transactions each month.

GTE accounts have low amounts required to open. The savings accounts only require $5 to open. To earn interest requires $100. Each of the CD terms require $500 to open. The checking accounts do not have a required amount to open.

GTE Financial CDs offer an Add-On Feature. This allows you to add money any time during the CD term. You must add at least $20 each time you add money to the CD. Sometimes there is a limit of $6,000 you can add to the CD. GTE Financial offers promotions where there is not a cap on the amount you can add to the CD.

Before you can open an account with GTE Financial, you must first become a member of the credit union. You are eligible to join if a family member is a member of the credit union or if you work for a specific company. Your business can join, and living in certain areas makes you eligible to join. If these don’t work, you can join CU Savers, a non-profit educational financial club. There is a one-time $10 fee to become a member.

GTE Financial has daily withdrawal limits. You can withdraw up to $500 per 24-hour period from an ATM. There is a $5,000 limit that you can transfer from another bank into a GTE Financial CD.

The money market account with GTE Financial has tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive rate on your money requires a balance of $100,000. Balances below this amount earn interest, just not the most competitive rate.

Most GTE Financial accounts have monthly maintenance fees. The checking account fees range from $4.95 to $9.95 each month. The Go Premium checking account has a fee of $4.95. There is no way to waive this fee. You can pay the fee with Go Points, but you cannot waive the monthly fee. There are ways to waive the other checking account fees.

Read the full GTE Financial review.

M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB Review

M.Y. Safra Bank has low opening required amounts for their personal deposit accounts. Their basic checking account requires $25 to open. The rest of their checking, savings, and money market accounts require $100 to open. Their business accounts require $100 to open as well.

Online-only CDs and a money market account are available through M.Y. Safra's online division called MYSB Direct. The CDs earn higher rates than the M.Y. Safra CDs. The CD terms range from three-months to five-years. Each of the CDs and the money market account require $5,000 to open.

M.Y. Safra Bank offers classic and jumbo CDs. The terms for each range from three-months to five-years. The classic CDs require $5,000 to open, and jumbo CDs require $100,000. The rates for the jumbo CDs are only slightly higher than the classic CD rates.

M.Y. Safra offers business accounts. These accounts include a checking, money market, and savings account. Business CDs are also offered. The opening balances for most business accounts are $100. But, to waive the monthly fee requires much higher balances. Those balances range from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the account.

Accounts at M.Y. Safra Bank have a monthly fee. The fees for personal deposit accounts range from $3 to $20 a month. To waive the monthly fees requires an average monthly balance. Those balances range from $1,000 to $5,000. Not all fees can be waived.

CDs through M.Y. Safra Bank have high opening required amounts. Each term requires $5,000 to open. The terms range from 30-days to 84-months. M.Y. Safra Bank offers jumbo CDs. Those require $100,000 to open. The CDs through MYSB Direct require $5,000 to open.

The interest rates for M.Y. Safra accounts are low. To earn the highest rate requires a large account balance. Personal and business checking accounts require $250,000. The M.Y. Safra savings and money market accounts also require $250,000. Lower amounts earn interest, but the rates are not competitive.

MYSB Direct offers online-only accounts. But to open these accounts, you must visit a branch location or call customer service. Both the online-only CDs and money market account require contacting customer service. They cannot be opened entirely online.

Read the full M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB review.

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