North American Savings Bank VS CommunityWide FCU

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 4.0 Star Icon
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Pros:

  • Variety of personal deposit accounts
  • Low opening required amounts
  • Competitive interest rates
  • Online and mobile banking

Cons:

  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • Tiered interest rates on accounts
  • Cannot open all accounts online
  • No business accounts offered
  • Financial Rates: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Accounts offer competitive rates
  • Low opening amounts and no monthly fees
  • Variety of savings accounts offered
  • Funds savings account

Cons:

  • Must join the credit union first
  • No ATM fee reimbursement
  • Only one checking account offered
  • CD early withdrawal penalty can be high
North American Savings Bank Review

NASB offers a variety of personal deposit accounts. They offer a free, student, and interest-earning checking account. A variety of savings accounts are available as well. They offer student savings, stepping stone savings account, and a premier account. Their CD terms range from six months to 120-month terms.

Most NASB accounts have low opening required amounts. Most of the savings accounts require $25 to $500 to open. The performance savings account does require $5,000 to open. Most of the checking accounts require $50 to $1,000 to open. The money market account and CDs have higher opening required amounts. They require $1,000 to $5,000 to open.

Most NASB accounts offer competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online accounts. The rates are higher than typical bank rates. Two checking accounts earn interest. Those rates are higher than typical bank rates, but not competitive with online checking accounts.

All NASB accounts offer online and mobile banking. With mobile banking, you can deposit checks, transfer funds, and see account balances. You can pay bills through online or mobile banking. With the mobile app, you can access NASB’s personal finance management tool.

North American Savings Bank accounts have monthly maintenance fees. The fees for each account are $7.50 a month. To waive the fees, you must keep a set account balance. Those balances range from $100 to $15,000 depending on the account.

Most all NASB accounts have tiered interest rates, even the CDs. To earn the most competitive interest rates requires a high account balance. To earn the most competitive rates for CDs requires $5,000 to $10,000. The checking account requires $2,500. The money market account requires $50,000 to earn the best rate. The savings accounts require $50,000 to $75,000 to earn the most competitive rate.

Not all NASB accounts are able to be opened online. Some accounts require visiting a branch location to open. North American Savings Bank offers special online accounts and in-branch accounts. Their website makes it easy to see which accounts are online and which are in-branch accounts.

North American Savings Bank does not offer business deposit accounts. They offer commercial lending options and construction and development loans. NASB only offers personal deposit accounts. Those accounts include savings, money market, and checking accounts, as well as CDs.

Read the full North American Savings Bank review.

CommunityWide FCU Review

Accounts at CommunityWide FCU offer competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online accounts. CommunityWide rates are much higher than typical bank rates. Their rates are not tiered. Any balance above the required amount earns competitive interest rates.

CommunityWide accounts have low opening required amounts. The savings accounts require $5 to open. The checking account requires $15 to open. The CD terms each require $1,000 to open. The CommunityWide FCU checking and savings accounts do not have a monthly fee. If you only open a savings account and the account does not have any activity, there is a $5 dormant account fee. That fee applies for each month with no activity.

CommunityWide offers a wide variety of savings accounts. The accounts offered include:

  • Personal savings account
  • High-yield savings account
  • Funds savings account
  • CD terms from six months to five years
  • IRA accounts

A Funds savings account is available through CommunityWide FCU. This account acts as a savings account but earns a higher interest rate. Members can only withdraw money deposited in the account at specific times. You can choose whether to withdraw the money monthly or quarterly. Money can be deposited into the Funds savings account anytime.

Before you can open an account with CommunityWide, you must become a member of the credit union. To be eligible to join, you must have worked for a certain company or be a spouse of someone who has. Members of certain organizations are eligible. Immediate family members of CommunityWide members qualify to open an account. Once you qualify, you must show a valid government-issued ID and your Social Security Number.

CommunityWide Federal Credit Union does not offer ATM fee reimbursements. They offer over 30,000 ATMs free for members to use. If you make a transaction with another ATM, not in their network, you may be charged a fee. CommunityWide will not reimburse you for those fees.

CommunityWide FCU offers many accounts, but only one checking account. The checking account earns interest for balances over $1 and requires $15 to open. It is the only checking account available through CommunityWide FCU.

The early withdrawal fee for CommunityWide FCU CDs can be higher than other CD fees. CommunityWide FCU uses a specific formula to determine the penalty. First, they take the withdrawn amount times the remaining days at twice the current APR. They then divide the amount by 365. There is not a set penalty based on term length.

Read the full CommunityWide FCU review.

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