Written by Kim Porter | Edited by Rebecca Stropoli | Published on 12/10/2024
Wintrust Bank, which opened its doors in 1994, is headquartered in Chicago and has 35 branches spread across the immediate area. Its parent company, Wintrust Financial Corp., operates a network of 70 bank brands with more than 170 locations in Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin, Northwest Indiana and Florida. If you're a customer of one of these community banks, including Wintrust, you can use the banking services and ATMs at any of these locations.
Wintrust Bank offers an array of deposit accounts, including checking accounts, standard savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs). It also offers mortgages, home equity lines of credit, credit cards and wealth management services. Small business owners can apply for business credit cards and loans at the bank.
One of Wintrust's standout features is its MaxSafe program, which is available for select CD and money market accounts. Maxsafe provides up to $4 million in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) insurance per account holder, well beyond the standard $250,000. This is a helpful feature when you have assets beyond the normal FDIC limit. However, most of Wintrust's MaxSafe accounts have low annual percentage yields (APYs), so you'll need to weigh the pros and cons.
If you need ATM access, you won't incur fees while using one in the Allpoint, MoneyPass and Sum surcharge-free networks. Wintrust also reimburses fees charged at other ATMs nationwide, though some accounts may limit the amount of surcharge fees reimbursed.
The bank's basic checking account, Total Access Checking, doesn't pay interest but has no monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements. You need only $100 to open the account.
The basic savings option, the Statement Savings Account, offers an APY of 0.15%. The $5 monthly maintenance fee is waived if you maintain a daily balance of at least $200. And when you open a Statement Savings Advanced account with money that isn't currently held at Wintrust, the APY rises to 3.25%.
Wintrust offers 10 standard CDs with terms ranging from five months to 33 months. Currently, the highest-yielding CD is the five-month CD, with an APY of 4.40%.
You can access customer support in person during business hours on weekdays. Phone support is available at 800-856-0212 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central time Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m Saturday. The Wintrust Community Banks app is highly rated, earning 4.8 out of 5 stars on both the iOS and Android platforms.
Wintrust Bank pros and cons:
Pros:
• Competitive rates on most CDs
• Large fee-free network of ATMs
• Reimbursement for out-of-network ATM fees
• A network of community banks with more than 170 locations
Cons:
• Branches limited to a small region
• High minimum opening deposits for most accounts
• Low APYs on several deposit accounts
