Great Bank Account
I have had an account with T-Mobile since they opened checking account facilities. I have been a cell phone customer with them since 2005. I have never had any problems and always had very satisfactory customer assistance online and at any of their local facilities. The checking account offers a great interest rate up to $3000 and even over that amount. I really appreciate that especially in these trying times. If you just follow the rules established in order to maintain the checking account, there are not any problems. I have all my utilities and phone service direct payments sent and never had any problems. All payments have been made on time and confirmation emails sent to me. I really appreciate the fine service given and am going to deposit a higher amount based upon their prior service which has been extended to me. Thank you for your wonderful service.
Great Rates -- No Liquid Funds (3.5 Stars)
If you can accept these two caveats, here is why this bank is for you
* Funds held between 5-10 days (5 business days is my experience, YMMV)
* No Wire Transfer setup; Per terms of agreement: T-Mobile MONEY is a digital-only account. This means that there are no branches or physical locations in which we can service your account or accept deposits in person. In addition, we do not provide outgoing wire transfer services at this time.
If these two caveats are a deal breaker for you (and believe me, I hear you), do not open a T-Mobile Money Account.
Now if you have the mentality of using this like a CD, where you should not intend on touching these funds...maybe just a little though, this could be a great account for you. Just say "My Funds Are Not Liquid". Easy like an enema. Blah.
So why four stars? Well I'm unable to give 3.5 so like America, we round up. I like the 4% rate giving $120 max back on $3,000 cap. I also like if you push this account to the FDIC max you are looking at $2,590. There are better ways to earn interest but this is a heavily reduced risk way since the account is insured.
Transferring funds can be a bit of a kerfuffle. Money in takes between 5-10 days. Taking money out you can purchase checks or use the debt card.
When closing the account you can write a check and wait for the money to fund in the new account or contact Customer Support (web) and they respond within 1 business day
Think of it like this; when your money is in a low interest bank, the money is hiring the crew to give you support. When your money moves to a high interest bank, you may find it's more of a DIY bank.
Think about what kind of person you are; does the money need to be liquid or not. If you can say "My Funds Are Not Liquid" and accept this logic, this is the right low risk way to earn up a bit of change.
Tmo Money: Don’T Save Here
Yes, 4% is a crazy rate, and going forward, they’ll still offer it—but they are going to make you work for it.
10 debit transactions—rather than $200 deposited— will be required each month, and seems like a transparent attempt to say ‘don’t park money here’. Granted, over $3k its 1%, but using the excuse that its “too hard” for people to save $200/mo is silly.
Expect a hard time if you use your debit at month’s end to get to that magical 10th transaction. Banks are notorious for coming up with ways to do the wrong thing and quote fine print or the like.
SO Hard To Get Your Money Out After It Is Deposited
If you are thinking of using a TMobile bank account just be aware that they make it VERY hard to get your money out once it is deposited. There is a $3,000 limit to ACH transfers, going into or out of their bank. When I saw this account offer I thought "this is great, I can fund the account with the FDIC insurance limit and earn 1% on it, safely. One percent is nearly twice what the "real" online banks are now offering. But then I find that online transfers are limited to $3,000 per day, and you can only do a small number of transfers in each month. And unlike most banks, the limits are in force even if you initiate a transfer from one of your linked banks instead of through TMobile. And they accept ONLY incoming wire transfers, not outgoing. So if you put your money in, forget about transferring it out. Imagine putting in $250,000 and then only being able to get it back out by transferring $3,000 a day, and being limited to just a handful of monthly transactions. They get your money deposited, then make it too darn hard to get it out. I soooooo regret starting the account. I just made the assumption that like most online banks, TMobile would NOT limit the dollar amount of transfers that were initiated through the websites of linked banks. Do yourself a favor and don't get lured in by the 1% rate.
Data as of Q4 2020
Health Grade Components
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| FDIC Certificate # | 34444 |
| Year Established | 1997 |
| Employees | 835 |
| Primary Regulator | FED |
| Profit Margin | |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets - YTD | 0.89% |
| Return on Equity - YTD | 12.23% |
| Annual Interest Income | $543.3MM |
| Assets and Liabilities | ||
|---|---|---|
| Assets | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $18.43B$11.51B |
| Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $15.69B$9.99B |
| Deposits | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $11.42B$8.71B |
| Equity Capital | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $1.20B$1.18B |
| Loan Loss Allowance | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $144.2MM$56.4MM |
| Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $71.3MM$23.5MM |
| Real Estate Owned | Q4 2020vs Q4 2019 | $57.00K$173.00K |