TIAA Bank VS EBSB Direct

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 4.5 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • No monthly fees for accounts
  • High-interest rates on select accounts
  • Variety of business accounts offered
  • Interest on checking, high for first year

Cons:

  • Checking interest drops after first year
  • Large amount required to open accounts
  • Basic accounts have lower interest rates
  • ATM fee reimbursement requires high sum
  • Financial Rates: 2.5 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
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Pros:

  • High interest rates on accounts
  • CDs have low opening required amounts
  • Accounts are entirely online
  • Debit card offered for MMA

Cons:

  • Limited deposit accounts offered
  • Highest rates require a large amount
  • MMA has a fee and high opening amount
  • Must link to another account
TIAA Bank Review

Note: TIAA has acquired EverBank, rebranding the bank as TIAA Bank. The acquisition completed on June 12, 2018.

The Yield accounts at TIAA Bank do not charge monthly maintenance fees. There is no amount required to keep in the accounts to avoid fees. You will earn interest on any amount you have deposited in the account.

TIAA Bank guarantees that their account offerings will earn the top five percent interest in the nation. This makes them a competitive bank in the field of high-interest rates.

Business accounts are available through TIAA Bank. Your business can earn the high interest rates you earn with personal banking. There are checking accounts for small businesses and non profits. Interest earning and basic business checking accounts are available. Money market accounts, CDs, and credit cards are also available for your business.

The Yield Checking account offers a one-year spotlight APY. The rate for one year is much higher than the regular interest rates. This rate is only for new customers. Earn interest on any amount above $5,000, but less than $250,000.

After the one-year spotlight APY, the rate drops. The account still earns interest, but lower than the first year. The interest you earn after the first year depends on the amount you have in the account. The rates drop by almost one whole percentage point for balances under $10,000.

The high interest earning accounts have a high required opening balance. You must have $5,000 to open the Yield Pledge Checking, Yield Pledge Money Market, and Yield Pledge CD accounts. Once you open one of these accounts, you will earn the top five percent of yields on your money. TIAA Bank ensures the top interest rates on these accounts.

To open the TIAA Bank accounts with the high interest rates you must have $5,000. TIAA Bank does offer a basic checking and savings account. These accounts only require $25 to open. There is no monthly fee as long as you keep $25 in the account. The basic CDs only required $1,000 to open. These basic accounts get lower interest rates, but still competitive.

TIAA Bank does reimburse fees charged at ATMs, but only if your account balance is over $5,000. TIAA Bank does not charge fees for using their ATMs. The fees are only for other bank ATMs.

Read the full TIAA Bank review.

EBSB Direct Review

The EBSB Direct accounts offer good interest rates. The rates are slightly lower than other online-only accounts. They are higher than your typical brick-and-mortar bank rates.

The EBSB Direct accounts have low opening required amounts. The 15-month CD only requires $1,000 to open. The six-month CD and the money market account both require $2,500 to open.

EBSB Direct accounts are entirely online accounts. You apply for the accounts online, not at a branch location. You can make transactions for your EBSB Direct accounts at an EBSB branch location. Everything for your EBSB Direct accounts are online.

The money market account with EBSB Direct offers a debit card for you to access your money. Federal regulations allow six withdrawals per month from the money market account. There is a fee if you withdraw more than six times.

EBSB Direct only offers a money market account and two personal CD terms. The term lengths are six-months and 15-months. There are no other personal or business accounts available.

To earn the highest interest rate offered on the MMA, you must have at least $10,000 in the account. Balances from $10 to $9,999 earn interest, but a lower rate. The highest interest rate requires at least $10,000.

The money market account has a monthly fee of $8. Waive the fee by keeping at least $2,500 in the account. That is also the amount required to open the MMA. Keeping $2,500 in the account waives the fee and earns the lower interest rate.

To make electronic transfers, link your EBSB Direct accounts to an external account. You can link the accounts to another financial institution in the United States. More than one account can be linked to your EBSB Direct account.

Read the full EBSB Direct review.

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