WebBank's High-Yield Savings Glides Into 2.50% APY

And Speaking of CDs

Compared to the High-Yield Savings Account, WebBank’s CDs aren’t faring as well. While the CDs experienced healthy rate increases (10-56 bps) in mid-January, APYs fell in mid-April to “good-but-not-great” rate levels. The exception was the 6-month CD, which maintained its 2.46% APY until today, when the rate was nudged to 2.50% APY, equaling that of the High-Yield Savings Account. Please refer to the CD rates section of our WebBank’s information page for the full rate details.

High-Yield Savings Account Details

The Terms and Conditions document provides a great deal of important information, including:

The minimum deposit required to open and maintain a Savings Account is $1,000.00. If your account balance falls below this minimum amount, your Savings Account will be closed and the balance of the funds remaining in the Account will be returned to you in a manner deemed appropriate by us. Funding must be initiated using electronic funds transfer, also known as ACH, at the time of account application.

The Bank reserves the right to establish a maximum aggregate deposit balance for its customers or for any individual customer, in its sole discretion. The maximum initial funding limit per account is $500,000.

If you make more than six (6) withdrawals or transfers in a monthly statement period, we may, in our discretion, deny and/or reject the excess transfer(s), and we may close your Savings Account.

The Truth-in-Savings document contains several pages of detailed information concerning depositing and withdrawing funds, but the bottom line is that all deposits and withdrawals MUST be done by ACH or wire transfer.

WebBank does not accept checks for deposit to any Account. All deposits must be by ACH Transfer or wire transfer. WebBank does not offer withdrawals via check.

We do not accept any deposits in cash, whether in U.S. dollars or any foreign currency. All deposits are considered to be non-cash deposits. If you send any cash to us, it will be returned to you.

Accounts may be opened as an individual account or a joint account (limit of two owners per account). A total of six beneficiaries (“a natural person” or a trust) may be named, with each beneficiary designated to receive an equal share.

ACH Transfers

Like many banks, WebBank does not provide all the gritty details of ACH transfers on its website. While the 21-page Terms and Conditions document contains a great deal of information, the following was obtained in a conversation with CSR.

Upon opening a Savings account, you are automatically enrolled in WebBank’s online banking program, which allows customers to initiate transfers to/from a linked external bank account.
Only one linked account is permitted.
ACH transfers are fee-free.
ACH transfers that are initiated by the account owner from an external bank are allowed.
There are no maximum dollar amount limitations, except for an online $50k limit per day on outgoing ACH transfers. If more than $50k is to be transferred out, the transaction must be done by phone.

Availability

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, WebBank is a pure internet bank, having no brick-and-mortar branches. The Bank’s product line is offered to individuals who are 18 years or older, have a valid Social Security Number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, and have a physical street address in the U.S.

The High-Yield Savings Account and all CDs must be opened online.

All Accounts must be opened through our website.
We do not offer account opening by telephone or U.S. Mail.

Bank Overview

WebBank has an overall health grade of "B+" at DepositAccounts.com, with a Texas Ratio of 2.07% (excellent), based on December 31, 2018 data. WebBank has an excellent capitalization level (18.43%), the result of holding $871.58 million in assets with $160.66 in equity. Please refer to our financial overview of WebBank (FDIC Certificate # 34404) for more details.

WebBank is currently Utah’s 22^nd largest bank, with assets in excess of $871 million and more than 566,000 customer accounts. Chartered in 1997, WebBank is an industrial lending company (ILC), a type of bank that is allowed to be owned by non-financial institutions. ILCs are only permitted to be chartered in seven states and more than half of existing ILCs are based in Utah.

In collaboration with its 16 “Brand Partners” (including PayPal and Yahama), WebBank provides “niche financing solutions to businesses and consumers.” According to a PYMNTS.com article,

When working with one of its partners — say Lending Club or Prosper — WebBank is actually the financial entity that underwrites the loan offered by the alternative lending platform. WebBank than holds that loan on its own books until an investor purchases it — usually a day or two later.

WebBank also comes with an additional benefit of being classified as an industrial bank, meaning that it is not subject to direct oversight by the Fed, which has authority over many state-chartered banks and holding companies. It is however answerable to both the FDIC and Utah’s state regulator to make sure it is compliant with anti-money laundering rules. But what WebBank is doing is creating an environment that benefits the lending market and its participants greatly.

How the High-Yield Savings Account Compares

When compared to the nationally available Savings Accounts tracked by DepositAccounts.com, which have a minimum balance requirement of $1k or lower, WebBank’s High-Yield Savings Account APY currently shares the top spot with USALLIANCE Financial’s High Dividend Savings APY.

The above rates are accurate as of 5/16/2019.

To compare the top savings account rates, both nationwide and state specific, please refer to our Savings Account Rates Table page.

playc | May 17, 2019 | Comment #6

Currently with Northern Trust 2.50% yet the rate expires June end. Northern has best 1 day external transfers and no limit on external accounts.

Does WebBank 2.50% rate guarantee for ? months? How is the external transfer process compare to Nothern 1 day?

willy12 | May 17, 2019 | Comment #7

Northern's 2.5% was extended thru year end.

Money Market Rate Guarantee Extended To December 31 2019
silvercitylaura | May 13, 2019
I just called a CSR at Northern Bank Direct to find out what the new interest rate will be on the MM account that had a rate guarantee to June of this year. She said they are extending the rate guarantee to December 31, 2019 and that all account holders will get an email notification of the extension.

anonymous | May 17, 2019 | Comment #8

What is the exact name of Northern Trust? I can't find it on this site. Thanks.

Z | May 17, 2019 | Comment #10

The bank being discussed is Northern Bank Direct. However, I believe that rate is only for already existing accounts.

willy12 | May 17, 2019 | Comment #11

Yes, although maybe "playc" was talking about a different bank and maybe their 2.50% ends? I was talking about NBD but I might have misspoke because I don't think they have great transfers. I tried to do one recently and found out about low limits or low initial limits or something?

anonymous | May 19, 2019 | Comment #19

Thanks, Z!

Michael Villagossa | May 17, 2019 | Comment #13

Northern Trust is great, NBD does allow checkwriting.

playc | May 17, 2019 | Comment #15

Sorry my bad, It is Northern Bank Direct. Yes, the external transfer is 1 day and limit can be raised by calling CSR.

If the current rate 2.50 won't get renewed, then would do WebBank if the External transfer process is as good as Northern?

willy12 | May 17, 2019 | Comment #16

Needing "permission" is not great ACH in my view. Its easier to pull from somewhere else. I expect they will continue with good rates for existing customers. Because they did not have to raise the rate when they did and they did not have to extend the deal another 6 months.

Previous Comments

Sort by Date | Sort by Votes

8832 | May 16, 2019 | Comment #1

Great to see more and more nationwide Internet banks upping their savings rates and joining the 2.50% club. CIT take note and step up to the plate instead of lowering your rate as you just recently did. Ally wake up and join the club as I suspect more customers are also moving funds out. I just about emptied my Ally accounts and moved most funds to other 2.50% players. This is indeed a good time for savers who only prefer liquid accounts.

7321 | May 16, 2019 | Comment #2

I left Ally last year for greener pastures too. The only good thing about Ally was transfer speed and very low EWP's. Found much better rates elsewhere too.

Spokane | May 16, 2019 | Comment #3

How is 2.5% good for savers when taking into account inflation and taxes you are losing money?No wonder they project the stock market will continue to outperform, there is nowhere else to put your money that can possibly provide a return greater then 4/5% annually.

Z | May 16, 2019 | Comment #4

Everything is relative. yes if you keep your money in liquid savings accounts you're likely to have a loss after inflation and taxes. But depending on your financial situation, that expected loss may still be a better investment then the risk of a much larger loss in the stock market. The best plan for most people is to have some of both.

Susanna | May 16, 2019 | Comment #5

#4 unless you are in retirement or within 5 years of it you should be fully invested in the stock market. Dollar cost average in over many years/decades and you will be a happy camper, at least thats what historical returns have showed compared to money market returns. To be worried about short term market losses or"larger loss in the stock market" makes no sense considering the market is near historical highs. If you are however a day trader well.. thats a fools game.

Z | May 17, 2019 | Comment #9

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The best financial strategy at any stage of life is to diversify your investments.

anon | May 22, 2019 | Comment #20

Does anyone know how often interest is compounded/deposited for this account? I don't see any terms and conditions on WebBank's website.

Jacob | May 30, 2019 | Comment #21

https://www.webbank.com/deposit-products/savings

I found this page. It's compounded daily and posted to the account monthly

Hans Jo | May 30, 2019 | Comment #22

How can it be compounded daily? Is that even legal??

TnL | Jul 5, 2019 | Comment #23

One quirk if WebBank that is easy to overlook and understand is that not only are you only allowed to have your savings account linked to only one external account but that one external account will be the external bank that you used to make your initial deposit to WebBank with. So, if you are transferring funds to Webank from another bank to open an account be sure not to close that funding account or you will be very limited to making any deposits or withdrawals until you can get them to recognize another external account that you'd like to link to your WebBank account. If you want to switch to a different external bank you must provide them a copy of a statement from your new bank. So, if you can live with the quirk of only being able to link one external account and you are aware that the one external account will be the original account that you funded your Webank account with, then you'll be fine.

Marie2 | Oct 3, 2019 | Comment #24

Not exactly true. Yes, you are limited to one external account to transfer funds from. But, it must be added and verified after the initial transfer. I used an account to set up with an initial transfer and was surprised that I later had to add the same external account and verify it. It isn't automatically the external account that is linked to your WebBank account.