Banesco USA Offers BanesGrow Savings Account, 2.47% APY
When Banesco USA’s raised the rates on its BanesGrow Savings Account (2.47% APY) and BanesFlex Money Market Account (2.27% APY) in late January, I was disappointed to learn they were only available to Florida residents. I’m not sure when the availability changed, but both accounts are now available nationwide through the Bank’s online application.
BanesGrow Savings Account
BanesFlex Money Market Account
The online application lists transactional limitations that apply to both accounts:
The annual transactional activity allowed is:
Total incoming transaction activity, excluding initial deposit: $100,000 Total outgoing transaction activity: $100,000 No cash deposits of cash withdrawals No international wires, outgoing and incoming
These limitations seem harsh, especially given the fact that the Money Market account requires a $100k minimum balance to qualify for the top rate. The online application does suggest they do make exceptions for larger transactions:
If you require additional activity or additional information, please contact our Client Care Center at 888-228-1597 or [email protected]
Availability
Headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, Banesco USA offers its product line to all U.S. citizens and resident aliens, 18 years or older, with a valid Social Security number. Each account signer is required to have a unique email address.
As stated on the first page of the online application, “we cannot offer to title accounts opened online in the name of a trust, however, the trust can be set up as a beneficiary.”
Opening a BanesGrow Savings Account and/or BanesFlex Money Market Account can only be done online. For transactions that require a brick-and-mortar visit, Banesco USA has four Florida branches, located in Coral Gables, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, and Weston. There’s also a branch in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Funding a new account can be done through an ACH transfer from a checking or savings account at another institution. According to the first page of the online application,
Checking or Savings account information to fund your new CD.
Funds must be available at the time of account application.
Bank Overview
Banesco USA has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 1.66% (excellent) based on December 31, 2018 data. In the past year, Banesco USA has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $184.97 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 21.07%. Please refer to our financial overview of Banesco USA (FDIC Certificate # 57815) for more details.
Banesco USA is currently Florida’s 18th largest bank with assets in excess of $1.2 billion. In the past, there has been some confusion between Banesco USA and Banesco, a Venezuelan bank.
Banesco USA was founded and granted an FDIC Certificate in 2006 and originally operated as BBU Bank. According to a PR Newswire article, the Bank was re-branded as Banesco USA in 2011,
after BBU Bank acquired and merged San Juan, Puerto Rico-based Banesco International Bank Corp. into its mainland U.S. domestic banking operations. The merger done last September gave BBU Bank an additional $16 million capital infusion and a new branch in the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
According to Wikipedia,
Banesco is one of the first Venezuelan banks holding only Venezuelan capital. It was founded in 1977 as the Banco Agroindustrial Venezolano (Venezuelan Agroindustrial Bank), until it changed its name to Banco Financiero (Financial Bank) in 1987. In 1992, after changing their name to Bancentro, the bank was acquired by the Banesco Financial Organization, the banking division came to dominate the company and was combined with the other divisions to form a banco universal (universal bank).
The Disclosure document attached to Banesco USA's online application states,
Banesco USA is a Florida state chartered bank regulated by the Office of Financial
Regulation (OFR) and completely independent of Banesco in other countries.
Bottom line, Banesco USA and Banesco (Velezuelan) are not the same financial institution, nor are they related in any way.
How the BanesGrow Savings Account Compares
When compared to the Savings Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide, Banesco USA’s BanesGrow Savings Account APY currently ranks third, regardless of minimum balance requirements.
To search for the best Savings Account, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to DepositAccounts.com’s Savings Account Rates page.
How the BanesFlex Money Market Compares
When compared to the Money Market accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide, Banesco USA’s BanesFlex Money Market APY currently ranks seventh, regardless of minimum deposit requirements.
To look for the best MMA rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our Money Market Accounts rates table page.
The above rates are accurate as of 4/17/2019.
If you believe in rate matching FIs without evidence, perhaps you believe in Big Foot too?
(a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax)