Liberty Bank Review: Checking, Savings and CDs

Liberty Banks offers a forgiving approach to overdrafts, but its interest rates are low.
Ruth Sarreal
By Ruth Sarreal 
Edited by Yuliya Goldshteyn

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Liberty Bank & Trust Company
  • Checking
  • Savings
  • Certificates of deposit
  • Customer experience
  • Overdraft fees

Overall institution rating

3.0

NerdWallet rating 
The bottom line:

Liberty Bank is a Black-owned regional institution with branches sprinkled throughout the South and Midwest. Its rates are better than those at large brick-and-mortar national banks but aren't competitive with online institutions.

Best for: Those who prefer to bank with a Black-owned institution, like banking online or live near the bank's branches and ATMs in the South and Midwest.

Pros

  • Low minimum opening deposits on some accounts.
  • Highly rated mobile apps.
  • Offers automatic savings features.

Cons

  • Expensive overdraft fee.
  • Monthly fees (though they are avoidable).
  • Excess withdrawal fees.
  • Cannot open some accounts online.
  • Hard to find basic information about accounts.

Full review

Checking

Liberty Bank Personal Checking Account
Liberty Bank Personal Checking Account

Checking

Member FDIC

2.5

/5
 NerdWallet rating 
Monthly fee
$10.00
Waived with $500 minimum balance

Liberty Bank’s Personal Checking Account requires a $50 minimum opening deposit. In addition, there is a monthly fee of $10, but you can waive it by keeping your daily balance at or above $500. If you don’t opt into e-statements, you’ll also incur a $12.50 fee for having a paper statement mailed to you.

The account could be useful if you write a lot of checks: It comes with unlimited check writing, and monthly statements include check images.

» Compare more options: See our list of the best checking accounts

Savings

Liberty Bank Personal Savings
Liberty Bank Personal Savings

Savings

Member FDIC

3.0

/5
 NerdWallet rating 
APY
0.01%
With $50 min. balance for APY

You can open a Personal Savings Account with $50 and avoid the $4 monthly fee by maintaining a balance of at least $200. The account pays 0.01% APY on any balance — that’s on par with what you’ll find at many large banks, but you can find much better rates elsewhere.

Another downside to this savings account is that only two withdrawals are free per statement period; each withdrawal after that costs $2. Most savings accounts allow at least six free withdrawals per period and some don’t have any limits.

» Want to shop around for the best rates? Check out our list of the best savings accounts

Certificates of deposit

Liberty Bank CD
Liberty Bank CD

CD

Member FDIC

3.5

/5
 NerdWallet rating 
1-year APY
3.73%
3-year APY
2.96%
5-year APY
2.68%
Minimum deposit
$1,000

Liberty Bank requires a deposit of at least $1,000 to open a CD. Terms range from three months to five years. Rates for CDs are much better than what you’ll find at one of the bigger brick-and-mortar banks, but other financial institutions offer even more competitive rates. Unlike checking and savings accounts, CDs can’t be opened online.

One unique feature of the Liberty Bank CDs is that you can choose to have the interest paid monthly, quarterly, semiannually or annually. You can also choose to receive the interest payment by check or as a deposit to another account at the bank.

» Find out who has the best APYs: See our list of this month’s best CDs

Customer experience

3.0

NerdWallet rating 

Interest rates aren’t available online, so you’ll have to call or go to a branch to find out what they are. The bank has more than a dozen branches sprinkled throughout a few states: Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Liberty Bank ATMs are available only in some of those states, though. The bank charges a $2 fee for using an out-of-network ATM, on top of whatever fee the ATM owner may change.

Customer service is available by phone on weekdays, and the bank doesn’t offer extended hours. You can reach a customer service representative only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST. The bank’s mobile apps are rated well.

» Interested in more Black-owned financial institutions? Check out our list of Black-owned banks and credit unions

Overdraft fees

3.0

NerdWallet rating 

Liberty Bank charges a steep nonsufficient funds fee of $29 per certain kinds of transactions, such as a check that would overdraw your account or an in-person withdrawal. You’ll also be charged $1.50 each day that your account is overdrawn.

The bank doesn’t offer overdraft protection, but you can manually transfer money from a linked deposit account or personal line of credit to bring your account balance back up. There’s no fee for this (unless it’s from a Personal Savings Account and you’ve already had more than two withdrawals or transfers that month).

» Tend to overdraw your account? Check out our list of the best banks for overdrafts

How does Liberty Bank & Trust Company compare?

Chime Checking Account

Chime Checking Account

Deposits are FDIC Insured

NerdWallet rating 

5.0

/5
NerdWallet rating 

5.0

/5
NerdWallet rating 

4.5

/5

Monthly fee 

$0

Monthly fee 

$0

Monthly fee 

$0

APY 

0.50%

With $0 min. balance for APY

APY 

N/A

APY 

N/A

Bonus 

$400

Up to $300 cash and $100 in rewards points. Terms apply.

Bonus 

N/A

Bonus 

N/A

Learn more

at SoFi Bank, N.A.

Learn more

at Discover® Bank

Learn more

at Chime®

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.