Jenius Bank Review: Savings

Jenius Bank offers a high-yield savings account, but no checking accounts or CDs.
Margarette Burnette
By Margarette Burnette  
Edited by Yuliya Goldshteyn  

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

Jenius Bank
  • Savings
  • Customer experience

Overall institution rating

4.5

NerdWallet rating 
The bottom line:

Jenius Bank is an online-only brand of SMBC Manubank, which is based in Los Angeles. The federally insured Jenius Savings account earns a strong annual percentage yield and has no monthly fee. But unlike other financial institutions, Jenius Bank does not offer checking accounts or certificates of deposit. The digital bank also has no mobile app. You can access your account through the bank’s website or by calling its 24/7 customer service line.

Best for: People who are looking for high-yield savings that can be linked to an existing bank account and who don’t need checking accounts, CDs or in-person banking.

» Want more options? See NerdWallet’s analysis of the best savings accounts and the best checking accounts

Pros

  • No monthly fees.
  • Competitive rates.
  • No minimum opening deposits.
  • 24/7 customer service by phone.

Cons

  • No cash deposit or withdrawal.
  • No branch access.
  • No checking account or CDs offered.

Full review

Savings

Jenius Savings
Jenius Savings

Savings

Deposits are FDIC Insured

4.5

/5 NerdWallet rating 
APY
5.25%
With $0 min. balance for APY

Jenius Savings is a high-yield account that earns a stellar 5.25% APY. Plus, there are no monthly fees and no minimum balances required to open the account. However, in order to make deposits and withdrawals, you will need to link an external bank account.

The only way to withdraw money is to make transfers to your linked account. You can deposit funds in two ways: transferring from an external bank account or setting up direct deposit.

Jenius Savings is not available to customers in Hawaii or New Mexico.

Customer experience

4.5

NerdWallet rating 

As an online-only institution, Jenius Bank does not have any branches. But it does offer human customer support by phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It also offers online chat.

As of this writing, Jenius Bank does not have a mobile app, which is unusual for a digital bank. Customers can access their accounts by phone or through the bank’s website. The site has a robust frequently-asked-questions section that includes topics such as account access, FDIC insurance and the bank’s history.

Methodology

NerdWallet’s overall ratings for banks and credit unions are weighted averages of several categories: checking, savings, certificates of deposit or credit union share certificates, banking experience and overdraft fees. Factors we consider, depending on the category, include rates and fees, ATM and branch access, account features and limits, user-facing technology, customer service and innovation. The stars represent ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star.

How we rate banks, credit unions and other financial service providers