Vio Bank Opens Its Virtual Doors With Savings Account

About two weeks ago, Vio Bank, the new internet division of MidFirst Bank, opened its virtual doors for business. The product line debuted with a High Yield Online Savings account, earning 2.10% APY on all balances.

Funding and Accessing

The High Yield Online Savings account requires a minimum $100 opening deposit. The initial deposit must be made by ACH from the linked bank account named on the online application. After the account is established, up to five external bank accounts can be linked and deposits from those linked accounts can be made via ACH or wire. The speed of incoming ACHs is anywhere between 2-5 business days, with hold times for incoming ACH being 2 or 3 business days.

This is a “true” savings account, having no ATM/debit card. Any withdrawals must be made through ACH or wire. Withdrawals initiated through Vio Bank’s online banking platform are limited to only $2k per outgoing ACH transaction, with an aggregate monthly total of $6k. Withdrawals initiated by an external bank have no dollar limits. There is a $10 excessive transaction fee “for each limited withdrawal in excess of six withdrawals per monthly statement cycle.”

Potential Fees

While there is no monthly maintenance or service fee, there are other potential charges, including,

• $25 if the account is closed within 90 days of opening
• $5 per month after 12 months of inactivity
• $5 per month for paper statements
• $18 for an outgoing domestic wire and $15 for an incoming international wire

Beneficiaries

Multiple payable-on-death (POD) beneficiaries are allowed. While there is no set number, the online application only allows for two beneficiaries to be named at a time. Social Security numbers are NOT required for beneficiaries. Charities/non-profits cannot be named, but trusts can be named as a beneficiary.

High Yield Online CDs

Vio Bank is also offering eleven High Yield Online CDs that have solidly good rates. While you will probably be seeing several of these CDs in next week’s Summary, none of the APYs are currently wow-worthy. The minimum opening deposit is $500, with no stated balance cap. ACH transfers can be used to both fund CDs and access maturing funds; a transfer to the High Yield Online Savings account is also an option for maturing CD funds.

The following are some of the High Yield Online CDs in Vio Bank's product line. Please refer to the rates section of our information page for Vio Bank to view the entire product line.

According to the CD disclosure, the Early Withdrawal Penalty (EWP) for the 6-, 9- and 12-month terms is “One percent of the amount withdrawn, plus a $25 fee.” The EWP for terms greater than 12 months is “Three percent of the amount withdrawn, plus a $25 fee.” These are harsh EWPs, especially for the 15-month CD. Also, it should be noted that early withdrawal requests may be denied. According to the disclosure, “Acceptance of a request by you for a withdrawal of some or all of the funds prior to the Maturity Date is at our discretion.”

Availability

Vio Bank is offering accounts to US persons, defined as “a citizen or resident of the United States,” 18 years or older with a valid Social Security number.

Only individual and joint accounts can be opened with Vio Bank. Custodial accounts and trust accounts are not permitted, but as mentioned above, trusts can be named as a beneficiary.

As an internet bank, Vio Bank has no brick-and-mortar branches. Opening a High Yield Online Savings account and/or High Yield CD can only be done online.

DA reader, Snap14, wrote a Forum post about opening an account this afternoon.

Just opened an account online - took less than five minutes. There is a maximum $50,000 for initial funding while they set up the link via trial deposits, but no limits for deposits after that.

Bank Overview

As an online division of MidFirst Bank, Vio Bank operates under MidFirst Bank’s FDIC Certificate and shares its financial history.

Vio Bank/MidFirst Bank has an overall health grade of "A" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 4.38% (excellent) based on March 31, 2018 data. In the past year, the Bank increased its total non-brokered deposits by $510.14 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 6.82%. Please refer to our financial overview of Vio Bank/MidFirst Bank (FDIC Certificate # 4063) for more details.

Note: According to Vio Bank’s FDIC Coverage page,

Deposits held at Vio Bank are deposits of MidFirst Bank and are combined with any other MidFirst Bank deposits for FDIC insurance purposes. MidFirst Bank deposits includes deposits at MidFirst Bank and any of its divisions including Vio Bank, MidFirst Private Bank, 1st Century Bank, and MidFirst Direct.

As mentioned above, MidFirst Direct is also a division of MidFirst Bank. Like Vio Bank, MidFirst Direct offers an online savings account and online CDs. I first reported on MidFirst Direct in 2012 when it offered very competitive online CD rates. We began tracking MidFirst Direct’s savings account in January 2016 when the rate was 0.45%. The rate has risen, but it is still low when compared to other internet savings accounts. For current rates and rate histories, please refer to the rates section of our MidFirst Direct information page.

MidFirst Bank, one of the five largest privately owned banks in the United States, traces its roots to Midland Mortgage Company, which was founded in 1950 by a group of Oklahoma City area bankers. The name was changed to MidFirst Bank in 1982, following the purchase of a thrift charter. Through continued growth and market expansion, today’s MidFirst Bank has assets in excess of $14.9 billion and 77 branch locations in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Arizona.

How the High Yield Online Savings Compares

When compared to the Savings Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide, Vio Bank’s High Yield Online Savings APY currently ranks second, regardless of minimum deposit.

The above rates are accurate as of 8/22/2018.

To search for the best Savings Account, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to DepositAccounts.com’s Savings Account Rates page.