TotalDirectBank Money Market Is New Rate Leader
As DA reader, chaser14, noted in a recent Forum post, Florida-based TotalDirectBank (TDB) has raised the rate on its Direct Money Market Deposit Account (DMMDA) to 2.60% APY on balances between $2.5k and $500k. Balances of less than $2.5k do not earn any interest. The minimum opening deposit is $2.5k and the “maximum amount allowed per client is $500.000.” The $500k maximum amount is the aggregate of all funds on deposit with TDB.
DMMDA Facts
- No check writing and no ATM/debit card.
- There are no limits on ACH transactions because an ACH (either outgoing or incoming) cannot be initiated by TotalDirectBank.
- No monthly maintenance fee.
- $10 excess transaction fee for each transaction beyond the allowed six per month.
- If transaction limits are exceeded three times in any rolling 12-month cycle, the account may be closed.
- $25 fee will be assessed if a DMMDA is closed within six months of opening
- Two beneficiaries can be named on the online application; additional beneficiaries can be added by contacting TDB.
- Social Security numbers are not required when naming beneficiaries and equal shares will be assigned.
- A soft pull credit check will be run when applying for a DMMDA.
According to the FAQs, there are two options for funding a new account.
Online funding – Complete an online transfer from your linked external account. An external account is one you own at a U.S. financial institution other than your TotalDirectBank account and that can be used to transfer funds to other banks.
Mail a check – You can mail a check made payable to yourself, or you can endorse checks made payable to you and write "For Deposit Only" on the back of the check. Please be sure to include your application number on the section labeled memo.
CSR stated there are no limits for online funding, other than the aggregate $500k per individual customer.
12-Month CD
TDB has five CDs in its product line, with the 12-month (3.05% APY) offering the most competitive rate. The minimum opening deposit for any TDB CD is $25k and is capped at $250k. As stated earlier, the maximum amount of funds on deposit with TDB is $500k per client.
As stated in the Disclosures and Schedule of Fees document, the Early Withdrawal Penalty reads as follows:
Greater than six months and up to one year – Based on a simple 12-month year, the penalty will be 3 months of the simple interest earned. (This computation is based on a year with 360 days.)
The interest for CDs with terms of one year or more “may be paid monthly, quarterly, or annually by check or transferred to another account.”
Funding and Maturing Funds
Funding a CD will be done through a validated account, which is established during the application process. A validated account can be an external checking, savings, or money market account.
Upon closing of the Certificate of Deposit, TDB will return funds in your Certificate
of Deposit to the Validated Account or via a check to your address of record.
There is a ten-day grace period before a CD automatically renews. The grace period begins on the day of maturity date and runs for ten days (maturity date plus ten days).
Availability
As an internet bank, TotalDirectBank offers its product line through its online banking platform to U.S. citizens and resident aliens, who live anywhere in the U.S., "with exception of Florida, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and US Virgin Islands.”
Opening a Direct Money Market Deposit Account and/or a CD must be done using the TotalDirectBank online application.
As stated in the FAQs,
I have submitted my application; when should I expect a response?
Our usual time-frame to process an application is two business days. You should receive a confirmation email within two business days.
NB: There currently may be issues with TDB’s online application: three DA readers have posted comments (within the past 48 hours) to chaser14’s Forum post describing problems trying to open a new account.
Bank Overview
As an online division of City National Bank of Florida (CNB), TotalDirectBank operates under CNB’s FDIC Certificate and shares its financial history.
CNB/TotalDirectBank has an overall health grade of “A” at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 2.84% (excellent), based on March 31, 2022 data. In the past year, the Bank has increased its total non-brokered deposits by $2.58 billion, an excellent annual growth rate of 15.92%. Please refer to our financial overview of CNB/TotalDirectBank (FDIC Certificate # 20234) for more details.
As stated in the FAQs,
All deposits with CNB (including deposits through TotalDirectBank deposit products) are insured by the FDIC up to the applicable maximum amount allowed by law for each deposit ownership category. All balances for TotalDirectBank and CNB deposits would be combined for purposes of determining FDIC coverage eligibility.
With assets in excess of $22 billion and more than 76,000 customer accounts, City National Bank is currently Florida’s fifth largest bank. Known as Florida’s “Big Bank Alternative,” CNB is a subsidiary of Banco de Credito e Inversiones (one of Chile’s largest banks), but maintains autonomous decision-making authority. In June 2018, CNB acquired Miami-based TotalBank, a full-service community bank owned by Banco Santander, a global multi-national bank. CNB’s online division, TotalDirectBank, derives its name from that acquisition.
How the Direct Money Market Deposit Account Compares
When compared to the Money Market Accounts and Savings Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide and do not require large balances, direct deposit, or have small balance caps, the TotalDirectBank Direct Money Market Deposit Account APY currently ranks first.
| APY | Account Name | Credit Union/Bank |
|---|---|---|
| 2.60% | Digital Money Market ($2.5k min/$500k max) | TotalDirectBank |
| 2.55% | High Yield Money Market ($1k min/no max) | CFG Bank |
| 2.50% | Money Market Deposit Account – via SaveBetter ($1 min/no max) | Ponce Bank |
| 2.50% | High Yield Savings Account – via SaveBetter ($1 min/no max) | Liberty Savings Bank |
| 2.28% | Money Market Savings (no min/no max) | Merchants Bank of Indiana |
| 2.21% | UFB Rewards Savings (no min/no max) | UFB Direct |
To look for the best rates on liquid bank accounts, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our Money Market Accounts Table and Savings Accounts Table.
How the 12-Month CD Compares
When compared to similar length-of-term CDs tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationally and have minimum deposit requirements of $25k or less, one bank and one credit union have higher rates than currently offered on the TotalDirectBank 12-month CD. The following table compares the 12-month CD to the two highest-rate CDs from other banks and the two highest-rate CDs from credit unions.
| APY | CD Term (Early Withdrawal Penalty) | Credit Union/Bank |
|---|---|---|
| 3.21% | 12-Month Certificate (EWP=90 days) | Connexus Credit Union |
| 3.10% | 13-Month CD (EWP=180 days) | ConnectOne Bank |
| 3.05% | 12-Month CD (EWP=90 days) | TotalDirectBank |
| 3.00% | 1-Year Bread Savings CD (EWP=180 days) | Bread Financial |
| 3.00% | 12-Month CD (EWP=180 days) | Sun East Federal Credit Union |
To look for the best CD rates, both nationwide in state specific, please refer to our CD Rates Table page.
The above information and rates are accurate as of 8/30/2022.
I have had similar things happen on a few rare occasions at various places online. I find it particularly unnerving because it feels like you are being hacked when you enter confidential information and suddenly the system does strange things. I recently closed an account at a small CU because they "got to know me" and were failing to ask me adequate security questions when I called in. They just recognized my voice (not using AI computer voice recognition but CSR voice recognition) and would tell me anything I wanted. Nice people, bad security. That might have worked in the 1960s, but by today's standards it is unacceptable. Account security is the highest priority.
Having seen the reviews for this FI and to hear that they are apparently still having systems issues even after years of complaints makes this FI a non-starter for me. Feels like a sloppy operation and a security risk.
(not including transfers that would exceed the maximum allowable balance of the target account, etc).
I've probably only opened two or three dozen online bank accounts in total (which I know is a lot less than many of you)... but I've personally never run into that issue.
They would get into major trouble impeding something another Financial Institution has initiated. Barring evidence of Fraud, a bad account number, etc. there would be too much liability.
Plus who's going to monitor that? It would have to be looked at AFTER the fact;
then a team of reps would start calling people. Not happening....
No answers from their customer services.