Popular Direct VS Marcus by Goldman Sachs

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
5.15%APY
Savings/MMA
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Pros:

  • High-interest rates on accounts
  • Account available everywhere
  • Variety of CD terms
  • Online and mobile banking

Cons:

  • Opening accounts requires large deposit
  • The savings account has a monthly fee
  • Only offer CDs and one savings account
  • Linked external account required
  • 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
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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
Popular Direct Review

The interest rates on Popular Direct accounts are very competitive. They are considerably higher than your typical brick and mortar banks. The rates are competitive with other online-only accounts.

Because Popular Direct is an online-only bank, the accounts are available everywhere. Applying for the account is quick and completed online. Everything you need for your account is accessed online. There are no branch locations.

Popular Direct offers a variety of different CD term lengths. The terms range from a three-month term to five-year terms. The other terms include six months, one year, eighteen months, two, three, and four-year terms. The interest rates increase the longer the term length.

All Popular Direct accounts come with online and mobile banking. With online banking, you can set up account notifications and see statements. You can transfer funds between the linked external account. Mobile and online banking allow you to transfer money between Popular Direct accounts. You can check account balances and deposit checks.

To open a savings account with Popular Direct, you must have $5,000 as your opening deposit. To open a CD with Popular Direct, you must have $10,000 as the opening required deposit. You will still earn interest if your balance drops below these required amounts.

Popular Direct savings account has a monthly fee. The fee is $4 per month if your balance falls below $500. No fee is charged if your balance remains above $500. There is also a fee for closing the account before 180 days after opening it. A $5 monthly fee is charged each month if your account is inactive for 12 months. Following the 12th month, the fee is charged each month the account is inactive.

Popular Direct only offers CDs and one savings account. They do not offer a checking account, money market account, or any business accounts. The CDs range from 30-day CDs to a five-year term.

Popular Direct requires you link your account to an external account. The linked account allows you to make deposits into your Popular Direct account. The external bank account cannot be changed within the first 60 days of opening the account.

Read the full Popular Direct review.

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.

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