Popular Direct Has 2.00% APY Exclusive Savings Account
As DA reader, kxlly, noted in a Forum post today, Popular Direct is now offering 2.00% APY on its Exclusive Savings Account. The minimum opening deposit is $5k, although the minimum balance to earn the stated APY is only $0.01.
| APY | MIN | MAX | INSTITUTION | PRODUCT | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.00*% | - | - | Popular Direct | Popular Direct Exclusive Savings - New Account Rate |
The Exclusive Savings is the fourth savings account Popular Direct has introduced in about two years. Added in mid-January, its initial rate was 1.50% APY, which was raised to 1.65% APY in February. Its predecessor, the Plus Savings Account, was earning 1.40% APY when the Exclusive Savings was unveiled. Popular Direct has a history of creating a new savings account with a higher rate to attract new customers and/or new money, leaving the owners of the phased-out accounts stuck with a lower rate.
DA reader, iamaroc, stated this morning in the Forum thread,
I spoke to a phone rep today and was told that existing 1.65% rate will automatically be upgraded to 2.0% in one or two business days. Setting up a new account was not required for this rate bump.
I called Popular Direct to confirm what iamaroc was told, but I was unsuccessful. I was told by three different CSRs that unless I could provide a savings account number, they were unable to tell me if an existing Exclusive Savings Account (earning the 1.65% APY) would automatically earn the new 2.00% APY. All three CSRs referred me to the fine print on the promotion page, an indirect hint that existing accounts might not qualify for the new rate.
Annual Percentage Yield (APY) offer is available only for new Popular
Direct Exclusive Savings account opened effective as of 4/2/2018.
Bottom line, Popular Direct Exclusive Savings Account owners probably need to call to try to get their existing APY upgraded. The following is from my February blog post about the Exclusive Savings. I’m including it here as illustration of how Popular Direct has handled new rates in the past.
When I wrote about the Exclusive Savings in January, I reported that CSR confirmed that existing Plus Savings accounts would earn the same 1.50% APY offered on the Exclusive Savings. The operative word CSR used was “grandfathered,” as in the Plus Savings would be “grandfathered” into the Exclusive Savings and eligible for the new rate. DA reader, NYCDoug, was told the same thing:
I tussled back and forth with PopularDirect's Customer Service trying to get the 1.50% APY rate applied to my existing Plus Savings account. Initially I was told it would be "grandfathered." After patiently waiting over two weeks (to the end of the month, when interest posted) without receiving any rate increase, I was nonchalantly told that I had been misinformed, and that was not going to happen. I promptly opened a new Exclusive Savings account, easily transferring everything over except for a $500 minimum balance.
My interaction with CSR was over the phone, but NYCDoug chose another method.
All my communication with this bank was through their internal email, fully documented, including the two misleading pieces of misinformation about grandfathering, and fee-less closing. So after some more arguing I was at least able to get the $25 fee reversed.
Be careful with this bank. Due to grammatical and spelling errors in their emails, in addition to the misleading information, I get the sense that there are internal communication problems, as well as linguistic barriers, and everyone is not on the same page. Whatever you do with them, I suggest you use their internal email system, and get it in writing -- just in case you need to refer back to it!
Caveat emptor.
I would like to thank all the DA readers for their Forum posts about their experiences with Popular Direct. The better informed we are, the better decisions we can make.
Exclusive Savings Account Facts
The Exclusive Savings Account Disclosure provides important information about fees and policies. FYI – none of the information on the Account Disclosure has changed since I cited it in my February blog post.
- Minimum opening deposit is $5k
- $4 monthly service fee if the balance on any day is below $500.
- $25 early closing fee if account is closed within 180 days of opening.
- $5 monthly dormancy fee if there has been no activity for 12 months.
- Withdrawals only allowed via an external account, internal transfer to another Popular Direct account, or ACH.
- $5 fee for each additional debit exceeding the limit of six per statement cycle.
- Deposits only allowed via an external account, internal transfers to another Popular Direct account, ACH, or Popular Direct mobile app.
Availability
An online division of Banco Popular North American, Popular Direct’s website states,
All Popular Direct deposit products are offered by, and will be opened through, Banco Popular North America (BPNA). BPNA is a Member FDIC institution and a New York state chartered bank.
Opening an account with Popular Direct, including the Exclusive Savings account, must be done online.
Bank Overview
Popular Direct/BPNA has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas ratio of 7.81% (excellent) based on December 31, 2017 data. In the past year, the Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by 621.17 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 10.91%. Please refer to our financial overview of Popular Direct/BPNA (FDIC Certificate # 34967) for more details.
BPNA was also the holding institution for E-LOAN, but on May 15, 2017, all E-LOAN deposit products became Popular Direct products. BPNA is currently the 12th largest bank headquartered in New York, with assets in excess of $9.1 billion and more than 233,000 customer accounts.
In June 2017, The New York Times published an article about Santander’s takeover of the failed Spanish bank, Banco Popular. The similarity in names caused a DA reader to express some concern about BPNA. To quote myself from a Forum post,
Popular Direct is a division of Banco Popular North America, which is a subsidiary of the Puerto Rico-based bank holding company, Popular, Inc. I can find no connections between Popular, Inc. and the Spanish Banco Popular.
How the Exclusive Savings Account Compares
When compared to the 200 Personal Savings accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide, Popular Direct’s Dollar Exclusive Savings APY currently ranks first.
| Interest Rate | Account Name | Credit Union/Bank |
|---|---|---|
| 2.00% APY | Exclusive Savings (no min) | Popular Direct |
| 1.85% APY | eOne Savings ($1m max) | Salem Five Direct |
| 1.80% APY | Dollar Savings Account (no min) | DollarSavingsDirect |
The above rates are accurate as of 4/2/2018.
To look for the best Savings account rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our Savings Account Rates Table page.
ACHs initiated by other banks are honored without restriction, only $500 minimum is required once initial funding is complete and there's no maximum dollar cap. Your move Dollar Savings Direct.
I don't really see anybody DROPPING rates right now...? , how much higher can a liquid savings account go, I mean, worse come to worse just leave $500 in for awhile. Just my $.02.
It's annoying if you want to take advantage of some other promo.
Ach initiatiated through their website or ach initiated from another finacial institution regarding large deposit. If they put any hold or how soon they make funds available.?
i see that they allow only one outside bank to connect through BPNA but is there any limit to connect my account at BPNA from outside banks?
When you deposit a check using their app, is their a limit on the amount on a single ckeck or when they make the funds available?
Regarding mobile deposit there is a $2500 per check limit. As long as the account holder names match, funds are also available immediately. The dollar limit per day however, is $10,000 or up to 4 checks.
Since I notice that new accounts, (which I am) opening looks quite simple. I don't see a downside to the opening process. 2% looks very impressive!! We will see...
A natural person with individual income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years and with a reasonable expectation of reaching the same income level in the current year; or who has an individual net worth* that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase;
A natural person who has a joint income with that person's spouse exceeding $300,000 in each of the two most recent years and with a reasonable expectation of reaching the same income level in the current year; or who has a joint net worth* with the person's spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase;
The income method will require annual data (W-2, 1040, …) upload annually, and a simple confirmation quarterly that you still have the same level of income
Net Worth: Individuals will be asked to share their net worth (excluding their primary residence) through a user-friendly online form and upload supporting asset statements with proof of ownership, an evaluation date, and the value of the asset. As noted above, the value of your primary residence is not considered an asset, but if you owe more on your mortgage than the value of your primary residence, that difference will count as a liability.
InvestReady will obtain a copy of an individual's credit report from one of three major credit bureaus in order to accurately verify an individual's liabilities.
Obtaining the credit report will not affect the individual's credit score. All asset verifications require a credit report to be reviewed
https://www.rightnotes.com/
GM used to have a Demand Notes program several years ago that was replaced by the Right Notes program. It is a non-diversified investment, so is not like a mutual fund.
Under $15,000 1.75% APY
$15,000-$50,000 1.85% APY
Above $50,000 2.00% APY
All the tier levels are pretty high so if you are really worried about FDIC insurance coverage you could just keep the $500 minimum plus bill pay money in there. You can ACH your money out quickly in the event of some bad news on GM. These accounts eliminate the need to have so many money market and savings accounts open. There is no right or wrong just another option to consider. Obviously you wouldn't want to keep all your savings in a non FDIC insured account but for a small portion I don't see a problem.
Wishful thinking. By the time you get the bad news, your withdrawal possibilities will be cut off.
These accounts should be treated as risky investments, because they are just that: corporate bonds. And corporate bonds are the riskiest kind of bonds.
Has anyone who went over on the limits lost money without the bank or cu going bust?
https://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/bank-failures/#comments
http://problembanklist.com/depositors-lose-42-million-in-failed-bank-is-my-cash-safe-in-the-bank/
I couldn't find all that much info on the web about this. My guess is that banks don't want you to know how real the risk of loss is above the coverage limits. I even make sure to include any and all accumulated interest over the CD term in my calculations for coverage to stay under the limit at all times.
Every bank and CU has checking account that can be attached to the saving account, the transfers are instantaneous and you can pay unlimited number of bills for free. Much safer and smarter move.
... After a long long time we have 2% rate ....
... Don't have a problem with rate-chasing ... worst case scenario if other bank exceed 2% will leave $500 with popular for 180 days and chase others ...
... Ooops did I say "worst-case" for other banks exceeding 2% ... Nah ... that's no worst case at all !!!
I feel like I do not want to support or encourage this marketing strategy with my deposit money.
BTW, the Internet counterparts of these banks are run by the same management and offer the same FDIC insurance;;these just have MUCH lower expenses and overhead.
I very much appreciate that there's only one Capital One bank with only one 360 savings account that I've opened 12 years ago and still has decent interest rates. (Full disclosure, I mostly use the higher-yielding 360 money market account now.)
However, I still maintain 1 cent in both accounts.
And occasionally, I will do a billpay thru them. Because the one thing they do great is the way their overdraft works. As long as you start a transfer in at the same time as the payment clears, you wont owe a dime in late fees.
So, I refuse to do any material business with them.
Mainly, I think they have a lot of my old billpays set up and my Ally account did not have the info for one card I hadn't used much until recently. So I whipped over there, made the billpay, and pulled the money from another account. I see no reason to keep much money with them because they are not a rate leader.
And, Im going to probably stop using Ally & Discover for the same reason.
I have a fairly new All American money market that I will probably use as my primary checking. 6 transactions is enough for me. And then I will have more money at the new leader, Popular, if I can get it there without pulling teeth.
So one of the reasons they can afford that convenience is because they're not paying you 1.8 or 2% on their Savings;; they pay 1%, while their MM pays 1.5% (with restrictions on features).
In my area, they built up a sizable branch network over the last 10 years and have since been shrinking/automating the branches and are now opening cafe's. If someone else's caffeine (or sugar?) craving can help supplement my 1.5% rate, I really don't mind that. :)
In the recent Sharonview 4% CD offer, I asked this forum multiple times - and received no clear-cut answer, at least so far - "did you receive a "hard pull", and if so, from whom"?
Some said, earlier, that they did get one, and they knew this because their CreditKarma told them so. (CreditKarma pulls from TransUnion and EquiFax only)
Well, I received no such info from my CreditKarma account. In other words, according to them, no hard pull. So... I have to assume that at least in the case of this credit union, there is not, shall we say, a "consistency" in deciding whether or not to do a "hard pull" for incipient new members. And, it's likely that this is true of other financial institutions as well
Nationwide Credit Reporting Companies:
CSC Credit Services
Credit Technologies
Equifax
Experian
Global Payments
Trans Union
It may be a random hard pull at some persons do to Federal regulations or the personal previous flags in the consumer file entered by other lenders or banks. The consumer(s) see(s) only a partial report, but the CUs and the Bank(s) have access to a full history of our lives, from birth to present and it may be 100s of pages long.
That info may be used to cross sell us some other products or just share it with affiliates, banks and or CUs for a fee. We all have a hidden grade (besides FICO score) in our credit files.
https://getassistance.telecheck.com/home.html
And its not an immediate transfer, its a wait for the deposit thing.
I had no choice but to leave in the middle of the application.
Just now I logged into my Exclusive Savings account (opened several months ago) and, clicking the link to "view account/rate information" I happily discovered:
Last statement APY earned: 1.65%
Interest rate: 1.98%
An automatic APY upgrade! So somewhere in the back office it seems they're finally starting to get it ;-)
Trying to reach them by phone takes a bit of time. I needed to get the routing # to connect another account for ACH funding. I have a CD that matures tomorrow, so I will be adding funds to this account. Great timing!!
Will it let me change the amount of the initial deposit after I confirm the 2 small transactions?
But, even if it knocked off 15 points, it wouldn't ruin my life. My scores at CK are 827 & 828 and I doubt I will even need another loan in my life. But I might sign up for an amex. (Been saying that for a couple years and still have not done it)
On my $75k, that .25 is $15.62 a month.
I asked Ally again recently for a better deal or matching others and they told me, again, to pound sand. So I can't wait to move money out of Ally. In fact, I think I have a couple of 2.25% 5 year that I should probably close too. Waiting for a 2.25% savings I guess.
I guess the ACH push from Ally will have to wait until next week. But will have to get the process started tonight.
Cant find my full account number. Cant edit my 2nd transfer amount.
I need to ask them if setting up links from other banks will violate the 6-withdrawals-per-month limit or whether they will waive if given the context.
Is it anywhere or do they send it by mail?
They said they would consider waiving the too-many-withdrawals fee as a courtesy but would not commit to it.
Are they open after hours? I imagine not. And Florida is probably eastern time zone.
Ok, got thru,. and got my number. I get the feeling most of their customers are Spanish but the girl I talked to was probably born here, probably speaks both.
I guess they are ready for some trial deposits.
In any event, I think these are all I need for now. Wish Popular would let us link a half dozen on their end. But these two and then another at Penfed by June should be enough for me. And I probably wont need any withdrawals this month.
The All American account becomes obsolete with this account. But hoping they raise theirs to match Popular. If not, I might just use it as my low balance checking account.
Ally & Discover, I guess Im going to withdrawal most everything I have left.
Purepoint is great for ACH linking since, for many financial institutions, you have the option to link instantly by providing your login credentials.
Im glad I powered thru it. But, I suspect within a month we will have others approaching this rate.
The more of us move money, the more they notice.
I applied on Monday 4/2, Friday 4/6 completed. You must not give up when you hit a snag. On the first day I could not get the employment showing, kept showing error. I called the number & the rep told me to just pick one that will go through. I did & continued on with the application. Next day, e-mail instructed me on verification of small deposits. Next day e-mail gave me the account #.
Popular Direct 2% liquid savings is best deal going today. (who knows tomorrow)
If you verify the trial deposits on Day 1, on which day is your external account debited?
Only the $500 is available. The larger amount is not available yet and it does not say when it will be.
The problem with the transfer from Ally is, they debit my account right away and send it the next day so I lose a days interest. I did the $500 hoping it would allow me to move the larger amount out without a day lost but it did not.
This move to popular has been more trouble than they are worth. Ditto for All American. Getting money out is like pulling teeth. But they say I can do it via billpay. I wonder how much interest I would lose doing that?
It's not uncommon for banks to put a hold on ACH deposits for a few days when using their service. As you stated, when you use Ally the funds are available right away.
On a larger amount, 76,000. Then the linked RCA does not pay any interest on balances over $15,000 so I think I lost 3 days interest in all.
Initially, I intended to pull $15000 out of 2 local RCAs that only pay 2% but the 10 transactions a month is actually easier than transferring the money to ally and then from ally to the one different credit union that is linked to popular.
Im going to run into this again in July when another CD matures from Penfed. Im going to have to pull it from Ally and then transfer from Ally to the other credit union only to transfer it to the one credit union that popular allows me.
Way more trouble than the extra .25% or whatever is worth.
But, I guess after 60 days, maybe they will let me link Penfed for when that CD matures. From that point, I don't know if I can change the linked account again or if I have to wait another 60 days.
So you used Popular's ACH service to pull funds from some credit union, correct?
How was the efficiency on that part...was the debit and credit simultaneous?
And how long did it take to actually happen after you verified the trial deposits and requested the transfer?
I am the 3rd person with the same questions to you.
Thank you for the effort
Last night, a transfer from LMCU to Popular was instantaneous at around 1am. That is, when I logged into mint, the money was out of LMCU and in Popular.
Availability was fairly slow. Transfers from 4/6 were just made available today.
(At other banks, ACH deposits have immediate availability) Except my first test push from Ally for $500 had immediate availability.
When Popular pulls the money, there is too long a delay for availability.
(Although I don't need the funds, I should have access to them)
When you did $500 deposit from Ally, did you start this ACH transfer from popular accout or did you start it from Ally?
Thanks.
PD only allows you to link ONE bank or CU and then you are STUCK with them for 60 days at which time I guess you can change it.
I had a CD expire at LMCU so that is what I used.
I now have a substantial sum at PD but I sure wish they would make things easier.
AA bank also has insane policies and a basic dated website. But at least they let you link a lot of other banks. But, transferring over $5k is like pulling teeth. And if a manager is out of the office for a few days, forget it.
I suspect I will use AA as my checking account and in time, lower my balance to $1000-1500.
Unless they increase their rate from 1.75% to 2%.
I think we're all aware that it's best to take advantage of other banks that can pull money from Popular. We want to know how efficient Popular's pull is.
Was the 4/6 deposit pulled by Popular and, again, was it actually credited on 4/6?
When i say immediate, I mean either immediate or next day immediate. Unlike my transfer from Ally to the credit union, that came out of my account immediate and then took a day and a half. That was after a $500 test transaction that did NOT serve to fool Ally into giving me next day transfers. With Ally, its a combination of how long its been linked and the amount of transactions, not one or the other.
But its a closely guarded secret and they would have to kill you if they told you.
I guess that's why they named themselves with World War II vocabulary.
I'm just trying to time everything w/o getting stiffed. Unless the ConnectOne 10-month CD gets dropped before May 4th, think I'm going to try that new MyEbanc 2.25% one-year for my next-maturing CD. Promos are literally changing by the day & it's a nice replacement for the now-gone NASA-FCU CD.
Spoke to MyeBanc yesterday and they seem VERY easy to work with.
And they accept checks!
Pushing from Ally is a last resort to move funds anywhere.
have other people experienced the same timing regardless of which external bank?
Trying to move $77k. Put a transfer in for $500 that wont be there until monday but came out of my account today.
Might be best to snail mail a check?
I have 2 other RCAs with $15k each that I cant transfer out of and I don't have checks so they are going to be a chore to get to Popular too.
Why do they make it so difficult to send them money?
Its PITIFUL how hard they are making it to send them money.
Also, All American is refusing to let me make a large transfer out on their end. Supposedly, the only person who can authorize that will be away for the next 3 days.
They did, finally, send the ach deposits.
AA says I can send a billpay, Gee thanks.
AA & Popular have to be 2 of the hardest banks I have ever dealt with.
AA is proving itself to be more trouble than its worth. Will probably close the account.
I sure wish Ally would come out with a new 2% no penalty. Then I would close both of these accounts.
The hold won't bother me because its earning 3%.
I have some CDs expiring at Penfed in June so I should be able to change my link to Penfed by then and pull more from Penfed. If a better deal does not come around by then.
I closed my remaining Ally no penalty CDs to add to PD. But I lost a couple days interest in sending it to the credit union where I was not set for immediate transfers.
I'm not aware of their policy after 60 days, Does that mean I can change it again a week later after pulling from Penfed? Or do I have to wait another 90 days?
So, I will probably be adding more money here just because its the highest rate right now.
But, we have until 5/6 to see if any better deals come along.
And, All Americas 1.75% is not enough for anything but a checking account so I guess I will keep the account open just for a checking. (6 transactions is plenty) Wont keep more than $500-1200 at a time in there though.
And now that I have them all set up, their transfers are pretty good. (As long as its not over $4999 or whatever their stupid limit is)
Please note, the limit you are allowed to transfer via ACH to or from an outside
institution daily is $5,000.
Sheesh.
But that covers either using the external account you've set up, OR handing the
ACH transaction over to another bank to handle it. Only other daily restriction is
$10,000 by mobile deposit.
I wanted to push from penfed but I may not be able to.
dates of withdrawals from external bank & deposit into popular direct
I want to thank
Anonymous
for this post & was hoping others could confirm the same
| Apr 14, 2018 | Comment #125Funds are debited the next morning, and appear in Popular Direct at 7 PM ET.
It appears I will be unable to move money from penfed to popular without sending it elsewhere first. A pit stop if you will.
Never Give Up!
Popular, Im not sure if they have a limit or not but you can only have one bank/cu for ACH transfers either way. And for the first 60 days, you are unable to change it.
None that I am aware of have a limit for accepting ACH transfers originated elsewhere.