Quontic Bank Offers Competitive CDs, Checking and Money Market
When I added New York-based Quontic Bank’s 5-year CD (1.65% APY) to yesterday’s CD Rates Summary, I decided an overview blog post would be appropriate. The three most competitive products currently offered by Quontic Bank are its High Interest Checking account, Personal Money Market account, and 5-year CD.
High Interest Checking
Added to the product line in September 2019, Quontic’s rewards checking account was originally called Amplify Interest Checking, earning 2.00% APY on qualifying balances up $1 million. Three things have recently changed: a new name (High Interest Checking), the ACH requirement has been eliminated, and a lower rate of $1.50% APY on qualifying balances up to $1 million. Qualifying balances above $1 million do not earn any interest, with non-qualifying balances earning 0.01% APY.
The only qualification requirement is at least 15 qualifying POS debit card transactions per statement cycle.
The High Interest Checking account has no monthly maintenance fee, eStatements are free, and the minimum opening deposit is $100. While there is no reimbursement for ATM fees, High Interest Checking customers can avoid “foreign” ATM fees by using any of,
55,000+ AllPoint® Network ATMs, 28,000+ MoneyPass Network ATMs,
7,000 SUM® program ATMs, or nearly 700 Citibank® branch ATMs.
5-year CD
The recent 15 bps added to the 5-year CD is the first rate increase the 5-year CD has experienced in 17 months. Quontic Bank has dropped the minimum opening deposit to $500.
Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly, with dividends either reinvested or transferred to an external account through an ACH transfer.
As stated in the FAQs, partial withdrawals are not allowed, only early redemptions. The Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows.
For time deposits 24 months and over, the penalty equals 2 years interest.
If the accrued interest exceeds the penalty amount, the excess accrued interest over the penalty amount will be paid to you. If the accrued interest is less than the penalty amount, a reduction of the principal balance may result.
Funding a CD can be done by ACH, wire, or mailing a check; funds from an existing Quontic Bank account can also be used to open a CD. If a CD is not funded within 30 days of opening, the account may be closed. According to CSR, there is no rate lock: the rate in effect when the funding is received will be APY applied to the CD.
Maturing funds will be distributed via cashier’s check or can be transferred to another Quontic Bank account (checking/savings). There is a 10-day grace period (beginning the days after the CD matures) before the CD will automatically renew.
Up to five beneficiaries can be named and Social Security numbers are required. Percentages can be assigned, if so desired.
CDs can be opened for a trust, but a certificated copy of the entire trust document is required. Government-issued IDs (valid driver’s license or passport) are required for all trustees. Funding a CD for a trust can only be done by check or wire transfer.
Personal Money Market
The Personal Money Market account is currently offering 1.46% APY on balances of $150k+. The other tiered APYs include 1.36% ($5k-$150k) and 1.01% (up to $5k).
| APY | MIN | MAX | INSTITUTION | PRODUCT | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.01*% | $150k | - | Quontic Bank | Personal Money Market | |
| OTHER TIERS: 0.80% → Up to $5k | 0.90% → $5k - $150k | |||||
- A Personal Money Market account can be opened with as little as $100, and can be funded from “an existing Quontic Bank account, from an account at another bank, by ACH transfer, or by mailing us a check.”
- While there is no monthly service fee, there is a $5 fee for monthly paper statements. Some DA readers have stated they were charged the $5 fee even though they only received electronic statements.
- Deposit and withdrawing funds can be done through Quontic Bank Online and Quontic Mobile Banking, with a debit card provided. According to CSR, check writing is also available. There is no excessive transaction fee, but “You will be contacted in the event you've exceeded the transaction limitation, and your account may be changed to a transactional account.”
Availability
Headquartered in New York City, Quontic Bank offers its product line online to all U.S. citizens/residents aliens, 18 years or older, who have a valid Social Security number.
Opening a CD, a High Interest Checking account, or a Personal Money Market account can be done online, supposedly in “3 minutes or less.”
According to Quontic’s COVID-19 Business Continuity Plan,
- In accordance with suggested public safety guidelines, Quontic Bank’s branch located at 31-05 Broadway, Astoria, NY 11106, will be closed as of March 17th until further notice.
- Customers that need to conduct banking transactions in person can do so on an appointment-only basis by contacting us by phone, email, or filling out the form below.
- Daily ATM cash withdrawal limits have been temporarily raised to $1,000 for your convenience.
Bank Overview
Quontic Bank has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 13.20% (above average), based on December 31, 2019 data. In the past year, the Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $103.92 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 50.01%. Please refer to our financial overview of Quontic Bank (FDIC Certificate # 57807) for more details.
Quontic Bank is a young bank, having celebrated its tenth anniversary a few months ago. In late 2009, Steven Schnall, a New York real estate developer, bought the Long Island-based Golden First Bank, which was in financial trouble after only four years of being established. Schnall recapitalized the bank, brought in a new management team, and rebranded the institution as Quontic Bank. Currently the 87th largest bank headquartered in New York state, Quontic Bank has assets in excess of $394 million.
At Quontic’s root is “ontic,” meaning real or factual existence. The truth is that there is an extraordinary diversity of circumstances in the real and factual existence of our customers’ lives. We believe banking needs to be adaptive to those circumstances, so we ask the Qualitative and Quantitative questions that enable us to do so. Hence Quontic – an adaptive form of “ontic.” We like how it sounds and what it stands for.
The above rates are accurate as of 5/20/2020.
