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VirtualBank VS Giantbank.com

Which bank is better for you?

  • Financial Rates: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 3.5 Star Icon
  • Variety of Terms: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Required Opening Amount: 3.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Competitive interest rates on CDs
  • Good variety of CD terms available
  • Encourages CD laddering
  • Options for how to receive interest

Cons:

  • High opening required amounts
  • CDs are personal deposit accounts only
  • Does not offer interest rate guarantee
  • Early withdrawal fee effects principal
  • Financial Rates: 4.0 Star Icon
  • Customer Service: 2.0 Star Icon
  • Variety of Terms: 5.0 Star Icon
  • Required Opening Amount: 4.0 Star Icon
No Rate Information
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Pros:

  • Most accounts offer competitive rates
  • Good variety of CD terms offered
  • Can apply through mail or online
  • Opening required amount is low

Cons:

  • Short-term CDs have low rates
  • Limited ways to fund CDs
  • Customer service has limited hours
  • Transfer interest to internal accounts
VirtualBank CD Review

VirtualBank offers online CD accounts. Each term offers competitive interest rates. The rates are competitive with other online CDs. VirtualBank interest rates are much higher than typical bank rates.

Even the shorter-term CDs offer competitive interest rates. These rates are very competitive compared to other short-term CDs.

There are a good variety of CD terms offered through VirtualBank. They offer CD terms from one month to 60-months. There are a total of 11 CD terms. All the CD terms are online accounts. You can apply online or send your application through the mail.

VirtualBank encourages CD laddering. They have a CD laddering calculator on their website. With the calculator, you can see how much interest you would earn by CD laddering. CD laddering is opening different CD terms, so your CDs mature at a variety of times. This allows you to open longer-term CDs to earn higher interest rates, but still, have access to your money.

There are options for how to receive the interest you earn on VirtualBank CDs. When you open the account, you can choose to have the interest credited monthly or quarterly. Credited the money back to the CD or you can transfer the money into another VirtualBank account. You can also choose to have the interest mailed to you in a check.

VirtualBank has a high required amount to open their CDs. Each CD requires $10,000 to open. That amount is high compared to other online CDs. If you have the $10,000 required opening amount, you can open any of VirtualBank CDs.

The CDs offered through VirtualBank are only for personal deposit accounts. At this time, these CDs are not available for business accounts. There are no specific business accounts available through VirtualBank. Only personal deposit accounts are currently offered.

VirtualBank CDs do not offer an interest rate guarantee. The interest rate you earn for the life of your CD term is the rate on the day you open your account. They do not offer an interest rate guarantee. If the interest rates increase shortly after you open your CD, your rate will not increase. VirtualBank CDs offer fixed interest based on the day you open your CD.

Early withdrawal fees for VirtualBank CDs are high. The fees may affect your principal amount. For CDs under one year, the fee is 100 percent of the interest earned on the withdrawn amount. For terms from one year to two years, the fee is one percent of the principal amount withdrawn. For CDs longer than two years, the fee is two percent of the principal amount withdrawn.

Read the full VirtualBank review.

Giantbank.com CD Review

Most giantbank.com CDs offer competitive interest rates. The rates for some CDs are competitive with other online accounts. All of the CD rates are higher than typical bank rates. The CD terms that are 12-months and longer offer the most competitive interest rates.

There are a good variety of giantbank.com CD terms available. The terms range from 91-days to 60-month CDs. There are seven different terms offered through giantbank.com. You can apply for any of these CD terms online.

There are two options on how to open a CD with giantbank.com. You can apply for the CD online or fill out an application and send the application back through the mail. If you open the CD online there is a maximum opening amount of $50,000.

The opening required amount for giantbank.com CDs are low. Each of the CD terms requires $2,500 to open. You must keep a balance of at least $2,500 in the giantbank.com CDs to earn interest. Any amount over the required balance earns a competitive interest rate. The interest rates are not tiered.

The short-term CDs do not offer as competitive interest rates as the longer-term CDs. The 91-day, six-month, and nine-month CDs do not offer as competitive rates. These rates are still competitive. The rates are just not as competitive as the other giantbank.com terms.

giantbank.com limits the ways you can initially deposit money into CD accounts. Those ways include mailing in a check or a wire transfer. You can also transfer money from another giantbank.com account. The website does not say you can make the initial transfer from an external bank into a giantbank.com CD.

giantbank.com is an online bank. You can contact customer service through email, mail, phone, or fax. Customer service does have limited hours they are open. They are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST.

Customers can transfer the interest earned on giantbank.com CDs to other accounts. But, the money can only be transferred to other giantbank.com accounts. Those accounts include giantbank.com checking or money market accounts.

Read the full Giantbank.com review.

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