WaFd Bank VS Quorum Federal Credit Union

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
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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: 4.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • No required amount to open account
  • Most accounts do not have fees
  • MMA and CDs offer competitive rates
  • ATM fee reimbursement

Cons:

  • Must become a member to open accounts
  • Most accounts do not have competitive rates
  • Tiered interest rates on accounts
  • No business accounts available
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.

Quorum Federal Credit Union Review

Quorum does not have a set amount required to open their HighQ savings account. The basic savings account only requires $5 to open, which Quorum will pay for you. The checking accounts offered through Quorum do not have a set amount required to open.

Most Quorum accounts do not have monthly fees. If the accounts do have a fee, that fee is easy to waive. Electronic statements waive the fee for the basic savings account. Waive the checking account fees by having a set amount in direct deposits or a set account balance. You must also sign up for electronic statements.

The HighQ savings account and some CDs offer the most competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online-only accounts. There is no required amount to open the HighQ account and no monthly fees. This account can be opened online. The CDs require $1,000 to open.

The QChoice checking account offers ATM reimbursement. There are a variety of ATMs that are free of charge to Quorum customers. However, if you use an ATM that charges a fee, Quorum will reimburse that fee up to $15 per month. The fee reimbursement will deposit automatically into your account on the second business day of the following month.

To open an account with Quorum, you must become a member of the credit union. To open an account online, you must be over 18. If you are under 18, you must mail in the application. To establish your membership, you must open a basic savings account. The required amount is $5, but Quorum will fund that amount.

Most Quorum accounts do not offer competitive interest rates. Most account rates are competitive with typical brick and mortar bank rates. The HighQ savings account offers the most competitive rate. That account offers interest that is competitive with other online accounts.

Most Quorum account interest rates are tiered. The checking account requires a $20,000 balance to earn the most competitive rate. The money management account requires $250,000 to receive the best rate.

The only accounts offered through Quorum are personal deposit accounts. No specific business accounts are available. Those personal deposit accounts include checking and savings accounts, and CDs. The CDs range from three-months to five-year terms.

Read the full Quorum Federal Credit Union review.

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