PenFed Credit Union VS M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB

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
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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: 2.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
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Pros:

  • Low opening required amounts
  • MYSB Direct CDs and MMA
  • Classic and jumbo CDs terms offered
  • Business accounts offered

Cons:

  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • CDs have high opening required amounts
  • Rates low and require large sum
  • Cannot open MYSB Direct accounts online
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.

M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB Review

M.Y. Safra Bank has low opening required amounts for their personal deposit accounts. Their basic checking account requires $25 to open. The rest of their checking, savings, and money market accounts require $100 to open. Their business accounts require $100 to open as well.

Online-only CDs and a money market account are available through M.Y. Safra's online division called MYSB Direct. The CDs earn higher rates than the M.Y. Safra CDs. The CD terms range from three-months to five-years. Each of the CDs and the money market account require $5,000 to open.

M.Y. Safra Bank offers classic and jumbo CDs. The terms for each range from three-months to five-years. The classic CDs require $5,000 to open, and jumbo CDs require $100,000. The rates for the jumbo CDs are only slightly higher than the classic CD rates.

M.Y. Safra offers business accounts. These accounts include a checking, money market, and savings account. Business CDs are also offered. The opening balances for most business accounts are $100. But, to waive the monthly fee requires much higher balances. Those balances range from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the account.

Accounts at M.Y. Safra Bank have a monthly fee. The fees for personal deposit accounts range from $3 to $20 a month. To waive the monthly fees requires an average monthly balance. Those balances range from $1,000 to $5,000. Not all fees can be waived.

CDs through M.Y. Safra Bank have high opening required amounts. Each term requires $5,000 to open. The terms range from 30-days to 84-months. M.Y. Safra Bank offers jumbo CDs. Those require $100,000 to open. The CDs through MYSB Direct require $5,000 to open.

The interest rates for M.Y. Safra accounts are low. To earn the highest rate requires a large account balance. Personal and business checking accounts require $250,000. The M.Y. Safra savings and money market accounts also require $250,000. Lower amounts earn interest, but the rates are not competitive.

MYSB Direct offers online-only accounts. But to open these accounts, you must visit a branch location or call customer service. Both the online-only CDs and money market account require contacting customer service. They cannot be opened entirely online.

Read the full M.Y. Safra Bank, FSB review.

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