Bank of America Savings Review
Bank of America is a world class financial institution. They are ranked ninth on the Fortune 500 list, and consistently place among the top ten banks in the world. They have operations in all 50 US States, and in 40 other countries. Almost 300,000 people are employed by Bank of America, and they have nearly 6,000 banking centers around the United States. In fact, they account for 12.2% of all domestic deposits, and their annual revenue exceeds $150 billion.
Unlike credit unions, Bank of America is a publicly traded holding company under the stock ticker BAC. This makes them a for profit institution, and that mindset is very much reflected in their account offerings and particularly in their fees. Combined with other factors, both negative and positive, there is little middle ground in terms of customer opinion with Bank of America. People either hate them or love them, but fundamentally they are just a bank like any other.
Bank of America Regular Savings Account Review
Their basic savings account is aptly named the Regular Savings Account. It is a foundation account, in that it can be tied to or attached to a number of other accounts and services, such as overdraft protection. As it is a savings account, interest is earned on deposited funds. At the time of this writing the annual percentage yield (APY) of deposited funds was 0.01%.
Bank of America Regular Savings Account Fees
To open an account, a minimum deposit of $25 is required. However, this is somewhat misleading, as simply opening an account with $25 will result in a monthly maintenance fee of $5. This would be one of the reasons Bank of America is hated by some people. Additionally, the account is limited to three withdrawals per month. After that, there is a $3 fee imposed for each withdrawal, unless the minimum daily account balance is $2,500 or more.
Avoiding Bank of America Regular Savings Fees
There are a number of things one can do to prevent these fees, but in every case that prevention involves additional accounts with Bank of America, or larger account balances in the BOFA Regular Savings Account. For example, any monthly automatic transfer of $25 or more will prevent the monthly maintenance fee. One could open a checking account, and simply arrange an automated transfer of $25 from one account to the other, but this can be tedious, and is really an unnecessary inconvenience imposed by the bank.
Other methods for avoiding the fees are typical of most banks, such as maintaining a minimum balance. In this case, $300, but there is a big difference between maintaining the monthly minimums many other banks charge and the daily minimums required by Bank of America. Lastly, the account can be linked to the Bank of America Advantage with Tiered Interest Checking Account. While this avoids fees on the savings account, the $25 minimum balance fee simply reappears in the checking account, and can actually be assessed against both accounts if the minimum requirements are not met each.
This is not to say that the account is bad. Rather, it is to say that the account is not for everyone. For example, if it is a starter savings account for a child, there are much better options elsewhere. Alternatively, if it is a short term savings account where online access and features are important, and the minimum balances are not a concern, then the account will work fine.
Bank of America Regular Savings Security
Another thing to consider is that Bank of America has consistently received outstanding ratings for their security in terms of Internet Banking. They have won awards year after year for innovative online systems that have set industry standards for security. While these systems are also supported by a wide range of phone options, the sheer number of accounts, options, and details when calling can leave some people lost, and so may not be for everyone.
As an example, if account details are entered incorrectly a number of times, one can be locked out of their account and need to call the bank hotline to correct the problem. Calling in forces one to wade through menu options before an operator is reached, and can be extremely frustrating to those who are not familiar with the technology or in a hurry.
In summary, your money is safe, according to the terms of the account, but you might not always be able to access it online if you aren’t technically savvy or willing to wade through call center menus.
Likewise the minimum account balances may be something that savvy investors will prefer to invest elsewhere at a higher rate of return
particularly in light of the exorbitant monthly maintenance fees.
Chase Savings Review
With over $2 trillion in assets, Chase Bank is the largest bank in the U.S in 2024. But does that mean this is the bank you should be with? If you need access to an ATM anywhere in the country, maybe it is. If you only need basic bank services, the extraordinary fees Chase charges can be avoided at most smaller banks.
Chase became the largest bank in U.S. by merging many smaller banks together. In fact, when all of the mergers are counted, 1,200 various financial institutions
have been combined to form Chase. In 2008, Chase acquired troubled Washington Mutual and became the biggest bank in the country.
Chase Services
The services offered by Chase stretch completely across the financial spectrum. Everything from hedge funds to the common checking account. No way can a
short review address all of these services. This review focuses on the common checking and savings account. One thing Chase does is vary services and
fees across different regions of the country. What is available at one location is not necessarily available somewhere else.
Chase Checking Accounts Review
The Chase Basic checking account is charged a $12 monthly fee unless one of the following conditions is met:
- $1,500 minimum daily balance is maintained.
- Minimum $800 monthly direct deposit.
- Minimum $5,000 daily deposits in other qualified accounts.
- You pay $25 in other checking related fees.
Here's the catch, the $12 monthly fee is a falsehood. Unless you pay $25 in related fees, it's the $25 fee that applies to your basic checking account.
Going with a smaller community bank, credit union, or one of the popular completely free checking
accounts (such as Capital One 360 checking) almost always avoids a checking account fee. Also note, the $1,500 minimum deposit is the daily average, not the monthly average. If your account falls below the minimum for even a few hours during the month, you'll be charged the $25 monthly fee.
The only advantage to a big bank like Chase is the availability of ATMs on a national level. You can access these 19,000 ATMs almost anywhere in the country. There are also 5,600 branches across the country. Therefore, if you need access to funds at several different places, Chase could be the bank for you.
The Chase Premium checking account has a $25 monthly fee unless a $15,000 daily balance is maintained. Chase does pay interest on this balance but with interest rates
starting at 0.10%, it isn't worth it. For higher interest rates try
CIT Money Market account with a 1.85%
APY rate.
Chase Savings Accounts Review
That brings us to Chase savings accounts. Again, a monthly $5 fee applies to the Basic savings account unless you authorize Chase to automatically transfer funds
from your checking account to your savings account on a monthly basis. The same 0.10% interest rate makes the monthly fee ridiculous. You can also avoid the service fee by maintaining a $300 daily minimum in the account.
Additionally, Chase charges a $5 fee when you make more than six withdrawals from your savings account each month.
The Premium savings account does offer slightly better interest rates based on the size of the daily minimum. It starts with a daily deposit requirement of $15,000 to
open the account. If it falls below that level, a $20 monthly service fee applies. At $15,000, you earn the same 1/10th of one percent interest as the basic savings account.
Once your daily balance is above $25,000 the interest rate jumps all the way to 0.15%. Even with a $5 million daily balance, the interest rate is still a meager 0.15%.
If you are looking for higher rates, the best deals are available in online accounts.
Other Chase Products
Generally, Chase CD interest rates are in line with the saving account rates. Interest rates do fluctuate but federal economic policies are going to keep them incredibly low for the foreseeable future.
Other consumer related services offered by Chase include:
- Debit and credit cards - some fees apply.
- Home, auto, and student loans.
- Equity loans.
- Financial and retirement planning.
- Online and mobile banking.
- Commercial and business banking.
The Largest Bank in U.S. Review Summary
In a nutshell, Chase is more about collecting fees and making profits than it is about serving the average consumer. Credit unions don't have shareholders demanding
ever higher profits the way Chase does. Unless you have a real need for a relationship with a large national bank, you'll almost always do better and avoid ridiculous
fees by going with a local bank or credit union or an online bank for your financial
needs. In general, local banks offer the same services for free. They just don't have as many ATM machines.
TD Simple Savings Review
TD Simple Savings is a great option if the customer is young, doesn’t have a steady income, and just wants to keep their money in one place.
TD Bank has one of the simplest, albeit stagnant, savings accounts out there. Known as “TD Simple Savings” or “TD Student Savings” if registered with a student ID, this savings account is marketed to young people looking to kick-start the monetarily independent part of their lives. The bank’s website even features a video about the value of starting to save up from an early age. The rates and fees associated with this account are fairly typical, yet many of the specific advantages of this account are particularly beneficial to new bankers.
TD Simple Savings Rates
TD Simple Savings APY is 0.05%. This is on the lower end according to bankrate.com, where most APY savings rates range from 0.75% (Capital One) all the way up to
1.15% (Barclays Bank). If you’re really trying to save up for something big, this interest rate won’t help you much.
TD Simple Savings Fees
TD Simple Savings Maintenance fee: $5/month, $4 with online banking. TD offers many incentives for online banking and paperless statements, recommending free online and mobile banking and even charging $1 for paper statements on checking accounts. This sets them apart from other banks. To explain this emphasis, they claim convenience, organization, and “no paper cuts.” TD also waives the monthly maintenance fee if the customer is 18 and younger or 62 and older, as long as a student/simple checking account is linked or if it is open as an IRA. If this doesn’t apply, the fee can still be waived for the first 12 months if a checking account is linked with a recurring monthly deposit of $25.
TD Simple Savings Minimum daily balance: $300, which is fairly typical of these kinds of accounts. In other words, if there is at least $300 in your account everyday, the customer won’t be charged the monthly maintenance fee. TD also doesn’t have a minimum deposit requirement to open the account, unless it is open as an IRA (in which case it will need the $300 daily balance).
TD Simple Savings Pros
This account is perfect for anyone new to banking. It offers convenience and benefits with little to no fees or drawbacks. The maintenance fee waiver options are great for those who may not have the funds available to keep up with the minimum daily balance, such as teens and students. The paperless statements and online/mobile banking options are also a great option for this market, as younger generations tend to gravitate toward the tech lifestyle anyway.
Beyond the benefits of the rates, TD also offers overdraft link protection with this account, which means that the account holder has the option to link their simple savings account to another TD account in order to cover any instance of insufficient funds. Along with that, the customer also gets free automatic transfers between accounts in order to further protect the account holder from overdraft.
Their customer service is impeccable with free 24/7 live customer service over the phone. A real person, ready to help, is always on the line. It’s also very easy to apply online, over the phone, or in person. They have a quick turnaround rate at TD locations for new customers. Customers can have their new account and a shiny new ATM card ready to go in about 10 minutes.
TD Simple Savings Cons
The account accrues little to no interest over time. It is not a great option if you’re looking to supplement your savings. Granted, this also depends on how much money is in the account at any given time. However, if you’re a full-time student with no income, you probably won’t see your savings accumulate any meaningful amount.
Other cons include a fairly steep ATM fee of $3 for out of branch machines, and some questionable policies about their overdraft protection. Their Debit Card Advance program is not available for their Simple Savings account, which is misleading because that implies that they do not offer overdraft protection for Simple Savings accounts. However, this is available as long as the customer specifically asks for “overdraft link protection” and has another TD account open with sufficient funds. They do not automatically set up any sort of overdraft protection, which this writer found out the hard way when she was charged $140 in overdraft fees for 4 charges of less than $10 in total. However, to attest to the value of their remarkable customer service, TD did refund me half of those charges as a courtesy.
TD Simple Savings Bottom Line
TD Simple Savings is a great account for anyone who wants an introduction to banking. It offers the basics, it’s very easy to manage, and they have convenient and helpful customer service. As long as the account has overdraft link protection, it’ll be one of the least stressful bank accounts you’ll ever have.
However, it’s not great for actual long-term saving. The balance doesn’t gain much interest unless the customer has a decent income (unlike their target market of young people). The money will just sit there, which is still more convenient than physically carrying it around.
TD actually touts “convenience” as their primary appeal - and that it is. The bank and the accounts they offer are very convenient; nothing more, nothing less. Their locations and hours are great, their rates and services are fairly typical, but their accounts do not offer much appeal when compared to other savings offers and APYs. While the bank itself lives up to its slogan, “America’s most convenient bank,” it may not be the best choice for a high yield savings account.
Commerce Bank, which was absorbed by Toronto-Dominion (TD) Bank in 2007, was known throughout the financial industry as "McBank." That's because founder Vernon Hill cut his business teeth as a real estate man shuttling McDonalds impresario Ray Kroc around looking for new restaurant sites to develop. When Hill decided to start a bank in 1973 he was determined to bring a fast-food mentality to the stodgy world of banking.
Out went "banker's hours" and in came seven-day-a-week drive-up service with evening hours; gone were branches, in were "stores"; and those chains that imprisoned pens to bank desks next to stacks of deposit slips? Forget about them. In some years Commerce Bank handed out 28 million plastic pens from the stash in the front of their stores.
The Commerce - and later - TD Bank business model was predicated on maximizing its number of deposits. But even though TD Bank is first and foremost chasing the consumer dollar the bank does not neglect service to commercial accounts. And it turns out "America's Most Convenient Bank" can benefit small business customers as well.
TD Bank Small Business Savings Accounts
TD Business Savings. At TD Bank no business is too small. The required minimum daily balance to begin earning interest is one penny. The monthly maintenance fee is $5.00 but it can be waived with a daily balance of just $500.00. These modest numbers come with a correspondingly microscopic Annual Percentage Yield (APY) - 0.05 percent.
Does that even qualify as a "savings account?" In real numbers the APY translates to keeping $2,000 tied up in your TD Business Savings account for one year before you earn, wait for it, your first dollar of interest. The variable annual yield has not changed in more than a year, presumably because it can not go any lower.
Essentially, a TD Business Savings account is a place to deposit the occasional check for a business that experiences sporadic activity. It is little more than a place to stash a little cash and keep a business viable.
TD Small Business Money Market Plus
For small businesses with a bit more spark, the savings plan of choice is a money market account. Here you need to pony up $25 to get things started. The monthly maintenance fee jumps to $15.00 and the minimum daily balance requirement to get the fee waived is up five-fold to $2,500.
If you have a Business Checking Account in good standing that has seen activity of at least 10 combined deposit and debit transactions in the previous month you can tie the checking together with the TD Small Business Money Market Plus at no charge. The first 50 deposit items and checks are processed for free each month; if volume exceeds that the transaction fee is $0.50.
And your savings return reward at TD Bank for this elevated level of business activity? A tiered APY that returns 0.15 percent on minimum daily balances up to $10,000; 0.20 percent from $10,000 to $24,999.99 and 0.50 percent for deposits above $25,000.
Small Business CD
If your small business is just accumulating profits in a TD Bank business savings account and not using the money for everyday operating expenses you will want to divert funds into Business Certificates of Deposit as soon as it is practical. A Business Basic CD can be opened with as little as $5,000 and the 0.15 percent return from a money market account can be realized in just three months instead of a year. With automatic renewal you can reach a 0.25 percent return in 18 months. The maximum five-year term brings back an annual yield of 0.90 percent.
TD Bank also offers a Business No Catch CD for depositors of at least $25,000. The annual return is lower - 0.20 percent for 11 months - but your money is not socked away in a lockbox since you are allowed one penalty-free withdrawal during the term of the CD. None of TD Bank's certificates of deposit carry a monthly maintenance fee and all are fully insured up to $250,000 per depositor by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Getting Started
TD Bank makes its simple for small business owners to open a business savings account. All that is required is a Social Security or a Tax Identification number. You don't even have to go to your local TD Bank store - there are over 1,300 in 15 East Coast states - but can sign up online. Your new TD Bank business account comes packed with a battery of free services - automatically scheduled bill pay, enhanced account security, online banking, customizable gift cards up to amounts of $750, and a toolkit of resources to help business owners.
But let's face it. No amount of dog biscuits shoved into the pneumatic tubes by pet-friendly TD Bank tellers is going to make a business savings account worth woofing about while Federal Reserve interest rates are at historic lows. Business savings accounts at TD Bank are for businesses looking for a safe place to store money and make a little, very little interest, without a lot of time-consuming money management. These low returns are endemic across the financial landscape. Any business wanting its money to work harder will need to do more than just deposit profits in a bank's business savings account and expect the returns to pile up.
Wells Fargo Savings Review
Let’s assume that your balance in the savings account all year remains at $100,000 (wouldn’t that be nice!). Your total earnings for the year would range from a minimum of $10 to a maximum of $100! Right, insignificant. So let’s look at other reasons to have a savings account at Wells Fargo and the benefits that you may enjoy.
Safety and Security
If you lose your wallet, if it stolen, you misplace cash, etc., you will lose whatever cash you have in your wallet at the time. If you have that same cash on deposit at the bank you avoid this risk to a great extent. Nowadays, the only cash you really need in your wallet is $20-40 in case you need to buy a glass of lemonade or a box of cookies from a scout. Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but only a teeny bit.
Cashless Society
Little by little, we are moving towards a cashless society. You can make electronic payments at almost any commercial establishment from the supermarket to Starbucks to the gas station to the internet. All you need is a means of payment. Debit cards have been around for a long time now and are widely accepted. All Wells Fargo savings accounts come with a debit card which can be used for purchases with no charges from the bank and typically are exempt from charges by the vendor. In fact, many will even give you cash back -at no cost to you- with your purchase.
If you do need cash, though, having a branch or ATM of your bank nearby is vital since making withdrawals outside the network has elevated costs associated with each transaction, regardless of which institution you bank with. Wells Fargo Bank is among the largest retail banks in the country having 6200+ branches and 12,000 ATMs coast-to-coast, so one is likely to be nearby which means convenience and savings for you.
Overdraft Protection
Do you have, or do you plan to have, a checking account? Linking your savings account to the checking account to automatically cover overdrawn checks will save you time, money and embarrassment if you have trouble managing the balance in your checking account. The overdraft protection provided is automatic once the linking is established and is cost-free. For most banking customers, this may be the single most important benefit of their savings account. It’s also worth noting that having overdraft protection in a linked savings account can waive the monthly fees in the some of the checking accounts.
Plans Into Action
Saving requires a plan and putting that plan into action. If you wait to see what is “left over” at the end of the month with the idea of placing that into savings, you are likely to find what most everyone finds at the end of the month: little or nothing. One of the great American truths of the last half century is: we tend to spend all we have, or more. Having an automatic action plan in place can be your best ally in making your savings account grow (interest rates are going to do that!). Wells Fargo allows you to set up automatic transfers from a checking account into a linked savings account. In fact, doing so can reduce the cost of the savings account to zero.
Wells Fargo Savings Accounts
Remember, in order to have a positive yield in your savings account you must avoid monthly service fees. There is no way that the interest you earn will offset the monthly fees if you do not meet the requirements to waive them. Thankfully, waiving the monthly fees can be as easy as simply creating an automatic transfer each month. The following are the savings account options available at Wells Fargo Bank and the basic info regarding each: minimum opening balance, monthly service fees and how to get those service fees waived.
Wells Fargo Way2Save Savings
- A great way to start saving automatically
- Monthly service fee: $5 Waived when you maintain one of these options:
- A $300 minimum daily balance
- A recurring, automatic savings option
- Minimum opening deposit: $25
Wells Fargo Money Market Savings
- Bonus interest rate when linked to select checking packages
- Monthly service fee: $10 Waived when you maintain one of these options:
- A $3,500 minimum daily balance
- A recurring, monthly automatic transfer
- Minimum opening deposit: $50
Wells Fargo High Yield Savings
- Premium rates and easy access to your money with the option to write checks, exclusively for Wells Fargo checking customers
- Monthly service fee: $25 Waived when you maintain a $25,000 average daily balance
- Minimum opening deposit: $25,000
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