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VirtualBank VS Presidential Bank

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: 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
Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon Star Icon

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
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.

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.

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