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Amerant Bank Review 2022
Member FDIC
Savings account
Member FDIC
Savings account
Member FDIC
CD
Member FDIC
CD
Member FDIC
CD
Overall
3.4
Bankrate Score
Amerant Bank is a Florida-based institution that offers six terms of CDs, as well as checking, savings and money market accounts.
What we like
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Amerant offers lots of free ATMs to checking account customers, including at the bank’s branches, Publix supermarkets and the more than 55,000 Allpoint ATM locations worldwide.
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Minimum balance requirements are low for some products.
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The app is available on Apple Watches.
What we don't
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Some products and promotions are limited to those in Florida and Texas.
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The mobile banking app has very basic capabilities.
Checking accounts
4.9
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
Checking account
Amerant offers a few checking account options: Value Checking, Interest Checking and Relationship Interest Checking.
The Value Checking account is the bank's basic free option. It requires $50 to open, and it doesn't charge a monthly maintenance fee.
The Interest Checking account offers tiered interest rates starting on balances of at least $100. It also requires $100 to open. To avoid the $15 monthly service fee, account holders need to maintain an average balance of $2,500 each statement cycle.
The Relationship Interest Checking account is a step up from the Interest Checking account. It has a $35 monthly maintenance fee, which can be waived by:
- Maintaining $50,000 in combined deposits across eligible accounts or loans
- Setting up a monthly direct deposit.
- Make four transactions per statement cycle.
What we like
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Free access to ATMs though the Allpoint network and to Presto ATMs at Publix Super Markets.
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Multiple checking accounts to fit individual needs.
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Access to Zelle through the bank app.
What we don't
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Branch access is limited to Texas and Florida.
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Other interest-bearing checking accounts offer easier ways to avoid the monthly service fee.
Savings accounts
2.7
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
Savings account
Amerant’s savings account requires just $50 to open the account, but higher yields elsewhere can be found elsewhere.
What we like
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Only $50 is needed to open the account and earn its top APY.
What we don't
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Higher APYs are available elsewhere.
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Customers must maintain a minimum balance of $300 to avoid a monthly fee.
CD rates
2.4
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
CD
Amerant Bank offers six terms of CDs that are available to savers in all 50 states, although rates and products differ slightly for Florida and Texas residents. If you live in either of those states, you can open a CD in a banking center or online. Outside of Texas and Florida, CDs can only be opened online.
Early withdrawal penalties apply. For example, for residents of states besides Texas and Florida, the penalty is equal to 180 days’ interest on the amount withdrawn, based on the simple interest rate tied to the account.
What we like
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The bank offers competitive yields.
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CDs can be opened online by residents in every U.S. state.
What we don't
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There are no specialty CDs available, such as no-penalty or step-up CDs.
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There’s a high minimum deposit of $10,000 to open a CD.
Money market accounts
2.1
Bankrate Score
An Amerant money market account can be opened with as little as $100. The account offers tiered rates that pay higher APYs on larger balances.
To earn the highest interest rate, a Relationship Money Market account is required. The top rate can only be earned, however, on accounts opened at one of Amerant's banking centers.
What we like
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Both money market accounts have a complimentary starter kit of checks.
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The minimum deposit requirement to open an account is low.
What we don't
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Significantly higher APYs can be found elsewhere.
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The best rates on the money market accounts are only available in branches in Florida and Texas.
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High balances are required in order to avoid the monthly service fee.
Bank experience
Amerant Bank's mobile banking app receives mixed reviews on both iOS and Android, but it’s capable of fundamental tasks, such as depositing a check. The app can also be viewed on the Apple Watch.
Customer service representatives are available 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time, Monday-Friday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Appointments can also be booked online.
About Amerant Bank
Amerant Bank, formerly Mercantil Bank, opened its first banking center in 1979. It is based in Coral Gables, Florida, and offers a full selection of banking products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts and CDs.
Karen Bennett is a consumer banking reporter at Bankrate. She uses her finance writing background to help readers learn more about savings and checking accounts, CDs, and other financial matters. Karen brings decades of writing and reporting experience to the table, including the roles of credit cards writer for travel website Million Mile Secrets and money and career writer for The Cheat Sheet. Her work has also appeared in USA Today, Illinois Legal Times, and several Chicago, Milwaukee, and Washington, D.C. newspapers. In addition, she’s worked in the areas of marketing and business development, and she was product manager for a consumer money-saving website. When she’s not writing Bankrate articles, she can often be found cheering her kids on at soccer games, cooking and reading up on saving for retirement and other personal finance topics.
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