Vio Bank Nudges Online Savings To 2.39% APY

When I saw that Vio Bank had added two bps to its High Yield Online Savings account today, my initial response was to simply update my November blog post. Something along the lines of, “There were two small rate increases this month on the High Yield Online Savings – 2 bps on January 14 (2.37% APY) and 2 bps on January 25 (2.39% APY).”

After taking a closer look at Vio Bank, I decided a new blog post was needed for two reasons: ACH transfers and CD rates.

ACH Transfers

DA reader, YieldTracker, pointed out a “step in the right direction” in ACH transfer limits with a comment on the November Vio Bank blog post.

One thing I would like to add to Ken's comments above, Vio actually changed their ACH limits on external transfers using their internal system on October 26th, 2018. Ken mentions above that the internal ACH limit is $2K Daily & $5G monthly. The new limit in effect is $5K daily and $20K monthly.

YieldTracker provided the supporting text from Vio Bank’s Online Banking Agreement.

External Transfers (inbound and outbound combined) are limited to and may not exceed $5,000 daily and per transaction and are limited to and may not exceed $20,000 per calendar month. Furthermore, the number of both inbound and outbound External Transfers is limited to five (5) transfers daily and nine hundred and ninety-nine (999) per calendar month.

YieldTracker also correctly stated that there are no dollar limits when the ACH transfer is initiated from another bank.

There is no daily limit on the amount you can push or pull using someone else’s system. The limitations are only when using the internal Vio Bank ACH system.

A big thank you to YieldTracker for his insightful commentary.

Information about the High Yield Online Savings account, including funding and withdrawals, potential fees, and beneficiaries can be found in the November Vio Bank blog post.

CD Rate Changes

Last week, Vio Bank dropped the rates on several of its CDs. While the long-term CDs saw no change, shorter-term CDs lost between 6 and 15 bps – another recent example of falling CD rates. To quote a DA colleague, “I fear we may have passed the rate peak for this rate cycle.” We shall see.

Availability

Vio Bank offers 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 (or any other Vio Bank product) can only be done online.

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 5.07% (excellent) based on September 30, 2018 data. In the past year, the Bank increased its total non-brokered deposits by $813.6 million, an excellent annual growth rate of 10.51%. Please refer to our financial overview of Vio Bank/MidFirst Bank (FDIC Certificate # 4063) for more details.

Note: Vio Bank’s FDIC Coverage page states,

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.

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 $16.4 billion and 78 branch locations in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Arizona.

How the High Yield Online Savings Compares

When compared to 213 Savings Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com that are available nationwide and do not require a large minimum balance, Vio Bank’s High Yield Online Savings APY currently ranks third.

The above rates are accurate as of 1/25/2019.

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