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Customers Bank Review 2020
Published May 2020 by Matthew Goldberg
Why trust us
Member FDIC
CD
Member FDIC
CD
Member FDIC
Checking account
Overall
3.4
Bankrate Score
Customers Bank requires a large minimum balance to open and earn the APY on its High-Yield Savings Account. If you're looking to deposit $25,000 or more into a savings product, this may be the right bank for you. But other online banks offer a higher yield on savings accounts.
What we like
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The online accounts are available in every state except Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona and New Mexico.
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Competitive APYs on online savings products.
What we don't
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Online savings accounts don’t have ATM access available.
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The Ascent Money Market Savings doesn’t have check-writing privileges.
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Most CDs are only available in branches.
Savings accounts
4.1
Bankrate Score
The online-only High-Yield Savings Account has a high minimum opening deposit amount and minimum amount to earn the stated APY — both requirements are $25,000. Unfortunately, the High-Yield Savings account lacks ATM access. But it’s a good option if you want your savings to not be an easy ATM withdrawal away, so that it keeps growing without withdrawals slowing this process. The account is available online in all states except Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona and New Mexico.
What we like
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High-Yield Savings Account offers a competitive APY.
What we don't
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Account requires a larger minimum balance than other competitors.
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No ATM access for account. To access funds, you must visit the bank’s website.
CD rates
3.4
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
CD
Customers Bank offers a number of certificates of deposit across different terms. With the exception of the promotional CDs, yields are low. The minimum deposit for customers interested in CDs is also low ($500).
Cashing out a CD before it comes due could cost you, especially if your term is 13 months or longer. The penalty for early withdrawals from these accounts may be equal to 365 days of interest (depending on the principal).
What we like
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All standard CD terms are available.
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Promotional CDs offer higher yields.
What we don't
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Most CDs are only offered in branches.
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Early withdrawal penalties are harsh for customers with mid- and long-term CDs.
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Other banks pay much higher yields.
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Interest is compounded monthly.
Checking accounts
3.8
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
Checking account
Customers Bank offers the interest-bearing Bonus Checking. The account can be opened with just $10 and doesn’t come with a monthly maintenance fee. Those who spend at least $500 a month using their debit card are able to earn a bonus interest rate that’s more generous than that offered by some savings accounts.
Other options from Customers Bank include Convenience Checking, which allows users to get ATM fee refunds and waive the $29 monthly fee if they maintain an average total balance of $5,000 in their deposit accounts and Free Checking, which has no minimum balance requirements.
What we like
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Offers a top interest rates for a checking account.
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Low minimum deposit to open account.
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No monthly fee to maintain account.
What we don't
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Bonus Checking must be opened within a branch.
Money market accounts
2.6
Bankrate Score
You'll need at least $250,001 to earn the highest APY on Customer Bank's Money Market Account.
Unfortunately, the account doesn’t have check-writing privileges or ATM access. But if you intend on letting this money grow and not touching it, this could be thought of as a good feature since it’s harder to spend this money that you may have earmarked for saving.
What we like
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Offers a high APY.
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You need to open the account in a branch.
What we don't
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No check-writing privileges.
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Higher minimum balance than other money market accounts with similar or higher APYs.
Bank experience
Recent reviewers have dinged the bank's iOS and Android app for its design. Still, the mobile banking app lets you deposit checks with your phone as well as pay back a friend — practical functionality to make chores less frustrating.
The hours you can reach a bank representative vary by the product you possess. For online banking or branch product issues, customers can reach someone from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. More impressively, the bank lists the cellphone numbers of branch managers on its website. If you are in the Ascent Money Market Savings program, have a digital-only CD or the new High-Yield Savings Account, you can reach someone seven days a week from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. Eastern.
If you’re a Convenience Checking account customer and maintain a minimum balance of $5,000 across all of your accounts with the bank, you will have free access to any ATM in the U.S. — the bank will refund surcharge amounts incurred.
About Customers Bank
Customers Bank is headquartered in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.
Customers Bank offers an APY that's higher than the national average on its High-Yield Savings Account. Some products are only available online, while others are only available in a branch.
Customers Bank has 15 branches. It has offices in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Washington, D.C., New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New Jersey.
Matthew Goldberg @MATTATBANKRATE
Matthew Goldberg is a consumer banking reporter at Bankrate. Nearly his entire career has either been as a reporter or working in financial services, in banking and insurance. His writing has been featured on MSN, appeared in Sports Illustrated On Campus, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Buffalo News and other publications. He has been honored by both the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association and the Illinois Press Association. Matthew is currently on the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) Board of Governors. He has previously served on conference planning committees, the training committee and the finance committee for SABEW, which is the world's largest and oldest organization of business and financial journalists. His reporting career has included working as a staff reporter at two daily newspapers. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Illinois State University and an MBA at William Paterson University.
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