Sallie Mae Bank is a financial institution affiliated with Sallie Mae, the company widely known for its student loan business. The SLM Corporation (the formal name for Sallie Mae) is a publicly traded (NASDAQ: SLM) education finance corporation with a plethora of divisions and subsidiaries that offer an array of debt management services and business products. Sallie Mae Bank is a recent venture by the company into the retail banking space.
The bank offers three different types of savings products on its personal banking side, including Money Market and savings accounts, and Certificates of Deposit (CDs). DepositAccounts.com has featured Sallie Mae’s Money Market account in the past for its competitive rate offering, and it is still usually one of the top offerings in the country. The MMA comes with check writing capabilities and has no minimum balance requirement, no monthly fees, and no tiered interest rates. The savings account offering is very similar, having no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements, as well as a comparable interest rate. The main difference between Sallie Mae’s Money Market and savings account is that the savings account offers a 10% annual match on Upromise rewards, whereas the Money Market account comes with check writing but no rewards. The bank’s CDs are available in 12-, 36-, and 60-month term lengths and come with fixed rates and minimum initial deposit requirements. Sallie Mae Bank also makes undergraduate and graduate student loans available, as well as family loans for kids in K-12 grades.
Sallie Mae Bank online banking provides the only way for customers to access their deposit accounts, as the bank has no physical branches. The web-based platform gives account holders the ability to perform functions like direct deposit, bill pay, and funds transfers, but because the bank doesn’t offer a checking account to the public, customers should be careful to avoid going over the six transactions per month limit.
Sallie Mae Bank is a subsidiary of the SLM Corporation, which was created in 1972 as a government-partnered mutual loan entity. In 2004, the company permanent severed ties with the U.S. government and became a private sector company. A year later, in 2005, the bank was started in order to complement its loan business. In the summer of 2013, Sallie Mae announced that it was going to divide its education loan management business from its banking business in order to offer more consumer lending products on its banking side. Sallie Mae Bank is currently headquartered in Murray, Utah, and maintains it customers’ deposit accounts through its online banking system.
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7/14 - Sallie Mae Bank Rate Changes For 7-14-2023
6/24 - Sallie Mae Bank Rate Changes For 6-23-2023
6/5 - Savebetter Sallie Mae 5.15% 27Mo Special Has Apparently Ended
4/21 - Sallie Mae Bank Rate Changes For 4-21-2023
4/21 - Rate Changes
3/24 - Sallie Mae Bank Via Savebetter Raised The 27 Month CD To 5.15%
3/24 - Sallie Mae Rate Changes 03/24/2023
3/10 - Sallie Mae Bank Rate Increases In Short Term Certificates
2/24 - Sallie Mae Bank Rate Changes For 2-24-2023
2/14 - Sallie Mae Bank Drops 27 Month CD Rate Via Savebetter
1/27 - Sallie Mae Rate Changes 01/27/2023
12/23 - Sallie Mae Drops 5 Year Rate
12/22 - 14 Month 'No-Penalty' CD Up To 4.40% APY Thru Savebetter
11/23 - 5% 27-Mo CD @ Salliemae Via Savebetter, EWP=180, Min $1.00 No Max
11/17 - 14 Month No-Penalty CD Up To 4.05% APY Thru Savebetter
11/4 - Sallie Mae Rate Changes 11/4/2022
11/3 - No-Penalty CD @ 3.75% APY Thru Savebetter.Com
10/21 - Rate Changes For 10/21/2022
10/6 - Rate Changes For 10/6/2022
9/22 - Sallie Mae Bank Rate Changes For 9-22-2022
9/9 - Sallie Mae Bank Rate Changes For 9-9-2022
8/26 - Sallie Mae Raises Money Market And Savings Rates.
8/12 - Sallie Mae Bank Rates As Of 8-12-2022
7/29 - Sallie Mae Bank Rate Changes For 7-29-2022
6/28 - Rate Changes 06/28/2022
6/3 - Sallie Mae Bank CD & MMA Rate Changes For 6-3-2022
5/13 - Sallie Mae Increases Money Market And CD Rates.
4/13 - Money Market Rate Increased To 0.65%
4/21/20 - Sallie Mae Bank Continues Rate Cutting Process.
3/17/20 - Sallie Mae Bank Drops All Deposit Rates
12/10/19 - Sallie Mae Bank Lowers Money Market & Savings Rates.
11/15/19 - Sallie Mae Drops Rates
11/8/19 - Sallie Mae Pays Interest From Day Of CD Application
11/7/19 - SallieMae Bank 12-Month CD Earns 2.35% APY
10/29/19 - Sallie Mae Bank Cuts Savings Rates
9/24/19 - Sallie Mae Bank Drops Deposit Rates.
7/8/19 - Sallie Mae Bank Cuts Money Market And 12 & 18 Month CD Rates
6/21/19 - Sallie Mae Bank Ups 18-Month CD To 2.80% APY
6/14/19 - Sallie Mae Increases Some CD Rates
6/12/19 - Sallie Mae CD Rate Changes
4/15/19 - Sallie Mae Bank Drops Most CD Rates
3/13/19 - Sallie Mae Bank Increases 24-Month CD Rate To 3.00%
3/5/19 - Sallie Mae Bank Money Market Rate Increases To 2.30% APY
3/4/19 - Sallie Mae Bank Increases Rate On Money Market Account To 2.30%
12/21/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Raises 12 & 24 Month CD Rates
11/17/18 - SallieMae Bank Money Market APY Increased
11/16/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Raises Savings And CD Rates.
10/22/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Rate Increase On Money Market And High Yield Savings
10/6/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Ups Money Market Rate
10/5/18 - Sallie Mae Money Market Reaches 2.00%
7/4/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Money Market Rate Raised
7/2/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Money Market Account Now Yields 1.90%
6/8/18 - Sallie Mae Bank's 24-Month CD APY Raised
6/8/18 - Sallie Mae Bank 24 Month CD 2.75%
6/5/18 - Sallie Mae Bank -- 5-Yr. Brokered CD, 3.30%
5/25/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Ups Money Market Account Rate
5/25/18 - Sallie Mae Bumps Money Market & High Yield Savings Rates
5/2/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Brokered CD: 5 Yrs., 3.20%
4/18/18 - Sallie Mae Bank New Issue Brokered CD: 5Yrs., 3.05%
4/7/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Money Market Rate Raised
4/6/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Rate Increases
3/16/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Ups Money Market Acct Rate
2/9/18 - Sallie Mae Gives Money Market Account A Rate Bump
1/27/18 - Sallie Mae Bank's 24-Month CD Rates Jumps Up
1/26/18 - Big CD Rate Increases At Sallie Mae Bank
1/5/18 - Sallie Mae Bank Boosts Money Market Account
12/22/17 - Small .02% Increase In APY For Their Money Market - Now 1.32%
7/12/17 - SallieMae Bank Raises Money Market And 60-Month CD Rates
7/12/17 - Money Market Account And CD Rate Increases
6/16/17 - SallieMae Bank Ups Money Market Account Rate
6/16/17 - Rate Increase On Money Market And 36 Month CD
6/16/17 - Money Market Account Rate Increase
4/12/17 - Sallie Mae Bank Increases 12-Month CD APY To 1.35%
1/27/17 - SallieMae Bank Adds 15 Basis Points To Money Market Account
6/21/16 - SallieMae Bank Adds New Upromise GoalSaver Account
5/2/16 - Sallie Mae Bank Offers Money Market Promo Rate
10/14/15 - Sallie Mae Bank Has Money Market Promotional Rate
10/11/15 - 1.24% Interest Rate For The First 6 Months
7/4/15 - Sallie Mae Bank Raises Rates On 12-month and 36-month CDs
11/3/14 - Sallie Mae Bank's 12-month CD Rate Raised To Attractive Level - National
5/13/14 - FDIC Announces Settlement With Sallie Mae For Unfair And Deceptive Practices And Violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
5/9/14 - New Longer Term CD Rates At Sallie Mae Bank
3/22/13 - Sallie Mae CD Requirement Change
8/31/12 - Another Money Market Rate Increase at Sallie Mae Bank
7/20/12 - Sallie Mae Bank Raises Yield On Money Market And Savings Accounts.
9/30/11 - Sallie Mae Rate Drop On Online Savings And Money Market Accounts
9/7/11 - Sallie Mae Bank Adds Mobile Banking With Remote Deposit Capture
3/26/11 - Sallie Mae To Launch Student Checking Accounts
3/8/11 - Sallie Mae Bank Cuts Savings Account Rate To 1.10%
2/1/11 - Sallie Mae Bank Cuts Savings Account Yield To 1.25%
11/5/10 - CD Rates Fall At Sallie Mae Bank
11/5/10 - Sallie Mae Bank Cuts Savings Account Yield To 1.30%
9/15/10 - Sallie Mae Bank Lowers CD Rates
9/3/10 - Update on Sallie Mae Bank's Internet Savings Account and CDs
7/5/10 - Sallie Mae Bank's Internet CD Rates - Available Nationwide
5/11/10 - Update on Sallie Mae Bank
5/1/10 - Sallie Mae Bank Raises Its Online Savings Account Rate
3/9/10 - Sallie Mae Online Savings Account Yield Falls to 1.25% APY
3/2/10 - Review of the New Sallie Mae Internet Bank and Its Link to Upromise Rewards
2/15/10 - Anyone Know Anything About Sallie Mae's Online High Yield Savings Account With An Interest Rate Of 1
Salliemae Bank / Savebetter Experience
If you ’trust the process' everything works great! Not being the trusting type I tried to understand the relationship between Savebetter and its listed banks. Apparently SaveBetter's custodian bank 'Lewis and Clark' maintains an account at their client banks (like SallieMae) and Savebetter deposits are aggregated to this account. So the client banks don't need to deal with many retail accounts. Savebetter then does all the customer facing work like showing account balances and processing retail transactions. They claim (taking them at their word) that the FDIC insurance passes-through if a client bank fails. I guess SaveBetter gets some money from their client banks for marketing and recordkeeping.
Overall, the process seems to work remarkably well so far given its complexity (haven't taken money out though).
Only gottcha's so far is that their is no option to collect accrued interest from CDs prior to maturity and their ChatBot while not ChatGPT quality is reasonably complete. It answered how to set a beneficiary for example. Also SaveBetter was a bit sketchy about how (the one) external bank account allowed is set or displayed. I tried getting someone with a pulse to answer a question but got music-on-hold. Be advised.
5% 27 Mo CD
I had a little trouble finding this CD as it's only open on the Savebetter platform, not the Sallie Mae web page. Once I got there, it was very easy to set up a platform wide account and then to open the CD. Also an easy process to link and pull funds from an external account. The transfer was complete in a day or two. You have the option to renew the maturing CD or have the funds transferred back to your linked account. Glad I got to lock in 5% for a 27 month period.
Wire Transfer Policy Misguide
Been with Sallie Mae for over 15 years, and their Money Market Account (with limited checkwriting) has usually been the best rate out there and pretty convenient to access via free ACH transfers.
They have changed recently, however. Not crazy about their new website and some policy changes, however. For example, without notice, their money market account is now considered a savings account for ACH purposes when it used to be a checking account. They gave no notice of the policy change and simply removed the ACH guidance on this entirely from their FAQ's. I also can't get prior year 1099's anymore.
Today, I also had a very big disappointment with them worth bringing to everyone's attention. Although the bank offers same-day domestic wire transfers for a $20 fee and accompanied by photo ID, and even has a special wire transfer request form to specify the destination party and account, etc., somebody at this bank has seriously misinterpreted their own Deposit Agreement to mean that all wire transfer requests are "preauthorized transfers" and can only be made to one of your linked accounts for online ACH transfers. That means no wire transfers may be sent to third parties, and even no same day transfers to a new external account of your own (as to be an eligible linked account, it also must be ACH verified via trial deposits first).
I tried arguing with their representatives that a wire transfer request is not a preauthorized transfer, and the section of the Terms and Conditions Agreement which describes the wire transfer service makes no mention that a wire can only be sent to a verified linked account, but of course they won't budge. I'm likely going to submit a dispute claim with their compliance team on the matter for the money that I have now lost due to their refusal to execute the wire request, but who knows where that'll go...
Honestly, somebody there seems to have lost their mind by limiting wire transfers to only external accounts for which 2-day ACH transfers can already be performed by the customer (up to $500,000). And the information collected on their wire transfer form and photo ID requirement is totally unnecessary and ridiculous if they still only allow wire transfers into previously linked accounts, which they already know about and have verified that you own!
Beware Sallie Mae Application
I tried to apply online for a Sallie Mae CD. After completing 95% of application, it asked for my bank username and password in order to "verify" the routing and acct. numbers. I chose instead to verify later and received an Application pending screen. Next day, did not receive any notification through email so called. Customer service could see all my personal data (ss#, dob, security answer) but said the application failed and I would have to reapply. When questioned why she could see all my information if the app failed, she said she cannot delete it and it would leave their system in 30 days. I think this is bad practice and don't want them handling my money.
Data as of Q1 2023
Learn why bank health mattersHealth Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 58177 |
| Year Established | 2005 |
| Employees | 1688 |
| Primary Regulator | FDIC |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 1.91% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 23.09% |
| Annual Interest Income | $640.9MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $29.39B$28.92B |
| Loans | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $21.14B$21.31B |
| Deposits | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $21.99B$21.55B |
| Equity Capital | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $2.48B$2.49B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $1.48B$1.23B |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $137.4MM$136.0MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q1 2023vs Q1 2022 | $0$0 |