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Popular Direct VS Citizens Trust Bank

Which bank is better for you?

  • 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
  • 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
Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon

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
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.

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.

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