Salem Five Direct VS PNC

Which bank is better for you?

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

  • No required balances or monthly fees
  • High interest rates on accounts
  • No required amount to earn interest
  • Low opening required amounts on accounts

Cons:

  • Not wide variety of accounts
  • Business accounts are not offered
  • eOne checking only for new customers
  • No branch locations for accounts
  • Financial Rates: 2.5 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
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Pros:

  • Virtual Wallet rates are competitive
  • Relationship Rates offer higher rates
  • Student accounts offered
  • Business accounts are available

Cons:

  • Low interest rates for other accounts
  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • High required balances to avoid fees
  • Must open CDs at branch locations
Salem Five Direct Review

Salem Five Direct savings and checking account do not have a required balance to waive fees. Only $100 is required to open the account. After the account is open, there is no amount you must keep in the account to avoid fees. There are no monthly fees for the savings or checking account. A fee is charged if you withdraw money from your CD before maturity.

Salem Five Direct savings and checking accounts offer competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online-only accounts. They are much higher than your typical brick and mortar rates. Salem Five Direct offers three different CD term lengths. Each of the three CDs offers competitive interest rates.

The accounts at Salem Five Direct do not have a set amount required to earn the highest interest rates. Any savings or checking account balance earns the highest interest rates. Each of these accounts requires $100 to open.

All Salem Five Direct accounts have low amounts required to open the accounts. The minimum amount required to open a savings or checking account, or a CD, is $100. Once you open the account, there is no set amount required to keep in the accounts.

Salem Five Direct offers one savings account and one checking account. They only offer three different term lengths of CDs. Those are 18-month, 36-month, and 48-month CD terms. Only personal deposit accounts are available.

There are no business accounts offered through Salem Five Direct. The only accounts are personal deposit accounts. Those include a savings account, a checking account, and three different CD term lengths.

To open the Salem Five Direct eOne checking account you must be eligible. To be eligible for the account you cannot have an existing account with Salem Five Bank. The funds to open the eOne account cannot come from a Salem Five Bank account. This account is only available to open online. You cannot open it at a branch location.

Each of these Salem Five Direct accounts is entirely online accounts. There are no branch locations for Salem Five Direct. If you make a transaction to your Salem Five Direct accounts at a Salem Five branch, you will be charged a fee. Reach customer service for Salem Five Direct accounts by online chat, phone, or email.

Read the full Salem Five Direct review.

PNC Review

Opening PNCs Virtual Wallet accounts earn competitive interest rates. This includes three specific accounts: the Spend, Reserve, and Growth accounts. The Spend account is your checking account for everyday spending. The Reserve account is a short-term savings account. It offers overdraft protection for the Spend account. The Growth account is for longer-term goals, like a down payment, car, or vacation. Virtual Wallet accounts offer interest rates that are competitive with other online accounts. You must link these accounts together to earn competitive rates.

Some Growth savings accounts offer slightly higher rates with Relationship Rates. You must qualify to earn the Relationship Rates. To qualify, you must have a set amount directly deposited into the Spend account. Making five debit transactions also qualifies you. The amounts of direct deposits vary from $500 to $5,000 depending on the account. If you qualify, your money will earn even higher interest rates.

PNC offers accounts for college students. With proof you are enrolled in college, the monthly fee is waived. This account offers a debit card and online and mobile banking. The same features of Virtual Wallet are available for the college account. Parents can sign up to receive alert texts when balances are low or overdrawn. Some colleges offer other perks with the account. For example, one college allows you to use your student ID card as a PNC ATM card.

PNC offers small and commercial business accounts. Checking, savings, and money market accounts are available. CDs, credit cards, and online services for your business are available. Bill pay, remote check deposits, and online payroll are services offered.

PNC standard account interest rates are low. To earn the competitive rates on Virtual Wallet accounts, you must meet the set requirement. If you open a standard account or do not meet the requirements, interest rates are low. To earn the competitive rates, be sure you open the right accounts and meet the requirements.

Most PNC accounts have a monthly fee. The fees range from $5 to $25 depending on the account. There are ways to waive the fees. Having a set amount in the account or in qualifying PNC accounts will waive the fees. Direct deposits of a set amount or if you are 62 years or older will waive some fees. As of March 2019, PNC loan and investment balances are not included to waive monthly fees.

The amounts required to have in PNC accounts to waive the monthly fees are high. The money market account requires $5,000 to avoid the monthly fee. Virtual Wallet accounts require $500 to $5,000 to waive the fee or $10,000 to $25,000 across all PNC deposit accounts. After March 2019, loans and investment balances will no longer count toward the total amount to waive fees. Their standard savings account only requires $300 to waive monthly fees.

Customers must open PNC CDs at a branch location. Most PNC CDs required $1,000 to open. The CDs with terms of seven to 89 days require $5,000 to open. PNC has branch locations in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

Read the full PNC review.

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