Related Posts
7/28 - BrioDirect Bolts Out Front To 2.15% APY
6/30 - BrioDirect High-Yield Savings APY Tops Nationwide Rate Charts
6/29 - Brio Direct Increased Savings Rate To 1.80%
6/17 - Briodirect Ups Rate To 1.15%
5/23 - BrioDirect Boosts Nationally Available High-Yield Savings Rate
8/3 - Brio Keeps Sinking... Now Down To 0.90% APY
7/22 - BrioDirect Offers Top Short-Term CD Rate
6/27 - Briodirect Dropped To 0.95% APY
5/21 - Rate Drop From 1.40% To 1.25% APY
4/16 - Another Drop At Briodirect, Down To 1.55% APY This A.M.
3/20 - Dropped Again Today To 1.65%
3/5 - Another Month, Another Rate Cut By Briodirect
2/14 - Brio Dropped Again To 2.00%
1/17 - High-Yield Savings Drops To 2.05%
Pretty Decent/Good Experience So Far
I just opened and funded a savings account, and quite honestly had a very acceptable experience and none of the issues of which I've read below.
I thought the application process was very "user friendly" and they promptly verified me and authorized an account. (I actually applaud/like their security measures... protects them and me.)
As to initial funding, I'm not fond of the Plaid System and used ACH transfer. I had them "pull" from one of my accounts and it was a full 5 days to posting... which is the max ACH time limit... but that is OK. One peculiarity is their system does not show "pending or in process"... but that is OK, and they are probably working on their systems.
I subsequently have further funded by "pushing" from my external account, and that was virtually 1 day immediate. One peculiarity is that for one day they will show "available funds" exceeding "deposited funds" ... until they actually post it to the account. That's OK also, I'm not worried about one day interest and probably has to do with integrating their Webster and Brio systems.EDIT UPDATE 7/20 Their final actual posting was entirely 100% correct as to dateing.
As to customer service, I found it pretty darn good. I received an immediate and correct response to my first written inquiry. My second inquiry was not responded to, so I called and immediately got thru to Johanna who understood, was professional and friendly, and promptly forwarded me the beneficiary forms.
I am yet unsure how to verify that my beneficiaries are of bank record. (Important to me for both my estate planning and levels of FDIC insurance). I don't believe they are available on their web site. But I'm pretty confident that their customer service will be able to assist me. EDIT UPDATE 7/20 I subsequently had immediate and excellent response to my request and received the exact verification I needed for my files.
There are NO "curve balls" in their Truth in Savings Disclosure... and I suspect that any operational peculiarities that may exist are just a result of probably being very busy and refining their systems.
I'm happy with Brio to date, and wish them a very successful future.
New Account
there was not any issues creating the account today. It connected to the external WF account using immediate verification. used the secure message to request online form to add beneficiary. I was told only the beneficiary name, birthdate and address are required for it. I stuck with major online banks saving accounts only because of the name and it was less hassle to add beneficiary. But with 80% more interest will transfer all of Discover Bank savings into Brio account after beneficiary is added. Plus the BRIO customer service was very helpful. Tried calling BASK bank for some questions last week about new accounts and now am glad I never got a callback from their crappy bank and opened BRIO account instead.
Website Needs Work But Otherwise Seemed Okay
Started the new application process on June 29 and it is not lightening speed here to get the account totally funded through BRIO DIRECT ACH transfers. However, it 100% funded now in time for the monthly statement. It does irk me that the statement cycle ends on the 15th of month instead of the end of the month like most other banks. The bigger complaint however is that the website has no ability to view the beneficiaries on it. It is a piss poor setup. What evolved was that I had to submit a secure message with basic name/address/occupation info of the person and request that they be added as beneficiary. There were not any specific forms to fill out. It was basically like a text message. There was no response back so I sent a 2nd message to request the bank validate that beneficiary had been added. So then a bank employee sent a message back saying that it was completed. Then I had to copy and paste this trail of messages into an external PDF file and send that to the beneficiary as confirmation. The bank needs to get their act together and update the website to make it similar to other online banks in this regards. However, they do have an interesting feature on the website that allows you to have other people who are not on the account have access to the account information. Never saw that elsewhere. However, I did not have troubles that other people mentioned with communications like phone call responses as the bank always answered the calls or did a call back within like an hour time. It did not cause any grief to submit the required information to get the account opened up. Submit a drivers license # ? Big Deal!
Brio Direct Interest Rate Not Shown Under Account Info
Very easy to open account. But no answers the phone and I want the current interest rate posted with my account information. They need to take guidance from Marcus and Ally Bank. You open those accounts, and your interest rate is clearly shown. Additionally, since there is virtually no phone or email support, how will I know when rates change. I get email and text notifications from Marcus and Ally. Webster and Brio Direct need to fix this or I will be moving on. There are plenty of offers for higher interest rate online savings to be found. SO GET IT TOGETHER!!! Not that anyone will probably read this from Brio Direct or Webster. Their lack of communication is cause for concern!!!!
Data as of Q1 2022
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 18221 |
| Year Established | 1870 |
| Employees | 4126 |
| Primary Regulator | OCC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.17% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 1.41% |
| Annual Interest Income | $415.1MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2022vs Q1 2021 | $65.01B$33.30B |
| Loans | Q1 2022vs Q1 2021 | $42.99B$21.00B |
| Deposits | Q1 2022vs Q1 2021 | $54.63B$28.80B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2022vs Q1 2021 | $8.72B$3.36B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2022vs Q1 2021 | $569.4MM$328.4MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2022vs Q1 2021 | $225.8MM$139.6MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2022vs Q1 2021 | $3.1MM$2.3MM |