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PenFed Credit Union VS PurePoint Financial

Which bank is better for you?

  • 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
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Pros:

  • Low opening required amounts
  • Good variety of CD terms available
  • Competitive interest rates on CDs
  • Can choose how to receive interest

Cons:

  • Must become a member first
  • Can only open standard CDs online
  • No interest rate guarantee for CDs
  • Early withdrawal fees are high
  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Variety of Terms: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Required Opening Amount: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon

Pros:

  • Competitive interest rates on CDs
  • Different ways to fund accounts
  • Variety of CD terms available
  • Best Rate Commitment

Cons:

  • High opening required amounts
  • Fee for early withdrawals does not vary
  • One-time deposit to open CDs
  • Must sign up for online banking
PenFed Credit Union CD Review

The opening required amount for PenFed CDs is low. Each standard and IRA CD terms only require $1,000 to open. The education CDs only require $500 to open. You can open the CDs online or in a branch location.

There are a good variety of CDs available through PenFed. They offer nine standard CD terms from six months to seven years. Their IRA CDs and educational savings certificates terms range from one to seven years.

Each CD term with PenFed offers competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online CDs. The standard, IRA, and education CDs interest rates are competitive. They are higher than the typical bank interest rates.

There is more than one way to choose how to receive interest payments earned from your PenFed CDs. You can have the money added to the CD or another account. You can choose to have the money sent to you in a check. You can receive the interest earned monthly or when the CD matures.

To open a CD with PenFed, you must first become a member of the credit union. If you have or are currently serving in the military, you can become a member. Living in certain areas or being a member of set organizations qualifies you. If you work for the U.S. government or other organizations, you are eligible as well. If you do not meet any of these requirements, you can pay a $5 fee. Once you are a member, you can apply for accounts.

PenFed offers standard CDs, IRA CDs, and educational CDs. Members can only open standard CDs online. To open the other types of CDs, you must visit a branch location or contact customer service. All the standard CD terms are available to open online.

The standard PenFed CDs do not offer an interest rate guarantee. If you open a CD and the interest rates increase shortly after, your interest rates will not increase. The PenFed standard CDs offer competitive interest rates.

The early withdrawal fees for PenFed CDs are high. If you withdraw money early from a six-month CD, you will lose all your interest. For CD terms longer than six-month the fee is all interest earned if withdrawn in the first year. After the first year, the fee is 30 percent of what would have been earned if the CD had reached maturity.

Read the full PenFed Credit Union review.

PurePoint Financial CD Review

PurePoint Financial offers competitive interest rates on each CD term. Their interest rates are competitive with other online CD accounts. PurePoint rates are some of the leaders in the market of online CD accounts. The interest rates are not tiered. Any amount over $10,000 earns the most competitive interest rate offered.

There are four ways to fund your PurePoint CD accounts. Fund your account through an online electronic transfer from a linked account. You can also fund your account through a mobile deposit, a wire transfer, or by mailing in a check. You can only make a deposit into PurePoint CDs when you open the account.

There are a variety of CD terms available through PurePoint Financial. The terms range from six-months to five-years. There is a total of nine CD terms offered. Each of the terms requires $10,000 to open.

PurePoint Financial offers its Best Rate Commitment. Once you fund your PurePoint CD, they watch the rates for ten days. During that time, whatever is the highest rate offered will be the rate you receive for the duration of the CD term. If you renew your CD for the same term, you are again given the ten-day period to lock in the highest rate.

To open PurePoint CDs requires a high amount. Each term requires $10,000 to open. Once you open the account, you earn the most competitive interest rates for any balance over $10,000. PurePoint CDs do not have tiered interest rates.

There is a fee if you withdraw money from your PurePoint CD before it reaches maturity. The fee for any CD term length is 181 days of interest on the withdrawn amount. That fee applies to every PurePoint CD.

The opening required amount to open PurePoint CDs is $10,000. That amount must come from a one-time deposit of at least that amount. The deposit can only come from a single account. If PurePoint does not receive that funding within 45 days, they will close the account. Once you open and fund a CD, you cannot deposit into the CD during the life of the CD term.

To open an account with PurePoint Financial requires signing up for online banking. It does not matter if you open an account over the phone, online, or in person. If the primary account holder does not enroll in online banking within 90 days, PurePoint will close the account. If you open an account over the phone, you only have 30 days to enroll in online banking. A valid email address is also required.

Read the full PurePoint Financial review.

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