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.

There are a variety of accounts available from GTE Financial. They offer personal savings, checking, and money market accounts. They offer personal CDs, loans, and credit cards. They also offer business accounts and accounts specifically for students.

GTE offers CDs and a checking account with competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with online accounts. These account interest rates are much higher than typical bank rates. To earn the most competitive rate on the checking account, you must meet set requirements. That includes receiving eStatements, having a direct deposit over $500, and 15 debit card transactions each month.

GTE accounts have low amounts required to open. The savings accounts only require $5 to open. To earn interest requires $100. Each of the CD terms require $500 to open. The checking accounts do not have a required amount to open.

GTE Financial CDs offer an Add-On Feature. This allows you to add money any time during the CD term. You must add at least $20 each time you add money to the CD. Sometimes there is a limit of $6,000 you can add to the CD. GTE Financial offers promotions where there is not a cap on the amount you can add to the CD.

Before you can open an account with GTE Financial, you must first become a member of the credit union. You are eligible to join if a family member is a member of the credit union or if you work for a specific company. Your business can join, and living in certain areas makes you eligible to join. If these don’t work, you can join CU Savers, a non-profit educational financial club. There is a one-time $10 fee to become a member.

GTE Financial has daily withdrawal limits. You can withdraw up to $500 per 24-hour period from an ATM. There is a $5,000 limit that you can transfer from another bank into a GTE Financial CD.

The money market account with GTE Financial has tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive rate on your money requires a balance of $100,000. Balances below this amount earn interest, just not the most competitive rate.

Most GTE Financial accounts have monthly maintenance fees. The checking account fees range from $4.95 to $9.95 each month. The Go Premium checking account has a fee of $4.95. There is no way to waive this fee. You can pay the fee with Go Points, but you cannot waive the monthly fee. There are ways to waive the other checking account fees.

Read the full GTE Financial review.