WaFd Bank VS KS StateBank

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 2.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.5 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Good variety of accounts available
  • Low opening required amounts
  • Business accounts offered
  • Money market and CDs earn good rates

Cons:

  • Low interest rates on accounts
  • Tiered interest rates on some accounts
  • High rates require eligible checking
  • Accounts have monthly fees
  • Financial Rates: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 5.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
Advertiser Disclosure
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Pros:

  • Variety of accounts offered
  • Most accounts have low opening amounts
  • Competitive interest rates on accounts
  • No monthly maintenance fees

Cons:

  • Not all accounts are available online
  • MMA has tiered interest rates
  • Jumbo CDs rates same as regular CDs
  • Fee for bank-to-bank transfers
WaFd Bank Review

WaFd Bank offers a good variety of accounts. Those include:

  • Savings account
  • Savings account for minors
  • Checking accounts
  • Money market accounts
  • CD terms from three-months to five-years
  • Retirement accounts
  • Lending options
  • Credit cards
  • Small business accounts
  • Commercial options

The opening required amounts for WaFd accounts are low. Most savings and checking accounts only require $25 to open. A savings account for minors requires $10 to open. The Stellar Plus checking account requires $100 to open. The money market accounts require $100 to open. All CD terms require $1,000 to open.

WaFd Bank offers business accounts along with personal accounts. Those accounts include small business checking and savings accounts. They also offer some commercial business accounts. To open those accounts, you need to contact a commercial banker.

The WaFd Gold Money Market account has competitive rates. These account rates are the most competitive rates offered at WaFd. They are lower than other online money market accounts but still competitive. The seven-month and 13-month special CDs also earn higher rates than other WaFd CDs.

WaFd accounts besides the Gold MMA and special CD terms have low interest rates. These rates are similar to other brick-and-mortar bank rates. They do not compare to other online-only accounts.

Some WaFd accounts have tiered interest rates. To receive the highest rate for the Stellar Plus checking account requires a $10,000 balance. The regular money market account requires $90,000 to earn the best rate. Even the highest interest rate for these accounts is low.

Specific WaFd accounts require you to open other eligible accounts. To earn the best rates on the special CD terms, you must have an eligible checking account. The rates are only 0.05% higher if you have the checking account.

Most WaFd Bank accounts have monthly fees. The checking account fees range from $0-8 per month. The savings accounts have monthly fees from $3-10 per month. There are ways to waive some of the monthly fees. Those include keeping a set account balance. That balance ranges from $100-$20,000, depending on the account.

Read the full WaFd Bank review.

KS StateBank Review

A variety of accounts are available through KS StateBank. They offer a variety of personal deposit accounts. Those accounts include checking accounts, savings and money market accounts, and CDs. KS StateBank offers regular CDs and jumbo CDs. The CD terms range from six months to seven years. They also offer business accounts.

Most KS StateBank accounts have low amounts required to open the accounts. The checking and savings account require $100 to open. The regular CDs require $500 to open. The Jump Up CD requires $1,000 to open, and the MMA requires $2,500. The jumbo CDs do require $100,000 to open.

The Checking Plus account and CDs offer competitive interest rates. The savings and money market accounts offer slightly lower rates. Those rates are still good rates for online accounts. These rates are competitive with other online-only accounts. The rates are much higher than typical brick and mortar bank rates.

KS StateBank accounts do not have monthly maintenance fees. The accounts do not have required account balances to avoid monthly fees. There is a fee for paper statements or if you make more withdrawals each month than allowed.

Not all KS StateBank accounts are available online. The online checking account is only for residents of Kansas, Missouri, and Arizona. The other online accounts include a savings account, money market account, and CDs. Those accounts are available for any citizens around the United States. Open other accounts by visiting a local branch location.

The KS StateBank money market account has tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive rate requires a balance of $100,000. Amounts under $100,000 earn interest, just not the most competitive rate. This account requires $2,500 to open. There is no required amount to keep in the account; you earn lower rates depending on your balance.

The interest rates for KS StateBank jumbo CDs are the same as their regular CDs. They do not offer higher interest rates. The jumbo CDs require $100,000 to open. Jumbo CDs are only for consumer accounts. They must be opened online.

KS StateBank has a fee for electronic transfers made between banks. They do not charge a fee for money transferred from another bank into your KS StateBank account. However, there is a $3.99 fee for each transfer made from KS StateBank to another financial institution.

Read the full KS StateBank review.

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