Wings Financial VS BankDirect

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Competitive interest rates on accounts
  • Variety of accounts offered
  • Low opening required amounts
  • Only one account has a monthly fee

Cons:

  • Must join credit union to open accounts
  • Accounts have tiered interest rates
  • Cannot open all accounts online
  • High yield checking has requirements
  • Financial Rates: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 2.5 Star Icon
  • Website Experience: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Bank Fees: 4.5 Star Icon
No Rate Information
Advertiser Disclosure
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Pros:

  • Low required opening amounts
  • Reimbursement of ATM fees
  • Variety of personal deposit accounts
  • Money market account earns good rates

Cons:

  • Highest MMA rate requires large amount
  • High required amount to open CDs
  • Checking accounts have a monthly fee
  • Must mail in application to open account
Wings Financial Review

Wings Financial accounts offer competitive interest rates. The checking account rates are competitive with online account rates. The savings and money market account offer rates that are lower than online accounts. These account interest rates are higher than typical bank rates.

A good variety of accounts are available through Wings Financial. They offer checking, savings, and money market account. Specific holiday savings accounts are available. They offer CDS, personal loans, and credit cards. Personal investment and insurance opportunities are available. Some business accounts are also offered.

Accounts with Wings Financial have low opening required amounts. The checking accounts require either $1 or $5 to open. The savings accounts do not have a required amount or require $5 to open. Each CD term requires $500 to open. The money market account does require $5,000 to open.

Only the World Class Money Market account has a monthly fee. That fee is $10 per month. To waive that fee each month you must keep an account balance of $5,000. No other Wings Financial accounts have a monthly fee.

Before you can open accounts with Wings Financial, you must first join the credit union. To be eligible to join requires living or working in Minnesota or Wisconsin county, or Seattle-Tacoma, Washington. Family members of Wings Financial members are eligible. Aviation workers are eligible. You can join Wings Financial Foundation to become eligible to join the credit union.

Some Wings Financial accounts have tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive interest rate in the money market account requires a balance of $25,000. The investment MMA requires a balance of $100,000 to earn the best rate. The savings account requires $50,000 to earn the best rate. Wings Financial CDs requires $90,000 to earn the best rate.

Not all Wings Financial accounts can be opened online. Their special CDs require visiting a branch location to open. The high yield checking account requires a branch location to open.

You must meet requirements to earn the competitive rates of the high yield checking account. That includes making 15 debit card transactions over $5 and have a direct deposit over $300 each month. You must also sign up to receive e-Documents. If you meet these requirements, you earn the competitive interest rate. The competitive interest rate applies to account balances under $25,000.

Read the full Wings Financial review.

BankDirect Review

Most of the BankDirect accounts have a low amount required to open the account. BankDirect checking accounts only require $500 to open. Both BankDirect money market accounts require $500 to open. The basic savings account only requires $100 to open.

BankDirect does not own any ATMs; they reimburse their customers the ATM fees. The first four ATM withdrawals per statement cycle are refunded. The refunds are up to $2.50 per transaction. There is a withdrawal limit of $500 from an ATM each day.

BankDirect offers a variety of personal deposit accounts. There are three different checking accounts and two different money market accounts. There are a variety of different CD terms available. BankDirect offers one savings account. There are no business accounts available.

The BankDirect Money Market Plus account offers a competitive interest rate. BankDirect also offers a mileage money market account. This account earns American Airline miles. Both MMA require $500 to open. The mileage money market account earns much lower interest rates. You earn miles instead of interest. There is no monthly fee for either account.

To earn the high rates offered on the BankDirect Money Market Plus account you must have $10,000 in the account. Amounts under $10,000 do not earn any interest. Only $500 is required to open this account, but to earn any interest requires $10,000.

BankDirect offers a variety of different CD terms. The required amount to open any of the CDs is $10,000. There is no monthly fee. The interest rates for CDs are competitive. The 12-month, 18-months, 24-months and 36-month CDs offer the most competitive rates. To open a mileage CD also requires $10,000.

Two of the BankDirect checking accounts have monthly fees. The interest and mileage checking accounts both have a monthly fee. The fee is waived for the interest checking account if you have at least $2,500 in the account. The mileage checking does not list a way to waive that monthly fee.

Opening an account with BankDirect is not entirely online. To open an account, you must fill out the application online, then print off part and mail it in. You will then receive a welcome kit within one to two weeks. Once you get your kit, you can finish setting up your account.

Read the full BankDirect review.

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