Review of Coastal Heritage Bank (MA) Rewards Checking Account
The original opening line of this blog post was “Coastal Heritage Bank (Coastal Heritage) has raised the rate on its Heritage Plus Checking account to 2.00% APY on qualifying balances up to $25k.” What I thought would be a review of a rewards checking account with a good rate on a large balance, turned into anything but.
Long story short, Coastal Heritage’s website listed two different APYs (2.00% and 1.75%) for the Heritage Plus Checking. When I called the bank to find out which rate was correct (hoping it was 2.00% APY), I was surprised (and disappointed) to find out the rate is actually 1.25% APY. How two incorrect rates appeared on the website seems to be a bit of a mystery, since the latest Heritage Plus Checking rate change occurred about two months ago.
While not possessing the greatest rate, the Heritage Plus Checking still offers a large qualifying balance cap ($25k). Qualifying balances greater than $25k and non-qualifying balances both earn 0.10% APY.
The Heritage Plus Checking account was added to Coastal Heritage’s product line in early 2016. The monthly qualifying requirements have remained the same and include,
- At least 12 debit card transactions
- At least one direct deposit or ACH transfer
The Heritage Plus Checking account has no minimum balance requirement or monthly service fee, but does require a $500 minimum opening deposit. Unlimited check writing is available and a fee-free debit card will be issued after account opening. Unlimited nationwide ATM fees will be reimbursed up to $15 per month, if all qualifying requirements are met. There is a limit of one Heritage Plus Checking account per Social Security number.
Depositors Insurance Fund
Coastal Heritage is a member of both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF), which means all customers’ deposits are insured in full.
Regardless of the number of accounts or the total funds, Coastal Heritage Bank’s deposits are safe and secure. All types of bank deposit accounts are covered, including savings accounts, checking accounts, certificates of deposit (CDs), money market deposit accounts, and retirement deposit accounts. The first $250,000 per depositor is insured by the FDIC. All deposits above the FDIC insurance limits are insured by the DIF.
Availability
Headquartered in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Coastal Heritage Bank has expanded its market area since I last wrote about the bank in 2017. Through a combination of acquisitions and mergers, Coastal Heritage now offers its services and product line to the coastal areas of Barnstable, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Plymouth Counties. This includes Massachusetts’ South Shore, which is loosely defined as the region stretching east and south from Boston (toward Cape Cod) along the shores of Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay.
Opening a Heritage Plus Checking account can be done online (eligibility determined by Zip Code) or at any of 16 Massachusetts branches located in East Bridgewater, East Weymouth (2), Hanover, Hingham, Kingston, Lynn, Marshfield (2), Nahant, Norwell, Quincy (2), Scituate, and Weymouth (2).
As stated on the online application, there are deposit limits when a new Heritage Plus Checking account online: $500 minimum and $10k maximum deposits.
According to an announcement on the COVID-19 Update page dated May 29, 2021,
Effective May 29th, 2021 our branch lobbies will be fully open. This means that:
- Vaccinated customers may enter branch offices without a face covering.
- Non-vaccinated customers are required to wear a face covering and practice social distancing while visiting a branch office.
Bank Overview
Coastal Heritage Bank has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas ratio of 2.56% (excellent), based on March 31, 2021 data. In the past year, Coastal Heritage Bank increased its total non-brokered deposits by $127.61 million, an excellent growth rate of 18.91%. Please refer to our financial overview of Coastal Heritage Bank (FDIC Certificate # 26591) for more details.
Coastal Heritage Bank is currently the 52nd largest bank headquartered in Massachusetts, with assets in excess of $957 million. Tracing Coastal Heritage’s history turned out to be probably the most tangled tale I’ve come across. Suffice it to say, three founding institutions – South Shore Co-operative Bank (est. 1890), Equitable Co-operative Bank (est. 1877), and Weymouth Co-operative Bank (est. 1889) – at some point re-branded, merged into, or were acquired by some other bank, with all operating on the Coastal Heritage Bank brand by 2019.
How Heritage Plus Checking Compares
When compared to the High Yield Reward Checking Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available within the market area and have maximum qualifying balances of at least $25k, Coastal Heritage Bank’s Heritage Plus Checking APY currently ranks sixth.
The above information and rates are accurate as of 7/10/2021.
Interested in opening a Reward Checking Account? Please refer to our High Yield Reward Checking Account Rates Table page to search for the best rate, both nationwide and state-specific.
