UFB Direct is a division of online-only Axos Bank offering checking, savings and money market accounts.
The online bank has a Secure Savings account that earned an annual percentage yield (APY) of 5.25% as of May 21, 2024. This high-yield savings account has no minimum opening deposit and no maintenance or service fees, and it comes with a variety of digital tools, including mobile check deposits.
UFB Direct’s Secure Money Market account also earns an APY of 5.25% and charges no monthly maintenance fee with a balance of at least $5,000; otherwise, the monthly fee is $10.
You can boost your APY on a money market or savings account by up to 0.20% by combining it with a UFB Freedom Checking account. Here’s how: Set up qualifying direct deposits to unlock a 0.05% APY increase, and then maintain a minimum balance of $10,000 to get an additional 0.10% APY. Earn an extra 0.05% APY boost with 10 approved debit card transactions per statement cycle — for a total boost of 0.20% APY.
The checking account has no maintenance or minimum balance requirements. It includes a free debit card you can use at more than 90,000 ATMs and offers up to $10 in domestic ATM reimbursements monthly.
For support, check UFB Direct’s Frequently Asked Questions page, log in online to send a secure message, or call 877-472-9200 24/7.
UFB Direct pros and cons
Pros:
• Competitive APYs on savings and money market accounts
• Up to $10 in domestic ATM reimbursements monthly
• 24/7 support for customers
Cons:
• Money market account fee (waiver possible)
• No branch access for service
• Limited product selection
Will likely get updated sometime today. First salvo in rate cuts. I will be moving my $$$ into a CD. Been a great run of high rates on a liquid product
I’ve had to open 4 accounts since march of 2023 to get the current high rates. Within the last week or two they dropped my rate from above 5% to 4.5% without notifying me. Their current advertised rate is 5.25% so another account was opened to get the current rate. I can’t say this is a professional way to act as a bank so I doubt I will be here long term. It’s been nice getting $450 a month in interest but with having over $100k in a bank I shouldn’t be playing these bait and switch games. I’ve had no issues with withdrawals but deposits take over a week+ to show up. Withdrawals take 2 days. If you don’t mind playing games and staying one step ahead of their nonsense with interest rates it’s a good return. I can’t believe it is legal to lower your rate while advertising and giving higher rates to newcomers. It just tells me whoever is running this bank is trash. I’ve made a couple grand in interest since march so it is legit if you stay ahead of their childish interest games.
An update to my 10/3/22 comment. Besides my comment that users with existing UFB savings accounts need to continually check for rate increases, and request a new account when new, higher rate accounts get created, UFB seem to now lower rates on your existing accounts instead of keeping them the same as they did previously, without informing you, hence it is even more important to keep checking their latest advertised rate on the UFB home page, and requesting an account change when the rate goes up.
On the plus side, sending a secure message though their messaging system works well, and they usually respond to requests for an account change within a few hours. You don't need to open a new, additional account or go through any other paperwork.
It's much easier to move funds around if you have an Axos checking account (Axos and UFB are closely affiliated). In my experience, transfers between UFB and Axos requested through secure messaging take place almost instantly, for any amount. My primary checking account is with Axos, and this works well for me.
If you have substantial cash funds you need to park for a while, it's probably worth it. Does anyone want to take bets on how this will work when rates start to go down?
Alex
I just opened an account and transferred in most of my savings. Then as soon as the funds showed "available" 4 days later, UFB froze my account and will not let me access funds or even withdraw 5 dollars unless I send a photo of myself holding my drivers license and a utility bill with my adress from the past 30 days. They are refusing to even let me speak with a supervisor. I have banked with many institutions over the past 40 years and never encountered anything like this. So please be very very careful.
Overall | |
---|---|
FDIC Certificate # | 35546 |
Year Established | 2000 |
Employees | 1335 |
Primary Regulator | OCC |
Profit Margin | |
---|---|
Return on Assets - YTD | 1.75% |
Return on Equity - YTD | 17.45% |
Annual Interest Income | $854.9MM |
Assets and Liabilities | ||
---|---|---|
Assets | Q2 2024vs Q2 2023 | $22.14B$19.4B |
Loans | Q2 2024vs Q2 2023 | $18.38B$16.46B |
Deposits | Q2 2024vs Q2 2023 | $19.49B$17.26B |
Equity Capital | Q2 2024vs Q2 2023 | $2.24B$1.88B |
Loan Loss Allowance | Q2 2024vs Q2 2023 | $197.9MM$166.5MM |
Unbacked Noncurrent Loans | Q2 2024vs Q2 2023 | $133.5MM$102MM |
Real Estate Owned | Q2 2024vs Q2 2023 | $1.8MM$7MM |
Always verify rates and promotions with the bank or credit union. We are not UFB Direct; we are a rate comparison website and cannot provide official rates or promotions.
* The APY shown varies based on the deposit amount. Expand the listing to see APYs for other deposit amounts.
APY | MIN | MAX | ACCOUNT NAME | VIEW DETAILS |
---|---|---|---|---|
5.15% | $0 | - | UFB Portfolio Savings |
APY | MIN | MAX | ACCOUNT NAME | VIEW DETAILS |
---|---|---|---|---|
5.15% | $0 | - | UFB Portfolio Money Market |
UFB Direct is an Internet only bank and does not have branch locations. Its headquarters is located at 4350 La Jolla Village Drive, - San Diego, CA 92122