MutualOne Bank Pushes Up Online Savings To 2.27% APY

MutualOne Bank’s Online Savings account is nearing its first anniversary. Making its debut in February 2018, the Online Saving offered an initial 1.61% APY on all balances up to $250k. In September, the APY was raised to 2.02% on all balances up to $1 million. MutualOne Bank has ended the last work week of the year by raising the rate on the Online Savings account to 2.27% APY. In the past ten months, the Online Savings account has had five rate increases, adding a total of 66 bps.

According to the details on the Online Savings landing page,

The advertised rate is for balances of up to $1,000,000.
Any amount over this amount will earn a lower rate.

According to MutualOne Bank’s Consumer Disclosure page,

There is no minimum daily balance requirement.

Preauthorized transfers from your Online Savings Account are limited to 6 each month, whether to other accounts you maintain with us or to third parties. ($10 fee per transaction over the limit of 6.)

All transactions for this account are required to be conducted electronically, i.e. online, ACH, bill pay, ATM, and mobile.

Online Banking and eStatements are required within the first 30 days of account opening.

In a February blog post, I discussed MutualOne’s online account management capabilities. According to CSR, the following restrictions are still in effect.

• Can you link an external account? Yes. Once your account is established, you can link external accounts through the Bank’s online banking platform. There is no limit to the number of external accounts you can link.
• Are there fees for in/out transfers? No, they are fee-free.
• What are the dollar limits on transfers? $25k per transaction, per day, and a $100k aggregate total per 30 days.
• Any restrictions for ACH transfers that are initiated from another bank? None.

CD Specials

It’s nice to find a bank that has competitive rates on both savings accounts and CDs. In the past three months, I’ve written about the CD Specials currently offered by MutualOne Bank: 7-month (2.78% APY), 13-month (2.89% APY), and 19-month (3.04% APY). Any of these can be opened with a $500 minimum deposit and there are no stated balance caps.

CSR stated that funds from a maturing CD (10-day grace period) can be distributed through a cashier’s check or by an internal transfer to a MutualOne Bank checking or savings account. ACH transfers are not an option and a wire transfer costs $20.

SIF Deposit Insurance

Large balances at MutualOne Bank are protected through the Bank’s Share Insurance Fund (SIF) membership. The SIF is a private, industry-sponsored insurance fund that insures all deposits above Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) limits at Massachusetts-chartered co-operative banks.

As stated on MutualOne Bank’s Personal Services Savings & Retirement page,

Each depositor is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to at least $250,000. All deposits over and above this amount are covered by the Share Insurance Fund (SIF), established by the legislature in 1934 to protect deposits in Massachusetts-chartered co-operative banks. There are no maximum account limitations or amount limitations.

Availability

MutualOne Bank began offering its services and product line to all U.S. citizens and resident aliens through its online platform for more than two years. Headquartered in Framingham (20 miles outside Boston), the Bank’s previous market area was strictly limited to Massachusetts.

As the name suggests, opening an Online Savings account at MutualOne Bank must be done online.

CDs can be opened online or at any of three Massachusetts branches located in Framingham (2) and Natick.

MutualOne Bank’s online application states that,

Credit or debit card or U.S. checking or savings account to fund your new account(s).

According to CSR, credit card funding is limited to $1k, stating that the “credit card funding is a convenient way to initially fund a checking or savings account,” and is not designed to be used to open a CD with a large deposit.

Current MutualOne Bank customers can open new accounts directly through the Bank’s Online Banking platform.

Bank Overview

MutualOne Bank has an overall health grade of "A+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 4.07% (excellent) based on September 30, 2018 data. In the past year, MutualOne Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $57.71 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 10.33%. Please refer to our financial overview of MutualOne Bank (FDIC Certificate # 26395) for more details.

MutualOne Bank was originally founded in 1889 as the South Framingham Co-operative Bank. The Banke was renamed the Framingham Co-operative Bank in 1913, as the Bank began to expand its market area,. In 2012, a merger with the long-established Natick Federal Savings Bank (1886) resulted in today’s MutualOne Bank. Currently the 47^th largest bank in Massachusetts, MutualOne Bank has assets in excess of $827 million and more than 22,800 customer accounts.

How the Online Savings Compares

When compared to the Savings Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide and require a low minimum balance, MutualOne Bank’s Online Statement Savings APY currently ranks fourth.

The above rates are accurate as of 12/29/2018.

To look for the best Savings Account rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our Savings Account Rates Table page.