Salem Five Direct
Salem Five Direct is an online division of Salem Five Cents Savings Bank, an innovative bank located in Salem, Massachusetts with over 150 years of banking experience. On the Salem Five Direct website you will find unique bank product offerings developed exclusively for clients seeking to conduct business on the internet. These offers will not be available through the Salem Five branch network and will change from time to time. The Salem Five Direct mission is to offer unprecedented value to our direct banking customers through exclusive product features at highly competitive prices.
They Keep Locking My Account For No Reason...
I've had my Salem Five Direct account for about 6 weeks and in that time have had multiple instances of them locking my account and preventing me from transferring money. Never had this type of issue with other banks, and I've had several dozen different accounts over the years with both online and traditional banks.
I tried to use Zelle today, and that apparently triggered this most recent lockout. The only option given to remedy this and regain access to my account was to call customer service. When I called, wait time to speak to a rep was 28 minutes. I hung up. Will try again later and then decide whether this account's interest rate is worth the hassle.
Outbound ACH Transfers Ridiculously Low
i tried to move my money out because rates didn’t keep up and found out they cap outbound ACH transfers to $5,000 a day. So I used my other bank to pull the ACH transaction and they denied the transfer and wanted me to send them extra paperwork to prove that I owned the account. Mind you I already set up the connection with the “trial deposits.” Also app sucks and doesn’t show your interest rate in the app.
Bizarre Policy On Interest Rate Increases
I just found out that this bank has a very unusual policy about when interest rates increase. Apparently, you are stuck with the rate you signed up with unless you call or chat with them and plead for the new, increased rate! I have never heard of this in my 60 years of banking! Unfortunately, it took me a few months to realize this, but when I did chat with a very helpful CSR today, she informed me when new rates are traditionally posted, so I put a reminder on my phone each week to check their rates. I’ll play their silly game! They do have the best rare around and their App is easy to use. If they would just change that stupid policy, they would be a Five Star institution for sure. Wake up Salem Five Direct!
Salem Five Getting Out Of DIF
I've been reasonably happy with my Salem Five Direct account since they've always been willing to adjust the rate on my existing accounts whenever they have a "new money" promotion but one big selling point for me was that they had Masachussetts DIF in addition to FDIC insurance.
They just sent me a letter saying that they are getting out of DIF though the insurer has agreed to cover existing funds for one more year.
Data as of Q1 2025
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 23296 |
| Year Established | 1855 |
| Employees | 643 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.76% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 6.74% |
| Annual Interest Income | $92.3MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $8.05B$7.34B |
| Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $6.07B$5.38B |
| Deposits | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $5.64B$5.31B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $899.1MM$838.6MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $69.3MM$64.7MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $22.1MM$10.9MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $10.1MM$11.6MM |