Malvern Bank Online Money Market Available In DE, FL, NJ, and PA
Pennsylvania-based Malvern Bank has an Online Money Market account, which currently earns 1.25% APY on balances of $2.5k and above. Should the daily balance fall below $2.5k, no interest will be earned and there is a monthly $10 low balance fee.
The Online Money Market account has been part of Malvern Bank’s product line for about 18 months. The initial 1.80% APY was in effect for 12 months before it dropped to 1.48% APY in mid-March 2020. About a month later, the rate fell to the current 1.25% APY.
This is a “true” money market account, as it offers checking writing. According to the Online Money Market landing page,
Debit Card, Internet Banking and Telephone Banking require separate applications.
According to CSR, Malvern Bank’s electronic transfer service (to and from other banks) is fee-free. Links to other banks can be set up online and there is no limit on the number of banks that can be linked. For the first 90 days following account opening, there is a limit on incoming and outgoing transfers of $2k per day and $5k per seven (rolling) days. On day 91, the limit increases to $25k per seven (rolling) days.
Availability
Headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, Malvern Bank’s market area for the Online Money Market account includes Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
As the name suggests, the Online Money Market can only be opened online. CSR stated that should new customers encounter any difficulties with the online application, each branch has someone dedicated to the Online Money Market account to offer assistance.
Bank Overview
Malvern Bank has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 8.80% (excellent), based on March 31, 2020 data. In the past year, the Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $113.25 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 14.17%. Please refer to our financial overview of Malvern Bank (FDIC Certificate # 27861) for more details.
Malvern Bank is currently Pennsylvania’s 33rd largest bank, with assets in excess of $1.2 billion and nearly 78,000 customer accounts. Founded in 1887, the Bank was known as the Duffryn Mawr Building Association for almost 70 years. After three name changes and three organizational changes, the Bank was rebranded as Malvern Bank, National Association in February 2018.
How the Online Money Market Compares
When compared to the Money Market Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available within the market area, Malvern Bank’s Online Money Market APY currently ranks second, regardless of any deposit requirements.
The above rates are accurate as of 8/20/2020.
To look for the best Money Market Account rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our Money Market Account Rates Table page.
Which, at 1.24% APR, shouldn't affect the yield much even if you have in excess of $1mm parked there....
https://www.depositaccounts.com/banks/malvern-federal-savings-bank.html
Observation:
Drawn out application process. Mine shows approved but in process. I still have not been issued an account number, just a routing number.
I also have cause for concern when not a single verification question pertained to me. Even though I answered "none of the above" to all questions I was still approved. For comparison when I tried to open an account at PNC not a single security question pertain to me also. PNC declined my application but I was informed that it was due to the Early Warning report showing multiple checking accounts churned within a year.
At Malvern Bank credit card funding is limited to $200.00 max even though the MM CK account requires $2500 to open.
I see there are limitations for deposits/withdrawals within the first 90-days for new accounts but it does not state if those limitations also apply to push/pulls initiated from an external F.I.
-If you close your account before interest is credited, you will receive the accrued interest.
-You must maintain a minimum balance of $2,500.00 in the account each day to obtain the disclosed annual percentage yield.
My Online MM account with them is almost 30 days old.
So far, I've had no problem requesting a few exceptions here and there as far as funding; especially thru use of the mobile app.
As far as use of an ACH service by another bank, Malvern really can't control that. I don't believe they would intentionally reject an ACH initiated by another Institution.
Malvern pulled my first $2500 to open the account, so you may not be able to get online until its funded. But try registering for Online access first; if not maybe they can email it to you. I'd give them a call.
F.Y.I.; the main number will bounce to whatever branch has an available person, so look for a specific phone # on the website if you want to get the same person again. :)
I wouldn't worry that none of the questions pertain to you. That is common.
It's an abysmal system. The questions are often logically flawed and nebulous. One of the ones I hate most is "Which street is closest to you?" Last time I got that one it listed all streets I never heard of (not that I even know the names of all the streets nearby). So I scrambled to Google maps to try to figure out the correct answer so I wouldn't have to go through days of wasted paperwork and aggravation trying to prove who I am.
So I found one street in another state about 5 states away and one in a state 2 states away and one in a town in my state about 90 miles away. I tore my hair out deciding if I should pick the 90 mile away one since it was apparently the "closest" or if I should pick "None of the above" because they seriously can't be asking me to look the streets up on Google maps. Stupidest thing I've ever seen. So I tossed the dice and picked none of the above and breathed a sigh of relief that it was what they wanted. PS: anyone could have tossed the dice. How that proves it is me is incomprehensible. How in the world can none of the above be the correct answer when it is wrong? I seriously think they need someone with a functioning brain to devise these questions.
And I've found that none of the above is often the correct answer, even on all of the questions. But I've also had times when I answered them none of the above and was POSITIVE that was correct, and they did not pass me. The system is terrible.
Then there are other ones like "What were the middle 3 characters on the license plate number of the car you bought in 1967?" Oh man...
It's no wonder identity theft is rampant with these guys protecting your identity.
With regard to reviews:
I too have noticed the poor reviews on this bank in the past. It is definitely a turnoff, but a couple of points:
1. Most of the reviews are from years ago. Things may or may not have changed.
2. I've taken a chance with some banks that had poor reviews here and had no problems. Reviews have to be taken with a grain of salt. Some are written by people who are not experienced enough to do things right so they have problems. And reviews usually tend to be biased towards the negative since people are more likely to post when they have a bad experience than a good one.
I am not saying the reviews in this case are not relevant. Just that you have to carefully analyze the reviews to try to determine how useful they are otherwise you may throw out a good option unnecessarily.
Those security questions all come from public record per LexisNexis. In fact I just received the Accurint report from them that is a compilation of public records data. There is a disclosure that states "data is sometimes entered poorly, processed incorrectly, and is generally not free from defect. This system should not be relied upon as definitively accurate. Before relying all data should be independently verified." However some banks, like Memory Bank uses that data as if it was factual. They declined me for an account 6 times because some public record did not agree with the information I provided, and they refused to let me know what it was or where the got the information from.
When I reviewed the report LN sent me, it is full of entry errors. Multiple name variations, addresses that I have never lived at or been associated with, people who I have never had any dealings with, telephone numbers that I don't recognize, places of employment that I have never worked at, and so on.
LN provides a way to clean up that information so that it is not used incorrectly when vetting me. You can order the same report by contacting LN and asking for the public data "Accuring" report. Be aware that the Accuring report is different from the Consumer Report that some banks use to gauge your credit worthiness or risk assessment. Ask LN for both the Accuring and Consumer reports when you request yours.
RichReg wrote, "As far as use of an ACH service by another bank, Malvern really can't control that. I don't believe they would intentionally reject an ACH initiated by another Institution."
Does anyone who the actual answer to this question? Has anyone moved funds in excess of their stated limits by pull/push from another FI?
It discusses Third Party transfers at the bottom of the 1st page.
I don't see anything about you having to be too careful about how much you initiate,
just that you have to have that amount available.
https://www.mymalvernbank.com/pdf/200507_eft_disclosure.pdf
"For the first 90 days following account opening, there is a limit on incoming and outgoing transfers of $2k per day and $5k per seven (rolling) days. On day 91, the limit increases to $25k per seven (rolling) days."
The fact that this is not mentioned causes me to wonder if this Electronic Funds Transfer document you link is comprehensive. On other words, no mention of limits may not mean there aren't any if they leave out the limitation noted above by Ken.
Now if I missed it, I'd be happy to be corrected.
Regarding withdrawals, well...Malvern sent me a checkbook so once I had sufficient funds in the account I just used those without issue.