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Live Oak Bank VS Popular Direct

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Variety of Terms: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Required Opening Amount: 4.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Good variety of CD terms offered
  • Competitive interest rates on all terms
  • CD terms require same opening amount
  • Early withdrawal penalty low

Cons:

  • No interest rate guarantee offered
  • Only one way to receive interest
  • Customer service has specific hours
  • Must link an external bank account
  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.0 Star Icon
  • Variety of Terms: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Required Opening Amount: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • All CD terms offer competitive rates
  • Good variety of terms available
  • Customer service available 24/7
  • Opening CDs is completely online

Cons:

  • High opening required amount
  • Early withdrawal penalties are high
  • Cannot withdraw interest without a fee
  • Only one way to fund CDs
Live Oak Bank CD Review

Live Oak Bank offers a good variety of CD terms. The terms range from six months to five years. There are seven different CD terms available from Live Oak Bank.

Each of the CD terms offers competitive interest rates. The interest rates are competitive with other online CDs. Live Oak Bank CDs offer rates much higher than typical bank rates. Even the six-month and one-year CD offer rates competitive with other online CDs.

Each of the CDs offered through Live Oak Bank has the same opening required amount. The seven terms each require $2,500 to open. Once you have the required opening amount, you can earn interest on any amount above that balance. You must completely fund your account with the $2,500 within 14 days of opening the account.

Live Oak Bank CDs has a low penalty for withdrawing money before the maturity date. If your CD term is less than 24 months, the penalty is 90 days of interest on the withdrawn amount. If your CD terms are 24 months or longer, the penalty is 180 days of interest on the withdrawn amount.

Live Oak Bank does not offer an interest rate guarantee when you open a CD. The interest rate on the day you open and fund your account is the rate you will receive on the CD. If the rates increase shortly after opening your account, your CD interest rate will not increase.

There is only one option for how to receive interest payments on your Live Oak Bank CDs. The interest credits each month. The money is deposited back into your CD. You can withdraw the interest earned on the CDs without a penalty.

Customer service for Live Oak Bank has limited availability and contact options. Customer service is available through phone, email, or mail. Their hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. You can follow Live Oak Bank on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Applying for a Live Oak Bank CD is completely online. To successfully set up a CD you must link an external bank account. Once you finish the paperwork, Live Oak Bank will verify your external bank account. You then fund your account with an electronic transfer from an external bank account.

Read the full Live Oak Bank review.

Popular Direct CD Review

Each Popular Direct CD offers competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online accounts. The terms are shorter than 12-months offer competitive interest rates as well. Popular Direct interest rates are much higher than typical bank interest rates.

There are a good variety of CD terms offered through Popular Direct. The terms range in length from three-months to five-years. There are eight CD term lengths in all. You can open any of these CD terms online.

If you have a question and need to contact customer service, they are available anytime. Customers can reach a customer service representative every day, all day. Their customer service phone line is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also contact customer service through email or mail.

The process of opening Popular Direct CD terms is entirely online. It takes around ten minutes to complete the application for a new CD account. Once you successfully open an account, everything for your account is online. Access your accounts from anywhere, anytime.

Popular Direct CDs have a high set amount required to open their CDs. The requirement is $10,000 to open each CD term. If you do not have at least the $10,000 balance, you cannot open a Popular Direct CD.

The fee for withdrawing money from Popular Direct CDs before the maturity date is high. For terms less than 91 days, the fee is 89 days of interest. For terms greater than 91 days, but shorter than 12-months, the fee is 120 days of interest. The fee for terms longer than 12-months, but shorter than 36-months, is 270 days of interest. For terms from 36-months to 60-months, the fee is 365 days of interest. Terms 60-months or longer has a fee of 730 days of interest.

Some CDs allow you to withdraw interest earned on CDs without paying an early withdrawal fee. Popular Direct does not. They do not allow for withdrawals of the CD principal or the interest earned without paying a fee. You can only make withdrawals without a fee during the grace period.

There is only one way to fund your Popular Direct CDs. Customers must link each CD to an external bank account. When you open a CD, you must make the deposit from a linked external account. This is part of the account opening process. Once the accounts are linked, you can make electronic transfers into your CD. To avoid a fee, only transfer money when you first open the account and during the grace period.

Read the full Popular Direct review.

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