PenFed Credit Union VS MutualOne Bank

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • CDs have competitive interest rates
  • Low opening required amount
  • CDs offered to save for education
  • Low monthly fee for checking account

Cons:

  • High opening balances for CDs
  • Low-interest rates
  • Best rates require large balances
  • Do not offer a variety of accounts
  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 4.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
Advertiser Disclosure
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Pros:

  • Low required opening amounts
  • Checking account earns interest
  • Business accounts offered
  • Competitive interest rates

Cons:

  • To earn highest rates requires a large sum
  • Some accounts have fees
  • Cannot open all accounts online
  • Low interest rates on MMA
PenFed Credit Union Review

PenFed CDs have competitive interest rates. The rates on CDs are competitive with online-only accounts. The longer you can invest the money in the CD the higher the interest rates you will earn. CD terms range from six months to seven years.

All accounts, other than CDs, have a low opening balance of only $25. The more you invest in the money market account, the higher interest rates you will earn. However, you are only required to have $25 to open an account with PenFed.

PenFed offers CDs designed to save specifically for education costs. These CDs only require $500 to open instead of $1,000. The education CDs range in term from one year to seven years. The interest rates earned on these CDs are competitive with other CD accounts.

Only the checking account has a monthly maintenance fee. The fee is low and is easy to waive. The fee is waived by having a daily balance of $500 in the account. Having a direct deposit into the account of more than $500 each month will also waive the fee. The savings account and money market accounts do not have a monthly fee.

To open a CD, PenFed requires $1,000. The CD terms vary in length from six months to seven years. The longer you can invest your money in a PenFed CD the higher interest you will earn over the CD term. The interest rates on these CDs are competitive with other online-only CDs.

The interest rates for PenFed savings, checking, and money market accounts are not competitive. The rates are low. Those interest rates are competitive to your typical bank rates. Online only accounts offer much higher interest rates for these accounts.

To earn the highest interest on the PenFed checking account, a daily balance of $20,000 to $50,000 is required. If you do not have at least $20,000, you will earn much lower interest rates. Any amount earns interest. To get the highest rates, your daily balance must meet the requirements.

PenFed only offers one checking account, savings account, and money market account. This does not allow you to find the account that best fits your needs.

Read the full PenFed Credit Union review.

MutualOne Bank Review

MutualOne accounts have a low required amount to open the accounts. There are 15 different CDs to choose from. Three CDs require $5,000 to open, but the rest only need $500 to open. Checking accounts only need $100 to open. The MMA requires $500. All MutualOne saving accounts only require $10 to open.

The MutualOne Advantage checking account earns interest. The account only requires $100 to open the account. Any amount over $10 will earn interest. The rates are tiered so to earn the highest rates, you must keep $50,000 in the account. Amounts under that still earn competitive interest rates, just not the highest amount.

MutualOne offers competitive, tiered interest rates on their accounts. The more money you have in the accounts, the higher the interest rates you earn on your money. The MutualOne online savings account earns competitive interest rates and is entirely online. Any amount earns the highest rate.

Business accounts are available through MutualOne Bank. A checking account, savings account, money market account, and CDs are available. There are two different checking accounts. One tailored to commercial businesses. To find out more about business accounts, or apply to open one, you must contact a personal banker.

To earn the highest interest rates available, you must keep a certain amount in the accounts. The advantage checking account required $50,000 be in the account to earn the highest rates. To earn the highest MMA rates, $200,000 must be in the account. The online saving account only requires $100 to earn the highest rates. Lower amounts in these accounts earn interest, just not the highest rate.

Some MutualOne accounts have a monthly maintenance fee. There are ways to waive the fees. Keeping a set amount in the account, or between deposit and loan accounts, will waive the fees. The monthly fee amounts are not listed on the website.

Not all MutualOne Bank accounts are available to open online. The online savings account and CDs can be opened online. Checking, money market, and some savings accounts require a personal banker. Business accounts need a personal banker to open.

To earn the highest interest rates on MMAs, you must have $10,00 in one account and $200,000 in the other MMA. The interest rates for balances under those amounts are low. They are competitive with your typical brick and mortar banks. The more money you invest, the higher the rates. However, the rates for lower amounts are not competitive with other online accounts.

Read the full MutualOne Bank review.

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