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Citizens Trust Bank VS Ally Bank

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Variety of Terms: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Required Opening Amount: 5.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Low opening required amounts
  • Good variety of CD terms
  • Can open CD terms online
  • Account statements are electronic

Cons:

  • Low interest rates on CDs
  • Jumbo CDs do not earn higher rates
  • Short-term rates are much lower
  • Customer service has limited hours
  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Variety of Terms: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Required Opening Amount: 5.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon

Pros:

  • No opening required amount
  • Competitive interest rates on CDs
  • A wide variety of CD terms
  • Ten Day Best Rate Guarantee

Cons:

  • No Penalty CD has a high opening amount
  • Interest earned credited annually
  • Some CDs have tiered interest rates
  • Must withdraw entire amount of No Penalty
Citizens Trust Bank CD Review

The initial amount required to open standard Citizens Trust Bank CDs is low. All the standard CDs only require $500 to open. The jumbo CDs require $100,000 to open.

Citizens Trust Bank offers a variety of CD terms. The terms range from seven days to 60-months. There is a total of ten standard CD terms offered. The jumbo CDs also offer the same ten CD terms.

The CD terms offered through Citizens Trust Bank can be opened online. The application is online and completed entirely online.

The statements for Citizens Trust Bank accounts are free. To receive the free statements, signup to receive them electronically. If you wish to receive a statement in the mail, there is a fee of $5 per statement cycle.

The interest rates for Citizens Trust Bank are not competitive with other online CDs. These CD rates are competitive with typical bank rates. The interest rates are not tiered. Any amount over $500 earns the highest rate offered for Citizens Trust Bank CDs.

The jumbo Citizens Trust Bank CDs do not offer any higher interest rates. To open a jumbo CD requires $100,000. These rates are not competitive with other jumbo online CDs. The jumbo rates are not higher than the Citizens Trust Bank standard CD rates.

The short-term CDs hardly earn interest. The seven-day to 31-day terms, 90-day term, and six-month term earn very low interest. These term rates are similar to typical bank savings accounts. Online CDs earn much higher interest.

There are specific hours Citizens Trust Bank operates. Customer service is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. You can call or email customer service. Citizens Trust Bank does offer some branch locations.

Read the full Citizens Trust Bank review.

Ally Bank CD Review

All Ally high yield CDs do not have a required amount to open the account. You can open each of the CDs with any amount. The Raise Your Rate CDs and the No Penalty CD do not have a set amount required to open.

Ally CDs offer competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online CD accounts. The interest rates for Ally CDs are much higher than typical bank rates.

There are a wide variety of CDs offered through Ally. They offer seven high yield CDs. Those terms range from three months to five years. Ally offers a Raise Your Rate CD. These CDs are available in two-year and four-year terms. They also offer a No Penalty CD. This CD is an eleven-month term.

Ally offers a Ten-Day Best Rate Guarantee for each of the different CDs. When you open your CD, you have ten days. If interest rates go up within that time, so does your interest rate for the CD. The best rate guarantee is also available when you are renewing your CD.

The No Penalty CD has high opening amounts to earn the most competitive rates. Balances under $5,000 earn the lowest rates. To earn the most competitive rate for the CD requires a minimum opening balance of $25,000. Balances over $5,000 but less than $25,000 receive an interest rate between the two rates.

Interest earned from Ally CDs is generally credited annually. If your CD is a one-year term or less, they credit your interest at the CD maturity. If your CD term is longer than one year, they credit your interest at your CD terms year-end. You can make some changes to your CDs through the Ally website.

Some Ally CD accounts have tiered interest rates. To earn the most competitive interest rate for your account requires a balance of $25,000. There is not a required amount to open these CDs, but the higher the account balance, the higher the rate you earn.

The Ally No Penalty CD allows you to withdraw your money anytime after the first six days. You cannot make a partial withdrawal of the funds. If you are going to withdraw the money, you must withdraw the entire CD balance.

Read the full Ally Bank review.

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