5 star: | (5) | |
4 star: | (3) | |
3 star: | (3) | |
2 star: | (5) | |
1 star: | (13) |
I was told that I could initiate the transfer from an external bank to/from Brilliant and there would be no dollar amount limits or fees. Can anyone confirm this? Any downside to doing transfers this way? My external bank (Schwab) does not have limits or fees that I can tell.
Other reviewers are correct - the account will fund from your external account INSTANTLY, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to get your money out. You have to CALL to schedule a wire which then takes DAYS. DO NOT USE THIS BANK.
The posted rates are for new accounts only, once you have an account they drop the rate. I closed my account. I messaged them to ask if I could close it online and the response was to bring the balance to zero and then call to close the account. I did that but meanwhile the charged me two transfer fees and. $10 minimum balance fee and closed the account before I called. When I complained to the supervisor Eric Tucker, he said if I was going to stay with them they could do a courtesy refund but would not since my account was closed. I told them I would have stayed if they paid the rates that they were advertising & he said I would have to close the account and open a new one for those rates. That sounds like a CD not a money market. CFG bank does not play those games and I would suggest you monitor your rate with this bank. Very deceptive practices.
The only way to receive funds from a maturing CD is via a check sent through the USPS They get free float while I wait. A week and still no check. This makes their rates not competitive. Most other banks will wire or send ACH. Avoid at all costs
Huge mistake opening a cd here. At maturity they automatically renew. You have to call them to withdraw funds. I opened account on line. They didn’t allow me to transfer funds to my external account that I used to open the account. Paperwork hassle with docusign and they wired funds 2 days later charging me $20. I also had the option of cashiers check. Wait even longer…
There are better banks to deal with elsewhere.
Brilliant expects you to pull money from your account with them to your bank of choice. Only limit is your pulling bank.
We transferred the money we had from selling our house into their money market account because of the interest rate. No problems transferring the money in electronically. When we needed the money to close on our new house is when the issues started.
Thought we could transfer what we needed into the account that the money originally came from but they only allow you to transfer $2000 per month. So we closed the account. Again they could not transfer it into our other account. They had to send a paper check saying we would get it in 3-5 business days. Ridiculous.
They have a great interest rate but if you want convenient access to your money go somewhere else.
I have never heard of a bank in the US that doesn't allow a Wire out or requires approval within 3 days, and charges a fee for every outgoing ACH transfer you initiate from your account on their website. You can't pull any funds into your account either. The MAX ACH transfer out is 5-10k per Month, but after you request it online, they require a verbal confirmation only via phone call before 5 PM MST the same day or the ACH is auto cancelled. Also, the online system or the person you confirm the ACH transfer with doesn't ever tell you there is a $2.55 fee for each one. It's a special surprise and they won't refund it. There is a $10 monthly fee if the balance drops below 2k at any time. Good luck getting your money back when you need it after a fee. Not worth it.
If you are planning on buying a 3 month or 6 month CD it should be paying at the very least 5.5%. You can get a HYSA just about anywhere paying that much without locking in a rate to benefit when rates jump in the following weeks. That is after FOMC meets in november. The 5.5% bar should apply to CD terms up to one year. A no penalty CD would make better sense if you're bent on buying a CD. I'm waiting out the banks. The juggernauts of banking have been exposed as being stingy. Anything like this along with another rate hike causes small time players to raise their rates for the public.
There is incorrect information stated here. It states that there is a maximum of $500,000 to earn the 5.25% APY. I spoke to customer service and also read their disclosure and both stated there is no maximum and all balances receive the 5.25% rate.
The only drawback with this bank is that if you initiate an ACH on their web site, you can only transfer out but not in.
You would think that they would want the reverse. That said, if you initiate from the external account, there is no limit.
They DO NOT allow trust accounts:
We do not allow trust accounts but you may use a trust as the beneficiary.
Digital Banking Manager
NMLS #2292868
EQUITY BANK | 7701 E. Kellogg, Ste. 600, Wichita, KS 67207
www.equitybank.com
I open a money market account in February great decision great rates awesome customer service always able to reach them on the phone when I have a question better than my local bank .
The hard credit pull for opening a money market account was a red flag, but I opened one anyway. Turns out, they have a $10 monthly service charge if your account at any time falls below $2,000. A required minimum for a money market. To complete a transfer, you have to confirm it by phone by 5:00 PM. At 4:51 PM, I received a voicemail about a transfer I initiated, giving me nine minutes to respond. I didn't, so they canceled it, and I had to redo it by phone. Opened the account in November and closed it three months later. Stay away.
They charge a $10 fee for having a balance of less than $2000.
I've been really satisfied, and even impressed with my experience at Brilliant. So much so I feel almost compelled to write a review here. All experiences and interactions vary depending on many factors including specific CSR contacted, one's expectations, what the account is being used for, amount of time using the bank, website glitches, etc...This is one person's experience that spans a few months and includes the onboarding and funds transfer process.
Brilliant seems to be rarely mentioned in the interest rate lists online from different websites. I found them, thanks to DA, was attracted by the 3%+ rate at the time so I called to ask questions. I always feel better talking to a person at a online institution before I move funds. I decided to open a Money Market.
Application was done online (not opened with a person on the phone) and took 10 minutes at most, was simple and asked the usual questions. Approved in 2 days.
Account set up and verification using trial deposits (not Plaid, which I like) was smooth and took the usual 3 days. Viewing my account on the website is clear and simple. It's a basic layout, easy to navigate and very streamlined. No frills needed.
Initial funding was pushed from outside institution without issue. Later, I downloaded the App to mobile deposit a check. App is the same as the website. Easy to use and made it simple to use the check image deposit feature. Check cleared with no issue and was showing in account the next day. My understanding is that even if it's not included in 'Available Balance' for a couple of days (if over $1k), it is still included in the balance to receive the compounded interest.
Each time I've called Brilliant I have never been on hold for more that 1 minute. There is no pre recording: "For Account information, press 1" which I find so refreshing because navigating that human job eliminating system with the usual banks frustrates me to no end. The CSRs have always been super friendly, knowledgeable, and patient with me. Maybe it's luck of the draw but I recently called because I was looking on the website for tax docs. I didn't see them and decided to call jto inquire as to when the docs will be available - On a Saturday. Spoke to a human in 30 seconds and he said they should be available soon AND will email me personally when they're ready for download. WHAT? I've never experienced above & beyond customer service like this from any banking institution. ALSO, he volunteered the new rate increase information and assured me my account will reflect the increase Monday. I was over the moon.
I did ding 2 stars for the 'Reasonable Fees' section as I also find the transfer limits out of the bank a bit constraining, but it isn't much different than other banks and I'm using the account to earn interest on funds, not as a HUB and the availability of paper checks is a easy work-around. I'll update my review, if the need arises as the months/years go by, but so far... WOW! I'm extremely happy with my decision because my experience has been stellar and it's good feeling searching for HYSA rates and consistently seeing my choice as a rate leader.
Horrible Bank, I made a big mistake opening a CD with them. I have a 9 month CD and they are suppose to put the accrued interest every month into my CD. Well after several E-mails and phone calls. they say they will get back to me and never do. They are just ignoring me. Its been 2 weeks and no explanation of why they are not adding my accrued interest into my CD. As required per the agreement. Since my interest is not compounding they are costing me money. Don't make my mistake, I will be paying for it for another 8 months !!
I did not have any problems setting up the online account, but then I realized just how many fees they charged. I asked (via their secure message portal) about the number of maximum number of online transactions per month and the maximum amount of funds allowed to be transferred out. This is the response I got:
"The account has six free debits of any type per month, any further are $1 each. The limits on making external transfers from the Brilliant login are $5,000 per transaction and per month and the fee is $2.55 per transfer. You cannot pull funds into the account using the Brilliant portal, those would need to be initiated from the other institution and we do not assess a fee nor limit the amount."
There is also a fee for closing the account within 3 months of opening it, as well as multiple other fees.
I am changing my INITIAL very good review (as below) after further and subsequent experience.
I THINK they are well intentioned, but they have some issues of which you probably should be aware:
1) Perhaps just a "mistake", but I opened their EMM account represented as paying 4.3% APY. Just checked it and it is paying 3.92% which equates to 4.0 APY. Interesting mistake???????
I opened it with a very nominal 2.5 K until I had my beneficiaries established on account. They show no tier rate associated with their EMM. Deposit account.com reports 4.3 APY on 1k to 500k.
2) Problems with establishing POD BENEFICIARIES:
On their initial opening procedure, their system only provided for naming one beneficiary. It was done on a doc sign procedure that did not allow me to put in my account number. I had to bring it to to their attention and they did come back and fix that. This initial POD agreement was satisfactory.
However, I need two beneficiaries, and they sent me a completely different POD agreement that I basically feel is prima facie and patently incorrect.
I am not a KS attorney, but I doubt KS has any strange ownership, POD, lapseing law.
After I sent a detailed explanation, their marketing manager has informed me he thought it was confusing but their compliance department had vetted it. No one offered any explanation or addressed any of my detailed points.
OK...They don't want my business...that's fine.
But, if you use POD accounts for either or both estate planning or increasing FDIC coverage, CONFUSING is the last thing you want.
They offer no way to evidence exactly what is of proper bank record. I suppose I have two different POD agreements in existence. Neither of which I want.
If you are unaware, FDIC is bound to recognize and honor ONLY Bank proper records... not something kicking around in a file somewhere.
And should PODs ever become an issue, CONFUSING is definitely the last thing you want. I use PODs to uncomplicate estate planning.
Brilliant is a division of Equity bank. Equity has only several old reviews, but they are not great.
I am disappointed as I liked their initial CSR people, but I feel safer elsewhere. I will leave my nominal initial balance in place for three months to avoid their fees for early close.
I am happy that I only nominally funded their account, until I had further experience.
If you use POD's.....READ THEM. Check your interest rate applied to your account.
Good Luck
MY OLD INITIAL ASSESMENT:
I have just opened a brand new money market account with BRILLIANT and am very pleased from my initial impressions/experience.
I think their S/W systems might have some peculiarities... BUT THEIR CSR's SURE MAKE UP FOR IT.!
With the disclosure that I'm older and a technology novice (no idiot), I did find the website a bit novel and "new-to-me" experience..
They do take a picture of your identification and populate most of the field questions. However, somehow that resulted in their ascribing my address to nowhere I have ever lived. And I was not able to change it.
So Jennifer (@ CSR) had to do something to cancel the whole darn thing so I could start again.
Went smoothly 2ecd try, albeit maybe slowly for me as it was a little different for my experience.
Now, I had experience with two CSR's. JENNIFER and ANGIE and they were terrific... polite, professional, knowledgeable, and followed thru immediately.
JENNIFER explained and deleted my first attempt and truthfully explained that I should wait until tomorrow to try again. THANK YOU JEN.
Their S/W system only provides to establish one beneficiary and I called ANGIE, who immediately supplied me supplemental documentation to establish beneficiaries for both my children. THANK YOU ANGE.
In neither issue did I have to wait any materially significant time to reach the CSR's.
SECURITY... Brilliant does have their system full of secondary verifications.... WHICH I HAPPEN TO LOVE. Yes, you may have to get special secondary codes for certain transactions, but I very much like good security.
I think they are a good honest and straight playing institution.
I wish BRILLIANT good going in the future and look forward to a banking relation with them.
OH, and my above good experience does not even consider they are a competitive LEADER in yield.!!
I just got off the phone with a supervisor (Matt) and came away impressed. He spent a considerable amount of time explaining the ins and outs of the money market. What a rate!
Opened account which required uploading front/back driver's license not in a secure window (strike one). Using Plaid to fund the account, could not link to Ally bank, AXOS bank, Salliemae bank and after two attempts, finally linked to CFG bank (strike two). They charge $2.55 fee for each ACH (5K limit), only allow outgoing transfers and cannot transfer money in from their website (strike three/four/five). Asked for the options closing the account after a substantial deposit, told you can use a check (seriously?, strike six).
Most rate leaders will soon soar past 4% as the Fed meets again in December. This place is not worth the effort or the trouble. Will not make further deposits.
Tried to open an Electric MMA 2 weeks ago. The page to input ID info needs to have 1 of 3 documents upload - front & back of drivers license, passport or state ID. The uploads must be photos in .jpeg format. So I take pics of both our DLs and start again. I upload my DL which is then read by their software to populate name, address etc. We have both a residence and mailing address with the residence clearly shown on the DL. After their software finished, it showed city and zip of our mailing address in the residence blocks. I tried to correct it but found blocks greyed out which indicates they are frozen. So, off to email customer service. The rep, Eric Tucker, responds that he sees the zip code for both mail and physical are the same. He asks what they should be and states h can edit the blocks to continue the application. I respond to his email with both address info and wait. Two days later I initiate an email to customer service to check progress. I get email from Eric saying "I see the original inquiry and I see my response, but I don't see any email with what the correct address should be> Would you mind providing this information again so I can make the update to your application?" I sent fresh email with the address info stating it was a repeat of what was on my previous response in the email thread. I also ask what the withdrawal limits are. I wait another day and log back into the application and do find the address blocks were corrected, but never heard a peep about withdrawal limits. I now click continue on the application to add my wife. I go through the same process of uploading the front and back of her DL and repeatedly - like 5 times - get an error message asking if the DL is vaiid? Of course it's valid, she drives with every day. I launch another email to customer service to inform their fancy reading software isn't working. In the mean time I take fresh pictures of her DL and try again today but get the same results. I never received a response to my last reach out to customer service, and tried to get connected by phone. After 45 min listening to their elevator music and repeating promo I hung up. This bank may be a good one, and with the high rates is probably swamped with new clients. But the account opening process is the most complicated I have ever run across. There are other choices out there such as Northern Bank Direct who responded quick to my inquiry about withdrawal limits, and has a more realistic and common account opening process.
Just got an email from Brilliant Bank indicating they are not currently offering any CDs.
Nor are they offering anything to residents of KS, AR, MO or OK.
As of today, 10-12-2022 I could find no CDs mentioned on their website. The Money Market account is there but not the CDs. Perhaps they've withdrawn it due to its high rates.
After searching several online banks I decided to open an account with Brilliant Bank. The rates were very good and I liked the fact that it was near my area of the country. When I entered my zip code I was informed that I wasn't eligible. I called the phone number, which was answered immediately by a person, but I was informed there were five states that weren't eligible. Mine was one of those so I'll have to take my business elsewhere.
I opened an account with Brilliant Bank without any problems. The process actually went better than other banks that I applied.
I also checked with FDIC where the customer service informed me that brilliant bank is insured by FDIC.
I am happy and just set up ACH to transfer funds to start earning higher interests than other banks.