Live Oak Bank is the 178th largest bank in the nation. It was established in 2008 and as of December of 2020, it had grown to 594 employees. Live Oak Bank's savings rates are 15% higher than the national average, and it has a B+ health rating.
After using Live Oak Bank for a few years, I figured it was time to provide some feedback to the depositaccounts.com community:
Over the past 2 years, Live Oak Bank has remained competitive with their interest rates - sometimes tops sometimes not, but reasonable. As a result, I don't have to worry about continuously monitoring and chasing rates - saving me time and stress that I had when utilizing other online banks. In addition, I can use either the LOB website/app to deposit and withdraw funds, or have them pushed/pulled from another institution using ACH - a feature I use often.
I have only had 2-3 customer service interactions, all via messaging on their website. Fast response time and excellent customer service.
I really enjoy both the Live Oak Bank website and the Live Oak Bank app. Easy to navigate, view interest rate, account and routing numbers, rename account "nicknames", transfer money, and more. My favorite feature is that they allow you to edit CD renewal preferences online easily, changing maturity instructions with ease. It is a huge incentive to why I open additional CDs with them.
There are a few things I wish they would integrate:
1. Electronic 1099-INT Forms (historically these are sent via physical mail)
2. Fix a few minor app crashes, such as when changing CD renewal instructions (needed to edit via website instead of app)
3. Add Interest Accrued / Interest YTD on the website - I like this feature at other banks so I can see right away how much interest I have paid without needing to go into statements.
Other than that, I have had a great experience with Live Oak Bank and would recommend them to anyone looking for a competitive online savings account.
UPDATED: Live Oak no longer puts the hold I described years ago on funds that are transferred in and out. I have continued to use this bank as their rates are better than others even now in this terrible environment. Their customer service is responsive, too. Sometimes it takes them a while to provide statements at the end of the month, but they do eventually show up.
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I opened a Savings account with this bank this past week. I already had a CD there. The CD provides no statements, just an online list of transactions and a 1099-Int. The interest rate was good at the time I opened it, so no big deal.
However, it turns out that there is a 5 day hold on the money I deposited in my savings account. The money came out of my other bank account on Thursday but the CSR says I won't see it in my account until the next Wednesday. Meanwhile, the CSR confirmed and that I am NOT going to earning any interest on that money during that hold period.
There will also be a five day hold on any withdrawals. The CSR said this is because they use an "intermediary bank" for transfer transactions.
This was not made clear in any way before I opened the account. Despite the nice interest rate I won't be moving in any more money. That hold coming and going effectively lowers the interest rate paid.
I started the process transferring of funds from my Live Oak Bank savings account to a large bank in Houston, TX on Monday, March 15, where I have had an account for 23 years.. I went through the trial deposit experience using the website and reported the amounts. When I tried to transfer the funds I was told I needed verification because it was a new account. I have had a CD account with Live Oak since 2016, but the savings account was a place to deposit CD funds because CD rates were so low. That information established, I tried again. This time I was told that they needed an electronic bank statement from the receiving bank. By then it was Wednesday. I sent the statement. I called back today. I was told that the transfer will occur either tomorrow or Monday. I have transferred funds from 2 other online banks this week, one with a new account. I didn't have to go through all this. Very frustrating. Were they trying to keep my money, a fairly substantial amount? Monday will be the 6th business day since I initiated the transfer.
Good customer service and loved the ability to assign and delete beneficiaries within my online account. You can even print a copy for your records. I wish all banks had that feature. However, I think I stayed too long. Throughout the three years I had accounts with this bank, found errors in totals on two occasions. Then I realized that the savings account activity page did not give me the balance after each transaction, which made it very difficult to trace if your deposits are being added correctly. That did it: No more business with them.
Overall | |
---|---|
FDIC Certificate # | 58665 |
Year Established | 2008 |
Employees | 594 |
Primary Regulator | FDIC |
Profit Margin | |
---|---|
Return on Assets - YTD | 0.68% |
Return on Equity - YTD | 9.15% |
Annual Interest Income | $287.2MM |
Assets and Liabilities | ||
---|---|---|
Assets | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $7.83B$4.79B |
Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $6.27B$3.57B |
Deposits | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $5.73B$4.24B |
Equity Capital | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $516.4MM$484.7MM |
Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $52.3MM$48.2MM |
Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $20.5MM$3.5MM |
Real Estate Owned | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $4.2MM$5.6MM |
Always verify rates and promotions with the bank or credit union. We are not Live Oak Bank; we are a rate comparison website and cannot provide official rates or promotions.
APY | MIN | MAX | ACCOUNT NAME | VIEW DETAILS |
---|---|---|---|---|
0.60% | - | $5m | High Yield Online Savings | |
0.60% | - | $5m | Business Savings |
Live Oak Bank is an Internet only bank and does not have branch locations. Its headquarters is located at 1741 Tiburon Drive - Wilmington, NC 28403