Discover Bank just eliminated fees on all its deposit products
Discover Bank announced today that it is getting rid of all fees on its deposit products.
The bank is eliminating these fees on checking, savings, money market and CD accounts:
- Insufficient fund fees.
- Excessive withdrawal fees.
- Stop-payment fees.
- Minimum balance fee on money market accounts.
This is on top of already offering accounts with free checks and replacement debit cards and no monthly maintenance fees.
“We consider it a privilege when customers trust us with their money, which is why we put them first by eliminating fees,” says Arijit Roy, vice president of deposits at Discover.
What you need to know
The excessive withdrawal fee applied only to its savings and money market accounts; these accounts have a limit for how many withdrawals you can make in a calendar month, according to Regulation D.
Going forward, if you exceed the six-transaction limit three months in a rolling 12-month period on your online savings or money market account, your account will be closed, according to Discover Bank.
Discover Bank’s checking account and savings account previously didn’t have a monthly maintenance fee. However, the bank’s money market account required a $2,500 average daily balance beginning on the third statement cycle. Those who went under that minimum received a $10 minimum balance fee per statement cycle below the minimum. This change may increase accessibility of Discover Bank’s money market account and help more people gain access to the account’s free check reordering. The free checks were in effect before today’s announcement.
Discover’s savings account offers 2.1 percent APY on all balances, while its money market account pays 1.95 percent on balances under $100,000 and 2 percent on balances above that mark.
Fee-free accounts are plentiful online
If you’re paying fees on your bank accounts, look at other options. Some of the top-yielding accounts have low or no minimum balance requirement.
A recent Bankrate study of online savings deposit accounts, including savings accounts and money market accounts, found that 77 percent of the accounts surveyed don’t have a monthly fee or balance requirements to avoid a maintenance fee.
Of the 13 highest-yielding accounts in Bankrate’s survey, six had a minimum deposit of $100 or less. So, it’s possible for nearly everyone to take advantage and get a competitive yield on their savings.
You can compare savings accounts and money market accounts on Bankrate to find the right one for you.
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