Your Favorite Bank For A Hub Nowadays

Striker | Oct 15, 2022 | 73 posts since 2017

In this rising rate environment, and our quests to move funds around more often and more quickly - what is your preferred bank or credit union to use for a HUB account ?

It seems that most banks and credit unions have a lot of number of transfers and dollar amount restrictions that limit our freedom of money movement. In previous posts, it seems like Ally bank was a preferred hub for many Deposit Account followers. Is this still the case ? What is your preferred bank - with fewest restrictions ? It seems that this freedom of $$$ movement might be more critical in the coming months.

Thanks in advance for your responses !

Post an answer

Answers

midas89 | Oct 15, 2022 | 996 posts since 2017

Striker, it would help if you listed what’s most important to you in a Hub bank. When it comes to Hub banks, it really depends on what is needed. For example, some people need very high transfer amounts. Some need more than 6 transactions out per month. Some need same or next business day transfer speed. Some need very short hold times versus the 4 or 5 day holds at a lot of banks. Some don’t want a Hub that puts restrictions on new accounts for the first 30 days or more. Some need a Hub that allows a lot of external bank accounts to be linked.

Of course, there’s no perfect Hub that can meet everyone’s needs, which is why it’s best to list exactly what you need in a Hub so the closest match might be easier to suggest.

Striker | Oct 15, 2022 | 73 posts since 2017

Thanks midas89 !
I see why you are asking. What is most important to me is the ease in movement of funds. For example - higher transfer amounts, lesser restrictions on the number of transfers per month, and the ability to link several outside accounts. Hope this helps.
Thanks again !

midas89 | Oct 15, 2022 | 996 posts since 2017

Striker ... that helps.

Consider Citizens Access. They allow 10 linked external accounts. They allow unlimited transfers, as of this writing. If one calls into their call center, there is no limit on how much money one can transfer. If one initiates the transfer via online banking, the limit is $250,000 outbound per day, and $1,000,000 inbound per day. The biggest negative is that if you pull money into Citizens, there is a 5-business-day hold. However, as of this writing, you will earn 2.35% APY on that money starting next business day. Also, the first time you initiate a transfer to a newly-added external account, their fraud dept. has to verify it with you. You can call into the fraud dept. in advance of their call to verify. Subsequent transfers to that bank acct. should not require a verification call. ACH transfer times are fast. Another negative of Citizens is that they will not list the name of the bank in your online running balance/transactions list. You have to wait until the statement is generated to see the name of the bank related to the transfer. (See, there is no perfect Hub bank.)

Another option is Customers Bank. They have a new High-Yield Digital Savings Account. A checking acct. is required in order to earn interest in the HYDS acct. (They offer a free checking acct. with no balance requirements.) The current HYDS rate is 3.05%. Keep in mind that for the first 30 days, money pulled in via ACH is subject to a 10-day hold. Customers Bank allows $250K ACH daily in and out, with a monthly cap of $1,500,000. As of this writing, there is no limit to how many transfers one can make. You can link a high amount of external accounts (I think the number is unlimited, but I would verify if this is still the case). And finally, as of this writing, they offer same-day ACH transfers with a maximum of $100,000...again, the monthly total limit via ACH in & out combined is $1,500,000.

YurieGlovotch | Oct 23, 2022 | 105 posts since 2020

I'm sticking with Ally Bank due to their excellent bill payment software. However, I keep most of my cash at Citizens Access as they just raised their interest on savings to 3.0% (10-21-22). There are places paying a higher rate but beware of the daily transfer limits. Citizens has none that I am aware of. There are always some kind of hoops to jump through with those institutions that pay unusually high rates of return.

midas89 | Oct 23, 2022 | 996 posts since 2017

YurieGlovotch ... Citizens has daily transfer limits if one initiates the transfer themselves via online banking. Outgoing is $250K per day. Incoming is $1,000,000 per day.

The worst part about Citizens is their 5-business-day hold time for money you pull into Citizens, and the fact there are accounts that suffer "account inaccessible" that suddenly happens. Since the tech dept can only be reached via email from the Citizens CSR's, it could potentially take a long time to have account access regained. Your money isn't frozen. You just cannot log in to see it or initiate any transactions. My account has been inaccessible for a week now. And no one at Citizens can really help me fix this in a decent amount of time. All I get is that they're waiting for tech support to fix it.

YurieGlovotch | Oct 24, 2022 | 105 posts since 2020

Yes indeed. My experience has been rather dismal with respect to customer service. I've never done a "push" from Citizens opting for a "pull" from Fidelity Investments and getting an instant credit that can be used to purchase stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. Amazing how various institutions treat our money like it belongs to them. Thank you for the updates on ACH transfer limits.

The financial institution, product, and APY (Annual Percentage Yield) data displayed on this website is gathered from various sources and may not reflect all of the offers available in your region. Although we strive to provide the most accurate data possible, we cannot guarantee its accuracy. The content displayed is for general information purposes only; always verify account details and availability with the financial institution before opening an account. Contact [email protected] to report inaccurate info or to request offers be included in this website. We are not affiliated with the financial institutions included in this website.