There are plenty of savings accounts available, including a high-yield one from Lending Club. Take a closer look at this savings account to decide if it is right for you.
Lending Club’s high-yield savings account has incredibly competitive interest rates, no monthly fees, and no minimum balance requirements. You just need $100 to open an account. At the time of writing, the interest rate is 2.07% APY, a very competitive rate.
Explore the savings accounts from Lending Club in more detail, including how to open an account and everything else you may want to know.
The Lending Club savings account consistently receives strong reviews. This comes from a combination of its lack of monthly service fees and minimum balance with a high interest rate. The more you learn about this savings account, the more you wonder whether it is right for you.
Lending Club has been around since 2007 and has more than four million members (clients). The company prides itself on a commitment to four main things:
In addition to personal banking, it also offers business and institutional banking. Lending Club offers loans, including personal, business, and K-12 education loans. There are patient solutions and various investment opportunities, including for retirement accounts and individual investment accounts.
Lending Club focuses on offering online banking, giving clients 24/7 access to their accounts. You can use the bank’s website or download the mobile app. The mobile application makes it easy to pay friends and deposit checks, in addition to managing your accounts.
The app also features personal financial management tools. These include the ability to link external accounts to get an overall view of your finances. You can set budgets, track spending, and analyze trends. It lets you view your debts and net worth, including creating a plan to pay off your debt. You are more likely to use some of those features with a checking account than a savings account, but they are still available if you only have a Lending Club savings account.
Lending Club offers multiple ways for clients to reach out for support. To start, the bank has an extensive, well-organized FAQ section. Additionally, you can call, email, or live chat with the bank’s support team.
Keep in mind that in-person support is incredibly rare. Lending Club is designed to be an online bank. This may be a disadvantage for some people, especially those who like the traditional banking experience.
The Lending Club High-Yield Savings account gets a lot of attention for its combination of free banking and high interest rates, a very rare combination in the world of banking.
As mentioned, the high-yield savings account has one of the highest rates you will find in the industry. Specifically, you earn 2.07% APY on the entire balance of your account. Importantly, there is no minimum balance to earn interest.
Most competitors that offer similar rates will make up for it with fees or by requiring a high minimum balance. But Lending Club does neither of these things. The bank does not have any monthly service fees. Additionally, you won’t have to meet any minimum balance requirement after the initial $100 that you must deposit to open an account.
ATM cards are common with checking accounts but less common with savings accounts. However, Lending Club offers an ATM card with its savings account. On top of that, the ATM card is free.
Keep in mind that there is a daily limit of $500 for ATM withdrawals for most account holders. Those with Reserve accounts can withdraw up to $2,000 a day.
Continuing the trend of offering free services to clients, Lending Club also lets you make free transfers. These include external and internal transfers. There is a daily limit of $10,000 for each outgoing and incoming external transfer via ACH, which can increase to $250,000 depending on your account type.
As mentioned, there is no monthly fee or fee for getting your ATM card with a Lending Club savings account. However, there are some situations that may lead to fees. Most will be rare, but you should still be aware of them.
For example, there is a $20 fee for a domestic wire out and a $40 fee for an international wire out. There is also a currency conversion fee of 20% of the transaction amount. And you should be aware of the cross-border (international) transaction fee of 0.90 of the transaction amount.
As mentioned, you can deposit checks via the Lending Club mobile application. There is a daily limit of $50,000 for mobile check deposits for most account holders. This can increase up to $250,000.
Another way to deposit is via ACH transfer, which is free. You can also make a deposit via a wire transfer, but that will come with a fee. Or you can make a deposit in cash at NYCE Shared Deposit ATMs and at MoneyPass deposit taking ATMs.
Lending Club is FDIC-insured, giving you additional confidence in the safety of your funds. As is standard, that FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000, the maximum amount allowed.
There are three levels of accounts within the High-Yield Savings Account.
Applying for a savings account from Lending Club is pretty straightforward and fast. The process is designed to be entirely online. You will just need your social security number, some basic information like your name and address, and $100. Joint accounts are available, but you must be at least 18 to open an account.
Remember that there is a minimum opening deposit of $100, but after that, there is no minimum balance. You can fund your account with a transfer from your current bank account or using a debit card. Lending Club indicates that the process of applying for an account only takes three minutes.
There is no credit check as part of the process for opening a savings account. However, Lending Club will validate personal information. This means that if you have a security or credit freeze, the team will have to review your data manually, which can mean the process takes up to five business days.
Yes, Lending Club’s savings account is legit. The most obvious indication of this is the fact that it is FDIC-insured. That alone should give you a great deal of confidence in the account. Additionally, Lending Club’s High-Yield Savings account has numerous positive reviews and high ratings, both from clients and independent reviewers. Additionally, Lending Club uses 256-bit encryption to ensure your data stays protected.
You may also be interested in a checking account or a CD from Lending Club.
A certificate of deposit can be a good alternative to the high-yield savings account if you don’t need access to your funds for a set amount of time. This will give you the benefit of a higher interest rate.
At the time of writing, Lending Club has the following APYs:
The checking account from Lending Club is called Rewards Checking. It has some of the same benefits as the high-yield savings account, including:
You also get unlimited rebates for ATM rebates. This means that Lending Club won’t charge you for using an ATM, and the bank will refund you for any fees that the ATM charges. On top of that, you can earn 1% cash back on your qualified purchases. To qualify for cash back rewards, you need to have been a client for at least 30 days and either keep at least $2,500 (average) in your account or receive at least $2,500 of direct deposits. Additionally, if you set up direct deposit, you may be able to get your paycheck up to two days earlier.
Lending Club offers a highly competitive savings account, thanks to its high interest rate and lack of monthly fees. You can apply online, and after the initial deposit of at least $100, there is no minimum balance. The only caveat is that Lending Club doesn’t have branches for you to visit. Your banking experience will be online. However, it does work with a network of ATMs for cash deposits.