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Heritage Bank Review 2020
Published April 2020 by Matthew Goldberg
Why trust us
Member FDIC
Savings account
Member FDIC
CD
Member FDIC
CD
Member FDIC
Checking account
Overall
3.0
Bankrate Score
Heritage Bank has its headquarters in Spicer, Minnesota. It offers checking accounts, savings accounts and CDs.
What we like
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Offers a very competitive APY on its checking account, eCentive.
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The eCentive account offers generous refunds on domestic ATM fees and on Mastercard cross border or currency conversion fees.
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Offers a variety of CD terms.
What we don't
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Heritage Bank doesn’t have a money market account.
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Savers can find higher yields elsewhere.
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In order to get the competitive APY on the eCentive account, there are debit card payment, direct deposit and ACH requirements and you’ll need to enroll in eStatements.
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CD rates
2.4
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
CD
Heritage Bank offers seven terms of CDs for customers who currently don’t have a CD at the bank. Option Plus CDs aren’t available for new accounts at Heritage Bank.
Heritage Bank’s Triple Option CDs offer several features, including: the ability to reset the rate of your CD at any time, penalty-free withdrawals for medical expenses (minimum withdrawal of $1,000) and the ability to add money to your CD as long as each deposit is at least $1,000 and they don’t exceed the original amount deposited.
What we like
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Offers a variety of terms for a relatively low minimum deposit requirement.
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The anytime unlimited rate bump-up feature lets you reset the rate on your CD. The term of the CD will also reset with this change.
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Penalty-free withdrawals allow you to withdraw some or all of your money for medical expenses.
What we don't
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Your CD term resets if you use the anytime unlimited rate bump-up feature.
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There are more competitive APYs available at other banks.
Savings accounts
2.3
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
Savings account
Heritage Bank offers a variety of savings accounts. It has a Universal Savings account, a Flex Gold savings account for business, the Heritage Direct Savings account and the Jumbo Deposit account.
Both the Universal Savings account and the Flex Gold Savings account have a debit card available.
The Universal Savings has a low minimum to open ($50) and only requires a $50 average balance to avoid the $5 monthly maintenance fee.
If you are looking for the highest APY on a savings account at Heritage Bank, it’s the Jumbo Deposit account. During our review, it had a competitive APY, but that APY is only available if you have a minimum balance of $230,000.
What we like
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The Heritage Direct Savings Account is a way for those with at least $1,000, but less than $100,000, to earn an APY that’s higher than the national average.
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The Jumbo Deposit account can help those who keep at least $230,000 in the account earn an APY that’s even higher than the Heritage Direct Savings account.
What we don't
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You can still find higher yields elsewhere.
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You need at least $230,000 to earn the top APY with the Jumbo Deposit account and balances under $100,000 earn less than the national average APY.
Checking accounts
4.3
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
Checking account
Heritage Bank offers two checking accounts: the eCentive account and the Carefree Checking account.
The eCentive account has a very competitive APY for a checking account.
What we like
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The eCentive account earns one of the highest APYs available for a checking account.
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The eCentive account doesn’t have a monthly maintenance fee or a minimum balance requirement.
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Heritage Bank refunds you up to $25 per month on domestic ATM fees and Mastercard cross border or currency conversion fees when you use a debit card for foreign transactions.
What we don't
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There’s a $30 fee if you close this account within six months of the opening date.
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The eCentive account earns that very high APY only on qualifying balances that are between $0.01 and $25,000.
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You have to make at least 10 debit card payments or purchases, have at least one ACH or direct deposit and be enrolled for monthly eStatements to receive the high APY and refunds on ATMs and Mastercard cross border or currency conversion fees for foreign debit card transactions.
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There is a $10 fee to replace lost or damaged cards at the bank.
Bank experience
Heritage Bank supports a live chat feature on its website to help you get your questions answered.
The bank has hybrid ATMs at some locations. These hybrid ATMs let you perform cash withdrawals from your checking or savings account with an on-screen teller. Live video tellers are available on weekdays and on Saturdays.
About Heritage Bank
Heritage Bank has its headquarters in Spicer, Minnesota. The bank was established in 1964. Heritage Bank has seven locations in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.
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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