Limelight Bank VS Salem Five Direct

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
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Competitive interest rates on CDs
  • Interest rates are not tiered
  • No fees and low opening required amounts
  • Everything for an account is online

Cons:

  • Limited accounts offered
  • Customer service not available 24/7
  • No business accounts offered
  • Link CD accounts to external accounts
  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • No required balances or monthly fees
  • High interest rates on accounts
  • No required amount to earn interest
  • Low opening required amounts on accounts

Cons:

  • Not wide variety of accounts
  • Business accounts are not offered
  • eOne checking only for new customers
  • No branch locations for accounts
Limelight Bank Review

The interest rates on Limelight CDs are competitive. They are competitive with other online CD accounts. Limelight interest rates are much higher than typical brick and mortar bank rates.

Limelight interest rates are not tiered. Any amount in the CD earns the most competitive rate offered. There is no set balance required to earn the most competitive rate.

Each of the Limelight CDs only requires $1,000 to open. There are no monthly fees. The only fees with Limelight CDs are from withdrawing money before the account reaches maturity. You can withdraw money during the grace period without a fee.

Limelight Bank is an entirely online bank. There are no branch locations. You open your account online, and everything for your account is online. Any U.S. citizen, who is 18 years or older, with an SSN or ITIN can open an account.

Limelight Bank offers limited options for personal deposit accounts. They only offer personal deposit CDs. Those CD terms include a six-month term, 12-month term, or 18-month term. Limelight Bank does not offer a savings, checking, or money market account.

Limelight customer service is not available 24/7. The most common way to reach customer service is through email. There is a phone number listed on the website. Customer service hours are not listed on the website.

Limelight Bank does not offer business accounts. The only account offered are personal deposit CDs. Those terms include a six-month, 12-month, and 18-month terms.

Limelight does not offer a checking or savings account. To fund the CDs requires the accounts to be linked to an external account. Once the account is linked to an external bank account, you can easily make transfers into and out of the CDs. Transfer money during the CD grace period or when the CD reaches maturity to avoid a fee.

Read the full Limelight Bank review.

Salem Five Direct Review

Salem Five Direct savings and checking account do not have a required balance to waive fees. Only $100 is required to open the account. After the account is open, there is no amount you must keep in the account to avoid fees. There are no monthly fees for the savings or checking account. A fee is charged if you withdraw money from your CD before maturity.

Salem Five Direct savings and checking accounts offer competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online-only accounts. They are much higher than your typical brick and mortar rates. Salem Five Direct offers three different CD term lengths. Each of the three CDs offers competitive interest rates.

The accounts at Salem Five Direct do not have a set amount required to earn the highest interest rates. Any savings or checking account balance earns the highest interest rates. Each of these accounts requires $100 to open.

All Salem Five Direct accounts have low amounts required to open the accounts. The minimum amount required to open a savings or checking account, or a CD, is $100. Once you open the account, there is no set amount required to keep in the accounts.

Salem Five Direct offers one savings account and one checking account. They only offer three different term lengths of CDs. Those are 18-month, 36-month, and 48-month CD terms. Only personal deposit accounts are available.

There are no business accounts offered through Salem Five Direct. The only accounts are personal deposit accounts. Those include a savings account, a checking account, and three different CD term lengths.

To open the Salem Five Direct eOne checking account you must be eligible. To be eligible for the account you cannot have an existing account with Salem Five Bank. The funds to open the eOne account cannot come from a Salem Five Bank account. This account is only available to open online. You cannot open it at a branch location.

Each of these Salem Five Direct accounts is entirely online accounts. There are no branch locations for Salem Five Direct. If you make a transaction to your Salem Five Direct accounts at a Salem Five branch, you will be charged a fee. Reach customer service for Salem Five Direct accounts by online chat, phone, or email.

Read the full Salem Five Direct review.

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