Wings Financial VS SmartyPig

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

  • Free savings account
  • Tiered Interest Rates
  • Set up multiple goals
  • Direct withdrawals

Cons:

  • Only offer one type of account
  • Six withdrawals allowed per month
  • Maximum account balance
  • One external funding source allowed
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.

SmartyPig Review

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.

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