Popular Direct Review 2023
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At a glance

CDs
Savings
About Bankrate Score
Overview
Popular Direct is best for anyone looking for an online savings account and CDs that pay top-notch yields. Customers thinking about signing up for Popular Direct should be comfortable completely banking online, since there’s no ATM access to withdraw your cash.
Highlights
- High APY
- Top CD Rates
Offers featured here have been sponsored by our partners, which impacts how, where, and in what order the products appear.

APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate Savings rating = 4.4/5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.

APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate Savings rating = 4.7/5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.

APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate Savings rating = 5/5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
Offers featured here have been sponsored by our partners, which impacts how, where, and in what order the products appear.
Overall
Popular Direct is an online bank that pays highly competitive rates on its certificates of deposit (CDs) and savings account. It does impose relatively steep minimum deposit requirements, however, and its product offerings do not include a money market or checking account.
Pros
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Popular Direct offers accounts with highly competitive rates.
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Any fees that are charged are relatively easy to avoid.
Cons
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There is no ATM access; funds can only be accessed electronically.
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The mobile app has limited capabilities and low customer ratings.
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Checking and money market accounts are not offered.
Popular Direct banking products
FEATURES
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account. APY as of 12/10/2023
Popular Direct savings overview
Popular Direct doesn’t include an ATM card with its savings account, so you’ll need to make an external transfer to access the funds. Additionally, you can add money to the account with your phone by using mobile check deposit.
Pros
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Popular Direct offers a top-notch APY.
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There is no monthly service fee.
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The minimum deposit required to open the account is low.
Cons
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No ATM card is provided.
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See how rates for this account have changed over time. Interact with the trend lines to view APY by date.
Popular DirectAPYAPYNational average APYHow do we get this data?
Offers featured here have been sponsored by our partners, which impacts how, where, and in what order the products appear.

APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate Savings rating = 4.4/5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
Bank fees
Fee | Charged? |
---|---|
Overdraft fee | $10 |
Non-sufficient funds fee | None |
Monthly maintenance fee | None |
Out-of-network ATM fee | None |
Excessive transaction fee | None |
About Popular Direct
Popular Direct is an online bank that was launched in July 2016. It offers CDs and a savings account that are opened through federally insured regional bank Popular Bank.
Popular Bank, an affiliate of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, was formerly known as Banco Popular North America. Its parent company, Popular Inc., was founded in 1893. The financial institution serves customers in the United States, Puerto Rico, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Bank experience
The Popular Direct savings account does not come with an ATM card, so customers who want to deposit or withdraw money will need to rely on methods like external transfers and mobile deposit capture.
Popular Direct’s mobile app allows for basic account management, including viewing your account balance, transferring money between internal accounts, and depositing funds remotely. Overall, the app receives very low user ratings on Google Play and the App store.
Customers have additional capabilities when logged onto the bank’s website, such as setting up account alerts, accessing e-statements and transferring money between external accounts.
Customer service can be reached over the phone between 7:30 a.m. and midnight ET Monday through Friday, and between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekends.
How does Popular Direct compare to other banks?
Popular Direct vs. CIT Bank
Both Popular Direct and CIT Bank are online-only institutions. CIT offers a wider range of deposit accounts over Popular Direct, offering multiple types of CDs, savings, money market and checking accounts. (Popular Direct only offers one savings account and various CDs.) This makes CIT Bank the better choice if you’re looking to consolidate your finances under one roof.
The yields at both banks are comparable. Popular Direct CDs tend to have consistently higher yields regardless of the term when compared to CIT Bank. However, you’ll need $10,000 on hand to open those Popular Direct CDs, whereas CIT Bank requires just $1,000 to open a standard CD. Likewise, Popular Direct’s savings account offers a higher yield than CIT Bank’s Savings Connect account.
All this noted, it’s important to mention that CIT Bank generally offers a better online-only experience. The CIT Bank app has much higher user ratings on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store when compared to Popular Direct.
Popular Direct FAQs
Review methodology
We assign a score to each type of account and its features, weigh them carefully based on importance to account holders and determine an overall score. Read our full review methodology.
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