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CIBC Bank USA Review 2020
Published January 2020 by Matthew Goldberg
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Member FDIC
MMA
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Savings account
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CD
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CD
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CD
Overall
3.6
Bankrate Score
Formerly known as The PrivateBank and Trust Co., CIBC Bank USA offers a range of personal banking products and a high-APY savings account.
What we like
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The bank offers a range of personal banking products.
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The Agility Online Savings Account offers a 2.05 percent APY with no maintenance fee.
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The Agility 1-year CD offers a 2.25 percent APY.
What we don't
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CIBC Agility Online Savings Account doesn’t offer ATM access.
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The bank's mobile app received average ratings in app stores.
Savings accounts
5.0
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
Savings account
CIBC Bank USA offers a 2.05 percent APY on its CIBC Agility Online Savings Account. The account requires a $1,000 minimum at account opening. While you need $1,000 to open the account, you don’t need to maintain that balance. As long as you have at least a penny in the account, you’ll earn a top-tier APY and not receive a maintenance fee. All balances from $0.01 to $1 million earn the same APY.
The CIBC Agility Online Savings Account is available in all 50 states. The Agility Online Savings Account does not offer ATM access.
What we like
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CIBC Agility Online Savings Account earns a top-tier yield.
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A minimum balance of only 1 cent is required to earn the APY.
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The account doesn’t charge a maintenance fee.
What we don't
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There's a $25 fee for closing the Agility Savings Account within 90 days of opening it.
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ATM access isn’t available for the CIBC Agility account.
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You can't do an external transfer in CIBC NetBanking until 30 days after you opened your account.
CD rates
4.3
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
CD
CIBC Bank USA offers a range of short- and long-term CDs in locations where the bank has a presence in the Midwest. Customers who visit a CIBC brick-and-mortar location can open CDs with terms ranging from 30 days to five years.
A $1,000 minimum deposit is required to open a CD, but interest isn't compounded frequently — according to the bank's website, interest is "compounded and credited according to the terms of the CD."
Agility CDs come in terms of nine months and 12 months. The nine-month CD offers a 2.2 percent APY, while the 12-month CD offers a 2.25 percent APY. Both CDs require a $25,000 balance to earn the top yield. Balances under that amount still earn competitive yields: 2.1 percent on the nine-month CD and 2.15 percent on the 12-month CD.
All CDs opened in a branch have a penalty of six months of interest if you make an early withdrawal.
What we like
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The Agility CDs both pay top-tier APYs.
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The minimum deposit to open a CD is low.
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The bank offers a range of CD terms at its brick-and-mortar locations.
What we don't
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A balance of $25,000 is required to get the highest rate on Agility CDs.
Checking accounts
3.2
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
Checking account
CIBC's MyChoice Checking is an interest-bearing checking account that pays 0.15 percent APY. The account can be opened with a $50 deposit. The interest comes in tiered rates with the best offer on balances of $50,000 or more. It takes at least $5,500 to avoid the $15 monthly account maintenance fee. Balances of at least $10,000 get an interest rate bonus on related deposit accounts.
The other option from CIBC is the iCan Checking. It does not earn interest but can be opened with $50 and comes with a lower monthly account maintenance fee of $9. Those who hold at least $1,000 in the checking account or another related deposit accounts offered by CIBC Bank USA can waive the fee.
Checking accounts must be opened at a CIBC branch.
Customers have access to 30 CIBC-branded ATMs and can earn up to $50 per month in ATM fee refunds, depending on account type. The bank charges a $3 fee for out-of-network ATM withdrawals.
What we like
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Customers can earn up to $50 per month in ATM refunds.
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The $50 minimum to open the account is low.
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There's an interest rate bonus on related deposit accounts for those with at least $10,000.
What we don't
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The base interest rate for the checking account is meager.
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Accounts must be opened with a branch.
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The bank offers access to only 30 CIBC ATMs.
Money market accounts
1.6
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
MMA
The Money Market Savings Account is available only at CIBC Bank USA branches. The account offers tiered interest rates for different balances, with the top-rate tier balance earning a meager 0.2 percent. On the plus side, the account requires only a $50 minimum deposit to open.
The account charges a monthly maintenance fee of $15 per monthly statement cycle; however, the fee is waived for accounts with a balance of at least $2,500.
The Money Market Savings Account has an ATM card available and also has check-writing privileges, though the bank charges for the checks.
What we like
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Only $50 is required to open the account.
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The account offers check-writing privileges.
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You can get an ATM card with the account.
What we don't
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There's a $15 monthly fee for accounts with less than $2,500.
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The account's 0.2 percent APY is very low.
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The bank charges for checks.
Bank experience
CIBC's mobile banking app will help you accomplish the basics, including: view your account balances and send money to people you know via People Pay. The app is available for Android and iOS devices. The app receives decent ratings in Google Play and the Apple App Store.
You can also use the CIBC app to add a card and pay with Apply Pay.
The bank offers customer service over the phone Monday-Friday from 8 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Customer service isn't available on Sundays.
About CIBC Bank USA
CIBC Bank USA has banking centers in Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Wisconsin. CIBC Bank USA offers checking accounts, savings accounts, mortgages and personal lending options. CIBC, which got its start in 1867, is a global institution that’s based in Toronto and has its U.S. headquarters in Chicago.
Matthew Goldberg @MATTATBANKRATE
Matthew Goldberg is a consumer banking reporter at Bankrate. He graduated from Illinois State University with a bachelor's degree in mass communication and earned an MBA at William Paterson University. He began his writing career in 1998 at Sun Publications in Crystal Lake, Illinois. He was sports editor at The Daily Vidette, a sports reporter at The Journal Standard and a sports writer at The Quincy Herald-Whig. His work has also appeared in Sports Illustrated On Campus. He has been honored by both the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association and the Illinois Press Association. He also has more than seven years of financial services experience, in both banking and insurance.