| 5 star: | (3) | |
| 4 star: | (0) | |
| 3 star: | (1) | |
| 2 star: | (0) | |
| 1 star: | (8) |
1. they won't let you withdraw your own money, which is against SEC. They make you jump through hoops like sending an ID which they don't even tell you about until you contact them about the withdrawal feature not working (you just get an error page when you click withdraw). They already approved my account and accepted my deposit, so there's no reasonable need for an ID. plus I have no idea when withdrawal will be available again, which is again against SEC.
2. their APY gets lower every day which is a total bait and switch, plus they don't notify customers in a timely manner about it.
Apparently only available to local in person applications.
The more I type this the more p!ssed off I'm going to get but I've been battling these people for months to transfer some of our HOA reserve fund from our current bank and purchase a CD. In any other universe this would take about a week, but 3 months in there have been so many errors I had to pull the plug for the sake of my own sanity. Three of them couldn't give me a roadmap forward and their systems might as well be Chinese stereo instructions. I still can't believe I'm writing this but felt so frustrated I needed to vent and to warn anyone else who's working with an HOA to find another bank. You can find comparable rates and places that can actually work with people. Never again.
This is a scam you can't look at your account and can't withdraw any money.
Have used for some time now, and taking money out ASAP.
PRO
- Reasonably OK rates through various banks
- Consolidated 1099
CONS
- Only one linked external account
- Absolutely unacceptable options to change it - either
-- through company outside of the US, with invasion of privacy, which mostly does not work, or
-- through notary+snail mail+ 2+ weeks
- Customer support over e-mail takes 2+ days
Western Alliance is actually a part of Raisin. Raisin is the shadiest online bank I have ever seen with beyond terrible customer service. If you want help with something you will need to call or email via an unsecured email. There's no online service via chat and if you do call, be prepared to hold for 30 minutes. The hours are Eastern, which means you best not need help after 1PM PST. You can only link ONE account and can change that linked account only once every 60 days. So if you have a savings account with them and want to open a CD with them, you can not fund it with the money from your savings account. You need to transfer the money to that one linked account and then transfer it back. Their customer service team that answers emails are rude and unprofessional. I do not trust Western Alliance/Raisin and will NEVER bank with them again.
The positive here and there are many, is that there is an unlimited amount of money that you can transfer in or out by ACH per day and there are an unlimited number of beneficiaries you can put on the account.
However the big deal breaker is that through Save Better, which is the only way to deal with the account, you can only link one external account to this account. You can change that linked account to another one but only once per every 60 days.
So if you want to park alot of money here, it has to all come from the same external account and you better keep that one external account up and running because if you want access to your money with Save Better, it can only be through that account. Then you have to wait 60 days before you can change that linked external account and then 60 days again to change again.
Total deal breaker for me because I chase after the best rates and want to have free access to my money through more than just one external account.
I have a HYSA with Western Alliance Bank through savebetter. I also have relationships with other banks and credit unions there. I just received an mail stating that Western Alliance has raised their HYSA rate to 4.45%. It was 4.35%. If you take their top tier rate with their no limitations on transfers policy, and their 2 business day transfers, IMO Western Alliance is a very tough bank to beat.
In my experience, Mysavingsdirect is a very close second overall, with a current rate of 4.35%. If you are thinking of starting a relationship with Western Alliance through savebetter, my advise would be to begin the process about a week before the end of the month. Why? Because you will then soon have access to your first monthly statement, which is quite detailed. It will contain information about your account which you will not have upon opening your account. Read the "How It Works" and the FAQs at savebetter.