Top Savings Account Continues at Solera National Bank in Colorado - Local Only
Solera National Bank continues to offer a very competitive high-yield savings account. The current rate is 1.40% APY for all balances. This rate is listed in the bank's savings account PDF as of 11/11/2010. The rate has only fallen a little since my last post in May when the yield was 1.50%. In July 2009, the yield was 3.00%. So you can see the account has a history of competitive rates.
This high-yield savings account is called the Traditional Savings Account. It doesn't have the best features, but the very competitive rate may make up for this for some people. Here are some of the main features. I've highlighted the ones that are the most objectionable.
- $100 minimum balance to avoid a $5/quarter fee
- Interest is paid quarterly, and if you close your account before interest is credited you will not receive the accrued interest.
- There is a fee of $1.00 for each withdrawal and/or transfer in excess of six per quarterly statement cycle.
- Deposit up to 20 items per month at no charge. A $0.15 fee is charged for each deposited item in excess of 20.
- Each withdrawal/transfer in excess of six per calendar month will be assessed a $10.00 fee.
- Dormant/inactive service charge fee of $15.00 per quarter is applied to accounts with a balance of $100.00 or less and no activity for 6 consecutive months.
The bank doesn't seem to have an ACH bank-to-bank transfer service, but you should be able to initiate ACH transfers from another bank.
The bank also offers a competitive non-reward checking account. It's a tiered account with rates that range from 0.75% APY for balances under $20K to 1.50% APY for balances of $250K+. You can get 1.50% APY with the bank's money market account with only a $100K balance. These rates are listed in the bank's rate sheet as of 11/11/2010.
The bank used to take out-of-state applications, but in August 2009 I was informed that they now restrict new accounts to local customers.
It's a small, one-office bank that was just established in 2007. It's located in Lakewood, Colorado which is in the suburbs of Denver.
The bank has an overall health score at DepositAccounts.com of 4 out of 5 with a Texas Ratio of 4.44% (excellent) based on 6/30/2010 data. Please refer to our financial overview of Solera National Bank for more details. The bank has been a FDIC member since 2007 (FDIC Certificate # 58534).
