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Citizens Trust Bank VS TIAA 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: 4.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Competitive interest rates
  • A wide variety of CD terms
  • Bump Rate CD
  • Yield interest rates guaranteed

Cons:

  • High opening amounts for some CDs
  • Basic CDs offer lower interest rates
  • High penalty for early withdrawal
  • Cannot make deposits after opened
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.

TIAA Bank CD Review

The interest rates for TIAA Bank CDs are competitive. Each of the term interest rates is competitive with other online CD accounts. TIAA rates are much higher than typical bank rates. Their CD rates are not tiered. Any account balance earns competitive rates.

TIAA Bank offers a wide variety of CD terms. Their terms range from three-months to five-years. They offer the basic CD terms between these times, but they offer a nine-month term and a 30-month term as well. TIAA Bank also offers a 42-month Bump Rate term.

TIAA Bank offers on Bump Rate CD. This CD term is a 42-month term. This CD only requires $1,500 to open. If interest rates increase during the CD term, you have the option to bump up to the new interest rate. You can bump up the interest rate once during the CD term. Customers can only have one Bump Rate CD opened at a time.

TIAA guarantees their interest rates earned are in the top five percent of the most competitive accounts. Each week TIAA reviews the rates of competitors. Based on their findings they adjust their rates to make sure they are competitive with the best.

The TIAA Bank high yield CDs have a high opening required amount. Each of these CDs terms require $5,000 to open. TIAA Bank offers the option of CDARS. This is if you want to invest an amount over the FDIC insured limit of $250,000 and still be insured. To open a CDARS CD requires an opening deposit of $10,000.

TIAA Bank offers high yield and regular CDs. The regular CD account interest rates are slightly lower. They are not as competitive as the high yield interest rates. The high yield accounts earn high rates but require a higher opening amount.

The early withdrawal penalty for CDs is high. The Bump Rate CD charges 318 days of interest if you withdraw money before the maturity date. The six-month CDs require 45 days of interest. The 18-month CDs require 136 days of interest. The five-year CDs require 456 days of interest. Other early withdrawal fees vary depending on the CD term.

Once you open a TIAA CD, you cannot make deposits into the CD. The opening deposit is the only deposit allowed until the CD reaches maturity. Contact customer service to decide what happens to your CD once it reaches maturity.

Read the full TIAA Bank review.

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