TIAA Bank Review: Is It Good?

If you have a large opening deposit, TIAA Bank provides a variety of options at high rates. But there are downsides. Read on to see if it's right for you.

Services Offered

• Yield Pledge Accounts. TIAA Bank's most popular products are its Yield Pledge Checking and Yield Pledge Money Market Account. Both accrue interest at a competitive rate. Your interest rate will depend on your balance tier.

• Basic Accounts. TIAA Bank also offers basic checking, savings, and CDs with lower minimum opening deposit requirements. The checking account doesn't accrue interest. The savings account and CDs do, but at a lower rate than what you'd receive on a high-yield account.

• Specialty CDs. It also has a variety of unique CD options, including the Bump Rate CD, which offers the option to "bump up" your interest rate one time during the term, if rates allow.

Most of the banking done with TIAA is online. All accounts can be opened online, but you can also call a customer service representative and apply over the phone if you are more comfortable with that.

Keep reading to learn if TIAA Bank may be right for you.

Reasons We Like TIAA Bank

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• TIAA's basic checking and/or savings accounts have no monthly fee. It only requires a low $25 minimum deposit to open.

• You can get your ATM fees reimbursed. If you use an ATM that isn't a TIAA, Allpoint, or MoneyPass ATM, the bank providing the funds may charge you a fee. TIAA Bank will reimburse those fees up to $15 per month if you have an average daily balance of less than $5,000 in your account. If you have an average daily balance of more than $5,000, TIAA Bank doesn't limit the number of reimbursed ATM fees.

• TIAA Bank offers 10 different CD lengths. TIAA Bank has 10 different CDs available with differing maturity dates. While you need $5,000 to open a High Yield CD, you have several options. You can make the CD a part of your IRA. You can also choose to automatically roll the CD over upon maturity.

• You can use mobile deposit to deposit your checks. Since TIAA Bank is mostly online, it's helpful to know that you can deposit your checks just by taking a picture of your check via the TIAA mobile app.

• The High Yield Checking, Money Market, and CDs don't charge a monthly fee. TIAA Bank is very transparent with their fees. The High Yield accounts that offer the most competitive APYs don't charge a monthly fee. Keep in mind, though, you may pay for ATM transactions if you don't keep a minimum $5,000 balance in your High Yield accounts.

• The TIAA mobile app makes it easy to transfer funds, pay bills, and check balances on while on the go. You can transfer funds to internal accounts, pay your monthly bills, or reconcile your accounts on your mobile phone, which gives you 24/7 access to your TIAA bank accounts.

• TIAA Bank promises a high level of security while banking online or on the app. They use two-factor authentication for log-ins; have free malware protection; and provide alerts via email or text based on the thresholds you set in your accounts.

• You can name beneficiaries for your savings accounts. This can help prevent your funds from being tied up in probate. Naming beneficiaries directly on the account allows those funds to go to a specific person or persons, avoiding probate.

• You can set up direct deposit to make depositing your funds easier. If your employer offers direct deposit, you can have some or all of your check deposited directly in your TIAA Bank account. This can save you the few steps that mobile deposit takes. It also helps to make your funds available as soon as your employer pays them.

• You can set up contactless payments, such as Apple Pay or Google Pay. TIAA Bank helps you turn your mobile phone into a credit card by setting up this option in your TIAA Bank app.

Reasons You May Want to Look Elsewhere

• There is no high-yield savings account option. It only offers checking and money market for its Yield Pledge accounts that offer competitive interest rates. The basic savings account's APY is a little lower than rates offered by other online banks, though yields are still competitive.

• Unless you live in Florida, you must conduct your banking online. If you are looking for a bank you can visit in person and conduct business, you have to live in Florida, near one of TIAA's four branches to do so.

How It Compares

Capital One 360: If you have less than $500 to open an account with, Capital One 360 may be a better option as they don't have any account minimums. Like TIAA Bank, they also don't charge any monthly fees. Capital One 360 offers checking and savings accounts as well as CDs.

Synchrony: If you are in the market for a high-yield savings account, Synchrony may be a decent competitor for your business. Synchrony doesn't offer a high-yield checking account though. Their main focus is on savings and CDs.

Ally: Ally also offers a full gamut of high-yield accounts, including checking, savings, and CDs. They don't require a minimum opening deposit and their interest rates are often competitive with TIAA Bank's rates.

Bottom Line

If you're looking for a place to park more than $500 that isn't affected by the market, TIAA Bank offers a variety of options at competitive rates. It guarantees that the yield on your Yield Pledge Checking or Money Market Account account will stay in the top 5% of competitive accounts offered in the U.S. banking market.