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Presidential Bank VS Comenity Direct

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 4.5 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
  • Competitive interest rates on CDs
  • Can choose how to receive interest rates

Cons:

  • High early withdrawal fees
  • Short grace periods after maturity
  • Limited ways to contact customer service
  • Closing CDs requires notice in writing
  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 2.5 Star Icon
  • Variety of Terms: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Required Opening Amount: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Competitive interest rates on all CDs
  • Encourages CD laddering
  • Low opening required amounts
  • Can open all CDs online

Cons:

  • Opening amount requires one sum
  • Limited CD terms available
  • No interest rate guarantee
  • Customer service not open 24/7
Presidential Bank CD Review

The Presidential Bank CDs have low opening required amounts. Each of the CD terms require $1,000 to open. You must keep this balance of $1,000 in the CD to earn interest on the account.

There are a good variety of CD terms available through Presidential Bank. The terms range from 30-days to five years. There are a total of eight CD terms offered. You can apply for the CD terms online or through the mail.

All Presidential Bank CD terms offer competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online CD accounts. Their rates are much higher than typical bank rates. Presidential Bank interest rates are not tiered. Any amount over the required opening balance earns the competitive interest rates. The short-term CDs offer interest rates competitive with other online short-term CDs.

Presidential Bank customers can choose how to receive interest earned from CDs. You can have the interest mailed to you in a check each month. You can deposit the interest into another Presidential account. You can also send the interest to an external bank account.

The early withdrawal fees for Presidential Bank CDs are high. For terms from 30 to 60-days, the fee is 30 days of interests on the withdrawn amount. For CDs from 90-days to 182-days, the fee is three-months of interest on the withdrawn amount. The fee for one-year CDs is six-months of interest on the withdrawn amount. Two-year CDs require 12-months of interest. The five-year CD requires 24-months of interest on the withdrawn amount.

The grace periods for Presidential Bank CDs are shorter than other similar online CD terms. The 30-day CD only has a grace period of one business day. The other CD terms have a grace period of seven days. Each of these grace periods start the day your CD reaches maturity.

Presidential Bank has nine branch locations in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. If you do not live by a branch location, there are limited ways and times to contact customer service. You can reach a representative through phone, mail, or email. Their hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET.

To close your Presidential Bank CD, you must notify customer service in writing of your decision. They must receive the notification of your plans to close the CD before or during the grace period. You can take the document to a branch location or mail it in to customer service. But, notification in writing is required to close the CD.

Read the full Presidential Bank review.

Comenity Direct CD Review

The Comenity Direct CDs offer competitive interest rates on each of their CD terms. The interest rates are competitive with other online accounts. These rates are much higher than typical bank rates. The rates are not tiered. Any amount over $1,500 earns competitive rates.

Comenity Direct encourages CD laddering. CD laddering is when you open one five-year CD each year. Your money earns competitive interest rates offered by five-year CDs. By opening one each year, one renews each year. This allows you access to your money every year without an early withdrawal penalty.

The CDs with Comenity Direct have low opening required amounts. They each need only $1,500 to open. Once you fund the CD, your money starts earning interest immediately.

Each of the CDs offered through Comenity Direct can be opened online. This is an entirely online bank. You open your account online and take care of all your banking needs online. They offer a website as well as a mobile app to access your accounts.

The opening required amount to fund Comenity Direct CDs requires $1,500. This amount must be deposited in one transaction. You cannot make that deposit through multiple transactions.

Comenity Direct offers online CDs. There are limited CD terms available. They offer one, two, three, four, and five-year terms. Open each of the Comenity Direct CDs entirely online.

The Comenity Direct CDs do not offer an interest rate guarantee. The interest rates on each of the CDs are competitive. But, if the rates increase shortly after opening the CD, your interest rates will not increase.

Customer service hours for Comenity Direct are not 24/7. They do offer extended customer service hours. They are open on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can call customer service or send an email. There are no branch locations.

Read the full Comenity Direct review.

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