Live Oak Bank is the 130th largest bank in the nation. It was established in 2008 and as of March of 2025, it had grown to 1,015 employees. Live Oak Bank's savings rates are 8X the national average, and it has an A health rating.
Easiest Online Bank, And 4.3%
My own experience has been that this is the easiest bank with which to do business. Opening a CD takes about five minutes. You can open joint accounts; they ACH funds in and out more quickly than anyone else; you can name beneficiaries immediately online; you can provide maturing instructions online which ARE followed. And right now they are offering 4.30 apy for a one year cd, which is better than almost everyone else, other than a handful of credit unions.
Beware Of Their “Gotcha” Promo Clauses!
I have had an active saving account with them since 2023 with a minimum balance of $1.00 in 2024 in order to keep the account open. Many here took advantage of the promo where a deposit of $20K into a new account for 60 days resulted in a $300 bonus. The offer was also open to current account holders who maintained their balance for the 60 days with an additional deposit of $20K. The “gotcha” was that you needed to open a “new” account as opposed to depositing the cash into the established account.
I was denied the bonus because I deposited the money into the old account rather than opening a new account. Why do business with a bank that plays such tricky games?
Update 4/9/25
I just received a phone call from a bank representative who apologized for the misunderstanding and has offered to credit me with the $300 bonus. She agreed that the conditions for the current account holders were less than clear and promised to address this issue in any future promotion.
Great Rate And Bonus If You Can Get It
They roped me in with the $300 bonus so I opened an account and went thru the process with the micro deposits and set up a beneficiary,the whole nine yards including transferring money into the account.The next day I wanted to link another one of my bank and lo and behold I was locked out , I called them up and they told me I need to submit a drivers license and a bank statement, So in short I they waited 2 days to tell me that and after I made a deposit to lock me out. I have a 840 Fica score and Im a US citizen. I have 4 other accounts and no bank has ever asked me to submit any kind of documents.
Great Bank
This bank is always ranked as one of the best places to work. It is a one branch bank headquartered on a beautiful campus in Wilmington NC. Its niche is SBA lending. Account opening is easy as is moving money. I bought the stock a few years ago and it’s had great returns compared to most banks. Highly recommend this bank.
Data as of Q1 2025
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 58665 |
| Year Established | 2008 |
| Employees | 1015 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.4% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 5.35% |
| Annual Interest Income | $212.9MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $13.5B$11.43B |
| Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $10.87B$9.08B |
| Deposits | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $12.45B$10.46B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $1B$890.8MM |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $190.2MM$139MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $44.6MM$24.5MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2025vs Q1 2024 | $2.1MM$8.6MM |