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EverBank Review
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When EverBank offered that teaser rate of 4.65% APY for three months, followed by an equally impressive 3.60% APY afterwards, I was impressed. That’s a pretty competitive rate for a checking account. Unfortunately, that rate wasn’t guaranteed (no savings rate is guaranteed) and it recently fell to a more pedestrian 3.93% APY promo with a 3.18% APY follow up on balances over $50,000 (blended, that’s 3.40% APY).
That being said, EverBank was still worth a look after the rate drop. I didn’t open an account at the time but I did want to poke around the site to see what else they offered in addition to the high yield FreeNet Checking Account.
EverBank History
I first heard about EverBank a few years ago when international currency CDs were more popular. Back then, a sagging dollar meant international CDs were offering high rates and EverBank was one of the few places known to offer them to the public. Everbank is more than a traditional bank, it offers all sorts of baning and investment services.
The history of the bank can be traced back to 1962 but its brand as it operates today began more in 1994, when EverBank acquired a Florida-based mortgage company. As with any bank I’d consider, they’re FDIC insured (Certificate 34775) up to $250,000 (through December 2009, then presumably the $100k limit applies) and you can read more about their history on Wikipedia. According to thier history, they recently spiked in growth a little before the dot-com boom and have been growing, in terms of assets, since then.
International CDs
As I mentioned earlier, I first heard about them and their international currency CDs, called their World Currency CDs.
If you seek to diversify your portfolio globally, then foreign currencies could be a beneficial addition. And our WorldCurrency® certificates of deposit can make adding currencies a simple process—and potentially rewarding too. You earn interest in the currency of your choice and potentially benefit from appreciation against the U.S. dollar. However if your selected currency depreciates against the U.S. dollar, you could experience a loss to some of your principal deposit. We also offer competitive conversion exchange rates within 1% of the wholesale spot price EverBank® pays for the currency—among the lowest in the nation.
It’s a cool way to get exposure but you do face currency risk. The same concerns I had for high yield international accounts apply for CDs based on international currencies too. FDIC insurance can protect you against bank failure, but it won’t protect you against currency-price fluctuations. There’s a reason why yields are higher, the risk is higher as well.
High Yield FreeNet Checking Account
Getting back to the headline offer, the FreeNet Checking Account offers a 3-month bonus rate of 3.93% APY followed by a 3.18% APY on balances above $50k. Blended, that’s a rate of 3.40% APY – competitive but certainly not tops at the moment. The requirements of the account are that you open with at least $1,500 though there are no minimum balance requirements to earn interest and no monthly fee. You get all the usual trappings of a checking account (online/mobile banking, Visa check card, unlimited check writing, optional online bill pay, no Everbank ATM fees, $6/mo ATM fee reimbursement, and overdraft protection).
When you couple that checking rate with a 1-year CD rate of 4.15% APY (as of this writing), it’s a decent offer. I’m not yet ready to open up another bank account but if you’re in the market for a new account, you won’t be wasting your time taking a look at EverBank.
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Yup, not looking for another one unless it’s outstanding. Thanks for the review though….online banks are now a dime a dozen aren’t they?
They seem like it huh? Surprisingly, very few people who don’t read blogs are familiar with it. I’ve asked so many of my friends whether they have an ING Direct account (so I could hook them up with ING Direct referrals) and the majority have no idea what I mean. These are people savvy with the web and comfortable with online banking too, they just don’t know about them.
Jim – have you heard or seen anything about their mortgage programs? They have really good rates and I’m currently looking into refinancing my mortgage (I bought my house 8 months ago and the interest rate is 1.75% lower)and they look pretty good. I actually found this post via a Google for Everbank, which is pretty hillarious since I come here at least 3-4 times a day…
I’m afraid I haven’t seen anything about their mortgage programs, but I do know they built their business on it.
You should just email me man, don’t use search haha
Longtime lurker, first time poster here. Thanks for the great blog.
I’m curious whether anyone has looked at Evantage. It is owned by Southwest State Bank, which also has a 4-star safe and sound rating. Right now they’re offering 5.25% for a rewards checking that only requires 10 signature debit transactions per month plus receiving statements via e-mail. I’m considering signing up. Any sense of whether this is a good bank?
Effective March 1, the teaser rate on the money market account is down to 2.51%
Beware everbank! In the fine print with May statements they notified account holders that minimum balance for Checking must stay above $5000 instead of $1500 to avoid fees (and the low balance fee has increased from $1500 to $5000).
In general, Everbank’s fees are gradually increasing and their interest rates are becoming less competitive. As a long term account holder, I am now looking for a better bank
Your review of Everbank sounded great and it it covered all the good points except ACH money transfers. They take 5 business days to make sure the money is “good”. I forgot to mention that they don’t pay interest on the time lag. Try a once a week transfer of funds and then calculate the true interest rate.
The bugaboo is their $8.95 monthly charge for not having the minimum when others(see Schwab)dont make such charges!
The provide clarification, the introductory 3 month rate starts as soon as you sign up for the account. If you have any issues with your initial deposit or future deposits within the first 3 months, then you will miss out on a portion of the introductory rate. Thus, reducing the anticipated return.