iGObanking Review – Internet Bank & Online Banking Products

iGObanking is the online arm of Flushing Bank, a publicly traded (FFIC: NASDAQ) company based in New York City. It accepts deposits from anyone with a U.S. address, offering checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as CDs, retirement options, and value-added features like free person-to-person transfers and mobile check deposit.

iGObanking’s savings and checking accounts come with few restrictions – no monthly fees or balance requirements, and just a token opening deposit of $1 in the case of the checking account. Yields for the savings and money market accounts are quite good, though the money market has restrictions that could turn off some prospective account holders. All deposits with iGObanking enjoy FDIC insurance on balances up to $250,000 per account.

Key Features

iGOchecking

iGObanking’s checking account requires a nominal opening deposit of $1 and no minimum balance thereafter. The yield is 0.25% APY on all balances, and there’s never a monthly maintenance fee. New accounts come with a Mastercard-branded debit card, which can be used to make fee-free withdrawals at more than 40,000 ATMs in the Allpoint network. However, iGObanking does not reimburse out-of-network ATM fees.

iGOchecking has no formal overdraft protection plan, opt-in or otherwise, but iGObanking advises that it has discretion to pay debit, ATM, and check transactions that would result in a negative balance. Regardless of whether it allows such transactions to go through, the bank charges a one-time fee of $30 per transaction.

iGOsavings

This savings account doesn’t require an opening deposit, minimum daily balance, or monthly maintenance fee. It yields 1.00% APY on all balances.

iGOmoneymarket

iGObanking’s money market account requires a minimum opening deposit and ongoing balance of $25,000. It yields 2.00% APY on all balances above this amount and comes with a Mastercard-branded debit card that confers the same privileges as the checking account debit card.

iGOcd

iGOcd terms range from as short as 3 months to as long as 120 months (10 years). All CDs with terms of 18 months or less yield 0.15% APY, save for the 12-month CD, which yields a world-beating 2.50% APY. CDs with terms of 29 months or greater yield 0.35%. The 24-month CD is another high-yielding outlier, at 2.75% APY.

Early withdrawal penalties are as follows: 3 months’ interest for CDs with terms under 12 months, 6 months’ interest for CD terms between 12 and 36 months, 12 months’ interest for CD terms between 36 and 84 months, and half the total interest that the withdrawn amount would have earned over the life of the CD for terms longer than 84 months.

iGOira

iGObanking also offers CDs that can be structured as traditional or Roth IRAs, which offer tax benefits for retirement savers. These also require a minimum opening deposit of $1,000 and impose the same early withdrawal penalties as regular iGOcds, plus any tax penalties incurred as a result of an early IRA withdrawal. Terms range from 6 to 60 months. With the exception of the 12- and 24-month IRA CDs, which only yield 0.15% APY, the rate structure is identical to regular iGOcds.

P2P Payments

iGObanking has a free, proprietary person-to-person payment system that facilitates transfers between your iGOchecking account and third-party recipients. This is useful if you want to split the check at lunch or repay a small personal loan.

Flexible Deposit

This is iGObanking’s free, on-the-go check deposit app. It lets you make deposits to your checking account by snapping a photo of the front and back of the check.

Customer Service

iGObanking’s customer support apparatus includes email tickets, which usually prompt a response within one to two business days, and live phone support available daily from 7am to 11pm Eastern Time. There’s also a comprehensive FAQ section that can answer basic questions about account options and how iGObanking works.

Advantages

1. High Yields on the 12- and 24-Month CDs
Overall, iGOcd yields aren’t anything to write home about. The glaring exceptions are the 12- and 24-month CDs, both of which yield well north of 2.00% APY on all balances above the $1,000 minimum. If you’re looking for an FDIC-insured harbor for rainy day funds, you’d do worse than these 2 accounts.

2. Few Restrictions on Checking and Savings Accounts
iGObanking’s checking and savings accounts come with few restrictions. Neither has a minimum daily balance or monthly maintenance fee, the checking account requires a nominal opening deposit of just $1, and the savings account requires no opening deposit at all. Plus, both accrue interest on all balances – there aren’t any tiered yields, as with the iGOmoneymarket account.

Other online banks place more restrictions on checking and savings accounts. For instance, TIAA Bank’s checking account requires a $1,500 opening deposit – and to earn the maximum available yield, you need to maintain a minimum balance of $50,000. Discover Bank’s savings account also has an opening deposit requirement.

3. Free P2P Payments Are Useful
Though many larger online banks have P2P transfer capabilities, whether through Popmoney or a proprietary service, iGObanking is one of the smallest banks I’ve seen to offer this feature. Salem Five Direct, another small online bank, forgoes it. Some larger banks, including Ally, still charge for P2P payments.

4. Straightforward, User-Friendly Onsite Experience
iGObanking’s website doesn’t have a visually stunning layout or any particular bells and whistles, but it’s one of the most intuitive online banking websites I’ve seen. There simply isn’t much clutter or confusion. Each page’s purpose is immediately obvious, and the home page boasts easy navigation to the most important sections of the site – customer account portals, account description pages, and rate information, for example.

This is especially refreshing in an age when online service providers are rushing to embrace mobile-responsive web design – which is a good thing, as long as it’s not taken too far. Discover Bank’s website is almost too mobile-friendly – using it on a desktop involves lots of scrolling and weird screen sizing. Ally Bank’s late-2014 website redesign produced similar problems.

Disadvantages

1. High Balance Requirement for the Money Market Account
The iGOmoneymarket account has a major drawback: a stiflingly high minimum deposit and daily balance requirement of $25,000. This likely puts the account out of reach for many folks. Other online banks, including Ally Bank (no deposit or balance restrictions) and Discover Bank ($2,500 minimum opening deposit and ongoing balance required), have less onerous requirements.

2. No Out-of-Network ATM Fee Reimbursements
Though iGObanking belongs to the Allpoint ATM network, which boasts some 43,000 fee-free ATMs, its customers aren’t guaranteed to be near an Allpoint ATM at all times. Unfortunately, with no out-of-network ATM fee reimbursements, iGObanking doesn’t offer any backup plan for this. Other banks, including Salem Five Direct and BankDirect, do reimburse out-of-network fees (up to $15 per statement cycle in both cases).

3. No Loans or Credit Products
iGObanking doesn’t offer any loans or credit products. Many other online banks do. Discover Bank and FNBO Direct have credit cards, Ally Bank offers auto loans, and Capital One 360 features a range of mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit.

4. Savings Yield Is Subpar
iGObanking’s savings account once had a competitive yield: 1.00% APY. Unfortunately, that yield hasn’t budged as rates have risen, and it’s now squarely in below-average territory relative to other online banks.

5. IRA Yields Don’t Measure Up
iGObanking’s IRA CDs have suboptimal yields as well, ranging from 0.15% to 0.35%. The 2 higher-yielding iGOcd accounts aren’t available in IRA form. By contrast, other online banks’ IRA CDs, including Ally Bank’s, carry the same yields as regular CDs.

6. Limited Customer Service Availability
iGObanking’s customer support apparatus is rather thin. The company doesn’t offer live onsite chat, which is arguably more convenient than picking up the phone and dialing into a call center. Its phone support team is on duty during extended business hours, but wait times can be problematic.

Final Word

With a great website and value-added functions (such as P2P payments) that aren’t standard at similarly sized online banks, iGObanking’s leaders clearly understand the value of the customer experience. It’s just a shame that they couldn’t parlay that understanding into a superior account and feature suite. Had they, their bank might stand out more.