Pacific National Bank VS SmartyPig

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: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Specific online-only accounts
  • Variety of other accounts offered
  • CDs have low required opening amounts
  • Online accounts offer competitive rates

Cons:

  • Large sums required to earn interest
  • High required initial deposit
  • In-branch accounts have tiered rates
  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • 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
Advertiser Disclosure
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Pros:

  • Free savings account
  • Tiered Interest Rates
  • Set up multiple goals
  • Direct withdrawals

Cons:

  • Only offer one type of account
  • Six withdrawals allowed per month
  • Maximum account balance
  • One external funding source allowed
Pacific National Bank Review

Pacific National Bank offers specific online-only accounts. These accounts include a money market account and 12- month and 17-month CDs. The interest rates are competitive. These account rates are much higher than regular bank rates. The minimum amount required to open the money market account is $5,000. This is also the required balance to avoid a monthly fee. The CDs require $1,000 to open.

Along with online accounts, Pacific National Bank offers a variety of in-branch accounts. That includes personal deposit accounts and business accounts. Savings, checking, and money market accounts are available for personal and business accounts. CDs and lending options are also available.

Pacific National Bank CDs have low opening required amounts. Each of the CDs require $1,000 to open, including the online CDs. The only fee for CDs is withdrawing money before the maturity date.

The Pacific National Bank online accounts offer competitive interest rates. These account rates are competitive with other online-only accounts. These rates are much higher than the in-branch account rates. Online accounts are only offered to new customers to Pacific National Bank.

To earn the most competitive interest rates requires a large average balance. The in-branch and online MMA require $10,000 to earn the competitive interest rate. The checking account requires $2,500 to earn interest.

Accounts with Pacific National Bank have high opening required amounts. The interest earning checking account requires $2,500 to open. International customers require $7,000 to open the account. The money market account requires $5,000 for domestic customers. International customers must have $10,000 to open money market accounts.

Pacific National Bank accounts have tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive rates requires a large balance in the accounts. The savings account requires a $50,000 balance to earn the most competitive rate. The money market accounts and the SuperNow checking require $1,000,000 for the highest rate. Amounts under these balances still earn interest, just not the most competitive rates.

Pacific National Bank accounts have monthly fees. The fees range from $10 to $25 each month. Waive the monthly fees by keeping a set amount in the accounts. Those amounts range from $500 to $5,000 depending on the account.

Read the full Pacific National Bank review.

SmartyPig Review

SmartyPig accounts do not have monthly maintenance fees. There is not a required amount to keep in the account. The first initial deposit to open the account is $25.

This savings account offers tiered interest rates. This means the more money you have in the account, the more interest you will earn. The interest rates do not vary much between tiers. The difference from a low amount to the higher amount is around 0.05%.

With this SmartyPig account, you can set up different savings goals. The savings accounts can be long-term, like saving for a college education. They can also be short term, like saving for a mountain bike or birthday party. You can transfer money from your SmartyPig primary account to different savings goals.

The best way to save money is to set up direct withdrawals. You set up when you want the money to come out of your account and how much to withdraw. Then, SmartyPig does the rest. Once the money is deposited into your account, you can transfer it into different savings goal. The withdrawals can be set up to occur monthly or biweekly.

SmartyPig has only one account offered: a high yield savings account. They do not offer checking accounts, CDs, money market accounts, or business accounts. The interest rate on this savings account is considerably higher than other banks savings accounts.

The website says you can withdraw money anytime, but federal regulation only allows six withdrawals per billing cycle. This includes transfers between your SmartyPig primary account and your different savings goals. The transfer or withdrawal will not take place if you have made more than six in a billing cycle. If you repeatedly try to make more than six, your account will be closed. Once you reach your goal, you cannot withdraw part of your money back to your external funding source. You must withdraw it all, or transfer the money between other savings goals.

This account is not meant for high account balances. There is a maximum account balance of $250,000. If your account has $250,000, you will earn interest on the money in the account, but you cannot add to the account.

Each SmartyPig account is only allowed to have one external funding source set up for it. That means you can only have one bank account connected to each SmartyPig account. You can change your external funding source if you want, but never have more than one.

Read the full SmartyPig review.

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