When you visit the sites of any savings accounts, chances are, in big bold letters somewhere on the first half of the front page, they’ll post the APY they offer. While many of these accounts offer interest that far surpasses your local bank, not every bank backs up this high APY with reliable features that you actually need.
Today, we’ll find out if CIT Bank, and one of their accounts — the CIT Bank Savings Builder — offers these features.
The CIT Savings Builder account offers up to 1.00% APY for those with a balance of $25,000 or those who make a $100 deposit each month. You’ll also pay no monthly fees, and have a small minimum deposit requirement. See site for details.
- Up to 1.00% APY
- Multiple ways to earn high interest
- Helpful resources
- $100 minimum to open an account
- Lower tier APY isn't as competitive
- Poor customer service
About CIT Bank and the CIT Bank Savings Builder
- Minimum balance requirement: $100 opening deposit, but none after that
- APY: 1.00% when you have a balance of $25,000 or deposit at least $100 each month, See site for details.
- Fees: None
CIT Bank is a great bank for a lot of reasons. For one thing, they have tons of experience (a century of it, in fact). They also currently hold over $100 billion in assets, making them one of the largest banks in the U.S.
What I personally find impressive is that CIT Bank makes sure their customers know they are invested in their community. CIT Bank employees volunteer throughout the year and they focus on helping the underserved in Southern California. With so many banking options out there to choose from, it’s nice to see a large corporation that gives something back.
Pros & Cons of the CIT Bank Savings Builder
Pros
- Up to 1.00% APY — The CIT Savings Builder offers up to a 1.00% APY
- Multiple ways to earn high interest — You can earn 1.00% APY by having a high minimum balance of $25,000 or by depositing $100 a month into your account, making it a more approachable option for those looking to simply put a little something aside each month.
- Helpful resources — CIT Bank has a very helpful resources page that offers calculators, a FAQs page, and more detailed info about CIT products.
Cons
- $100 minimum to open an account — To open a CIT Bank Savings Builder account, you need to have a minimum deposit of $100. There are plenty of other options that require no minimum at all.
- Lower tier APY isn’t as competitive — You need to maintain a balance of $25,000 or make a $100 deposit each month to get the higher tier APY. If you can’t meet these requirements, you’ll earn a base tier rate.
- Poor customer service — CIT Bank doesn’t have the greatest customer service reviews. Customers complain that it often takes well over 20 minutes to speak to a representative.
CIT Bank Savings Builder Features
Earn 1.00% APY a Few Different Ways
The CIT Bank Savings Builder offers two ways you can earn the 1.00% APY. If you can save enough to have an account balance of $25,000 or more, you’ll earn this higher tier APY.
The other, more practical way for most, is to make a $100 single deposit per month. See site for details.
CIT Bank Offers Two APY Tiers
Most folks don’t have $25,000 sitting around, and not all of us can dedicate $100 every month towards a savings account (although, you absolutely should if you can). Luckily, CIT offers a decent base tier that is still notable for those who can’t meet the minimum requirements for the higher tier APY.
No Maintenance Fees and Free Bank Transfers
Yes, there is a minimum of $100 to open an account, but there are no other fees associated with the CIT Bank Savings Builder account.
CIT Bank also offers free bank transfers to any account (inside the U.S.), not just their own checking and savings accounts.
Resources
CIT Bank has a helpful resources page that can help you learn how much you can save with their account, understand the nitty gritty details of the account, and answer the most common questions customers have.
Their calculators can help you determine how much you need to be saving to reach your goals:
- CD Calculator – You can determine how much you can earn with CIT Bank’s CDs.
- Savings Account Calculator – You can determine how much you can earn with the CIT Bank Savings Builder.
How to Open a CIT Bank Savings Builder Account
It’s easy to open a CIT Bank Savings Builder account. I’ll take you through the first few steps to give you a sense of how easy it really is.
After you click “Open Account” in the right-hand corner of the CIT Bank homepage, you’ll be led to the following screen:
Right away, CIT Bank tells you it’ll take about 5 to 10 minutes to open an account. Much appreciated. Start by selecting one of the options above. For the purpose of this review, I opened an account as a new customer.
You can choose between a personal account and an account for your child. I went with personal. You’ll also select a product from the dropdown menu (for the CIT Bank Savings Builder, select “Savings & Money Market”).
Finally, CIT Bank starts asking for your personal details.
They’ll ask:
- Your name
- Your email
- Your Social Security number
- Your mother’s maiden name
The rest of the application involves reviewing your personal and bank information, then making your first deposit. These steps should only take a few more minutes.
CIT Bank Savings Builder vs. CIT Bank Savings Connect
The CIT Bank Savings Builder isn’t the only savings account CIT Bank offers. CIT Bank offers the CIT Bank Savings Connect account. With just a $100 minimum deposit, you could earn 4.65% APY. See site for details. This account also comes with no fees, a helpful mobile app, and a quick sign-up process.
CIT offers the very impressive Savings Connect Account. With just a $100 minimum deposit, you could earn 4.65% APY. This account also comes with no fees, a helpful mobile app, and a quick sign-up process. See details here.
- Competitive interest rate applied to all balances
- No monthly service fees
- Helpful resources
- Poor customer service
- Minimum of $100 to open your account
It seems that for most bankers, the CIT Bank Savings Connect account is the better choice. Still, the CIT Bank Savings Builder stacks up as a worthy competitor for those looking to encourage themselves to start a savings habit, since you’ll need to deposit at least $100 each month to earn the higher APY.
CIT Bank Savings Builder vs. CIT Bank Platinum Savings
One of CIT Bank’s newer options is the very impressive CIT Bank Platinum Savings account. It shares the same low $100 minimum to open an account and no account opening or monthly services fees.
This account operates on a tiered structure, paying one of the highest interest rates we could find on balances over $5,000.
- Balances of $5,000 or more: 5.05% APY
- Balances of $0.01 – $4,999.99: 0.25% APY
- See site for details.
With no account opening or monthly service fees, the CIT Platinum Savings Account offers a high interest rate on balances of $5,000 or more with a minimum of $100 to open an account. See site for details.
- Up to 5.05% APY
- No monthly service fees
- Fast account opening
- High minimum balance required to earn top rate
If you are considering meeting the CIT Bank Saving Builder’s upper tier rate (1.00%) with your balance rather than monthly deposit requirement, then the CIT Bank Platinum Savings account with a $5,000 min. balance to earn the up to 5.05% APY excels by a wide margin as the better option.
Who Should Use the CIT Bank Savings Builder Account?
Those Who Can Maintain a High Balance
Those who maintain a balance of at least $25,000 earn the upper tier rate. That means the CIT Bank Savings Builder is an option for those who can keep this balance.
Those Looking to Bulk Up Their Emergency Funds
Online savings accounts offer high yields, which is exactly why they’re perfect for storing your emergency fund. CIT Bank is no different. They offer up to a 1.00% APY, which can equal hundreds or thousands in extra money over the years.
Those Who Want to Do Most of Their Banking at CIT
CIT Bank doesn’t just off the CIT Bank Savings Builder account. They also offer a Money Market Account, CDs, and home loans. Additionally, CIT Bank even has an interest-bearing eChecking account.
CIT Bank Money Market Account
The CIT Bank Money Market Account is similar to the CIT Bank Savings Builder. It offers:
- Easy access to your funds
- No monthly service fees
- 24/7 secure banking
- FDIC insured
- Deposit checks remotely and make transfers with the CIT Bank mobile app
The CIT Money Market Account requires a minimum deposit of $100 to open, but no minimum balance is required to qualify for interest.
The bank offers a mid-range interest rate at 1.55% APY. And because this account does not use a tiered balance structure to determine interest, it’s a good option for people who plan to keep a lower balance. See site for details.
- Easy access to your funds
- No monthly service fees
- No minimum ongoing balance is required to qualify for interest
- No debit card or check-writing
- $100 minimum to open an account
CDs
CIT offers three different kinds of CDs.
- Term CDs — You’ll need to have $1,000 minimum to open an account.
- No-penalty, 11-month CD — You’ll need $1,000 minimum to open an account.
- Jumbo CDs — You can choose from two, three, four, and five-year terms. You’ll need $100,000 minimum to open an account.
Home Loans
CIT offers decent home loans. They have many payment options, including 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, or 30-year loan terms.
CIT also offers many different mortgage types, including FHA, Fannie Mae mortgages, and exclusive bank portfolio programs (for well-qualified borrowers).
eChecking
With eChecking you’ll earn if you meet minimum requirements. Additionally, you’ll get the following features:
- Debit card with EMV chip technology
- Ability to easily transfer money through Zelle®, Bill Pay, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay
- Mobile check deposits
- Up to $30 in outside banks’ ATM fees, reimbursed each month
The CIT Bank Savings Builder vs. Other Savings Accounts
The CIT Bank Savings Builder may still may not be the best account for you. Maybe you don’t want to maintain a high balance, or maybe you don’t want have to remember to deposit $100 each month. There’s some stiff competition out there, even for a good account options like those from CIT Bank.
Discover Online Savings Account
- APY: 4.35%
- Minimum account opening amount: None
- Fees: None
Discover is a large, nationwide financial services company offering savings accounts, checking and credit card products.
The high-yield Discover Online Savings Account offers a generous 4.35% APY, no account fees, and a pleasant banking experience backed by award-winning customer service.
- 4.35% APY
- No minimum balance requirement
- No fees for most transactions
- Service charge for outgoing wire transfers
Discover’s Online Savings Account offers a 4.35% APY, immediately putting it ahead of the CIT Savings Builder. But it also beats CIT’s opening deposit requirement, which is nothing. Discover also offers no minimum account balance needed, and you won’t pay any monthly fees!
Plus, where Discover really pulls ahead is in their customer service. Discover offers some of the best customer service according to their customers.
Capital One 360 Performance Savings
- APY: 4.30%
- Minimum account opening amount: None
- Fees: None
Capital One’s 360 Performance Savings Account offers an interest rate that consistently competes with the very highest APYs out there. Plus it has no minimum balance and doesn’t charge any maintenance fees, and it lets you open a bunch of different sub-accounts for different saving goals.
- High APY vs. traditional banks
- Can easily link Capital One accounts
- No account minimums
- Other savings accounts may offer higher APY
- Limited branch access
Like Discover, the Capital One 360 pulls ahead of CIT in their APY offering. You’ll earn 4.30% on your daily balance, with no minimum required to open the account and no monthly fees to pay.
Capital One also holds their own against CIT, offering a beautiful mobile app, easy account transfers, and mobile check deposit. Where Capital One really stands out, though, is in their automatic savings options. You can open up to 25 savings accounts for your different savings goals and manage them all from one app or dashboard.
Ally Bank Savings Account
- APY: 4.25%
- Minimum account opening amount: None
- Fees: None
Yet another worthy competitor, Ally offers a 4.25% APY on their savings account.
There are no minimum balance requirements and no fees associated with the account either. Plus, Ally has adopted Capital One’s method, allowing you set multiple savings goals and set money aside for each of them. You can even set an end date for your goal so you can see your progress.
Ally offers one final stand-out feature worth mentioning that CIT and many other banks don’t. They call it their Suprising Savings feature. You simply link your checking account to Ally and their algorithms see if you have the room to set aside extra savings. If you do, it’ll be automatically moved to your Ally savings account.
Summary
The CIT Bank Savings Builder offers a fair APY compared to some alternatives. For those who want to save fast, the $100 deposit requirement is a great way to force you to develop the habit of saving. For those who can can meet a balance requirement, we recommend the CIT Bank Platinum Savings account and superior up to 5.05% APY.