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Salem Five Direct Bank Review 2020
Published June 2020 by Matthew Goldberg
Why trust us
Member FDIC
Savings account
Member FDIC
Savings account
Member FDIC
Checking account
Overall
3.6
Bankrate Score
Salem Five Direct is an online bank that offers a savings account with a competitive yield and a checking account that earns some interest.
What we like
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Offers competitive annual percentage yields (APYs) on its savings account.
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Provides generous ATM reimbursement of $15 per statement cycle on its checking account.
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No minimum balance requirements on both its eOne Checking account and its eOne Savings account.
What we don't
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While you will earn rewards for making debit card purchases linked to your eOne Checking account, they are low. You can earn better rewards and cash back elsewhere.
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The eOne Checking account offers a little bit of interest, but there are higher-interest options available.
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The bank charges a $9.95 branch transaction fee.
CD rates
1.7
Bankrate Score
Salem Five Direct offers three CD specials. But there are more competitive yields available on CDs elsewhere. At $10,000, the minimum balance required to obtain this APY is higher than a lot of other online banks.
What we like
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Salem Five Direct offers three of the more common CD terms: a one-year CD, an 18-month CD and a three-year CD.
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APYs are much higher than the national averages.
What we don't
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There is a substantial penalty if you close a CD before it matures. The bank will charge you four percent of the principal balance.
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Those looking for a CD with a longer term than three years will have to look elsewhere.
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Salem Five Direct doesn’t offer any no-penalty CDs.
Savings accounts
4.9
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
Savings account
The eOne Savings account offers savers a competitive yield and only requires $100 to open the account. The account earns a competitive APY from a penny up to $1,000,000. The account isn’t available to everyone. You can only get an eOne Savings account if you apply online and don’t already have a Salem Five Bank checking or savings account when you apply. But customers who have an eOne Checking account can apply for an eOne Savings account.
What we like
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The eOne Savings account doesn’t have an early closeout fee.
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No minimum balance is required.
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Only $100 is required to open this account.
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An ATM card is available for this account.
What we don't
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You can still find higher yields elsewhere.
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There’s a $9.95 fee if you go into a Salem Five branch to perform a transaction that could be done online.
Checking accounts
4.3
Bankrate Score
Member FDIC
Checking account
Salem Five Direct’s eOne Checking account doesn’t require a minimum balance nor does it charge you a monthly fee. It offers cash back on all purchases made with your debit card that aren’t pin-based purchases. But this perk only amounts to $0.05 per debit card purchase.
What we like
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The eOne Checking account offers a little bit of interest on the account.
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The eOne Checking reimburses out-of-network ATM fees up to $15 per statement cycle.
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The Salem Five Direct eOne Checking account doesn’t charge a fee for using an out-of-network ATM.
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You only need $100 to open this account.
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Free first order of checks.
What we don't
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While you will receive cash back on all purchases that aren’t pin-based, it’s low. You only earn $0.05 for each debit card purchase made as a “credit” transaction.
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There’s a $9.95 branch transaction fee.
Bank experience
Salem Five Direct has both a 1-800 number and a chat function on its website.
Its chat functionality is only available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. Its phone customer service is available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST on weekdays. Phone representatives are also available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST on Sunday.
As a Salem Five Direct customer, you can conduct a transaction at a Salem Five branch, but it will cost you $9.95. Residents of all 50 states can open a Salem Five Direct account.
About Salem Five Direct
Salem Five Direct is an online division of Salem Five, a bank that was founded in 1855 in Salem, Massachusetts. As a customer at Salem Five Direct, you can conduct a transaction at a Salem Five branch, but it will cost you $9.95. Residents of all 50 states can open a Salem Five Direct account.
Salem Five has 35 locations in Massachusetts. Salem Five Direct’s customers are able to use the Salem Five Banking app, which is available on both the Apple App store and on Google Play.
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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