Marcus by Goldman Sachs VS Alliant Credit Union

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
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Pros:

  • No required balance or account fees
  • High account interest rates
  • Variety of terms lengths of CDs
  • Personal loans available

Cons:

  • Only savings account and CDs offered
  • Must link accounts to another bank
  • No ATM or debit card offered
  • Opening balance for CDs is $500
  • Financial Rates: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
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Pros:

  • No monthly maintenance fees
  • ATM fee reimbursement
  • Low opening required amounts
  • Variety of personal deposit accounts

Cons:

  • Must qualify to become a member
  • No business accounts offered
  • To earn interest requires qualifications
  • Jumbo CD rates similar to regular CDs
Marcus by Goldman Sachs Review

There is no required amount to open the account or to keep in the account. Marcus does not have monthly maintenance fees. You start earning interest on anything over $1 in the high yield savings account.

Marcus offers very competitive interest rates on their savings account and CD accounts. The interest rates are competitive with other online-only accounts. They are much higher than your typical bank rates.

Many different term lengths of CDs are available. Marcus offers nine different CD term lengths from six months to six years. The longer the term, the higher interest rate you earn. All the CD interest rates are very competitive with other online-only banks.

The personal loans offered through Marcus do not have fees. The loans are a fixed-rate interest loan. You can borrow up to $40,000. These loans can be to consolidate debt or for home improvement projects. The loans range in length from 36 to 72 months.

Marcus only offers deposit accounts of CDs and a high yield savings account. Checking accounts, money market accounts, and business accounts are not offered.

Since Marcus does not offer checking accounts, you cannot transfer money between Marcus checking and savings accounts. The easiest way to deposit money into your Marcus savings account is to link to an external bank account. You can also send a wire or check. Marcus does not charge a fee to send or receive a wire transfer, but the external bank might.

Marcus does not offer an ATM or debit card for the high yield savings account. To access your money, you must transfer the money back into your external bank account. You can also request a wire transfer.

To open any CD with Marcus, $500 is required. That amount opens the CD and is the amount needed to start earning interest. The interest rates vary depending on the term length of the CD. The longer the CD term, the higher the interest rates.

Read the full Marcus by Goldman Sachs review.

Alliant Credit Union Review

Accounts offered through Alliant do not have monthly maintenance fees. The only fee is if you receive paper statements. To keep the account open requires a $5 balance. To earn interest does require $100 in all the savings accounts.

Alliant participates with over 80,000 ATMs free of charge. If you withdraw money from an ATM not in their network, Alliant will reimburse those fees. They reimburse up to $20 per month in ATM fees. Deposits, withdrawals, transfers, and checking account balances qualify for a rebate. The high rate checking, and teen checking account qualify for ATM reimbursement.

The amounts required to open Alliant accounts is low. The savings accounts require $5 to open. The checking accounts do not list a set amount to open. All the regular CD terms require $1,000 to open. Alliant does offer jumbo CDs, but they require $25,000 to open.

Alliant offers a good variety of personal accounts. They offer a free, high-rate, and teen checking account. They offer two savings accounts and a savings account for kids. Personal credit cards, lending options, and insurance options are also available.

To open Alliant accounts, you must become a member of their credit union. You must meet qualifications to become a member. Those requirements include working with specific companies or be related to someone who is a member of Alliant. If you do not meet those requirements, you may be able to qualify through Support Foster Care to Success. Find out if you are eligible on the Alliant website.

Alliant does not offer specific business accounts. Only personal deposit accounts are available. Those accounts include savings accounts, checking accounts, and CDs. Personal credit cards, lending options, and insurance are also offered.

The interest rates on Alliant accounts are not tiered. To earn the most competitive interest rate, you must meet specific qualifications. Those include receiving eStatements and having at least one monthly electronic deposit. Direct deposits help you qualify.

The Alliant jumbo CDs interest rates are only slightly higher than the regular CD rates. The jumbo CDs require $25,000 to open, but do not offer much higher rates than the regular CD rates. The regular CDs require $1,000 to open. Alliant offers six regular and six jumbo CDs.

Read the full Alliant Credit Union review.

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