OneUnited Bank Review: Checking, Savings and CDs
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Overall institution rating
3.6
OneUnited Bank is a Black-owned financial institution that offers checking, savings and certificates of deposit accounts with low or no monthly fees. The bank offers online accounts and also serves customers in-person at a few branches in the Boston, Los Angeles and Miami areas. The bank’s mobile apps earn high app store ratings, and customers have access to more than 100,000 surcharge free ATMs. However, its bank accounts have average to low interest rates.
Best for: Customers who want checking and savings accounts with no or low monthly fees, make only a few savings withdrawals each month and want to support Black-owned banks.
No monthly fees on some checking accounts.
Large, free nationwide ATM network.
Highly rated mobile apps.
Expensive overdraft fee.
Low rates on some savings accounts and certificates of deposit.
Monthly fees (though they are avoidable).
Limited branch access.
Excess withdrawal fees.
Full review
Full review
OneUnited Bank
Checking
OneUnited Basic Checking
4.3
/54.3
/5Monthly fee
$0
Bonus
N/A
Monthly fee
$0
Bonus
N/A
OneUnited’s Basic Checking account has no monthly fee. It provides access to more than 100,000 surcharge-free ATMs across the country at Chase and Citibank branch machines and as part of the MoneyPass and Allpoint networks. You need $50 to open an account.
» Want to learn about other minority-owned banks? Read more on black-owned banks and credit unions
OneUnited Bank also offers other types of checking accounts, with options for customers who want money management features or are interested in “second chance” checking due to past banking issues.
» Learn: What is second chance checking?
Savings
OneUnited Savings
3.5
/53.5
/5APY
0.10%
With $200 min. balance for APY
Bonus
N/A
APY
0.10%
With $200 min. balance for APY
Bonus
N/A
The OneUnited Savings account has a $5 monthly fee, but it’s easily waived with a direct deposit or electronic funds transfer. It also has a low $25 minimum opening deposit. However, the annual percentage yield is low and only applies to balances of $200 and higher.
This is not the account for you if you’ll have more than a few withdrawals or other transactions each month. There is a hefty $20 fee each transaction, including overdraft protection transfers, in excess of six per month. Other banks charge much less, or don’t charge at all.
Certificates of deposit
OneUnited Bank UNITY CD
1.4
/51.4
/53-year APY
0.30%
Minimum deposit
$1,000
3-year APY
0.30%
Minimum deposit
$1,000
OneUnited offers certificates of deposit with terms that range from three months to nearly four years. The bank’s online CDs have a minimum opening deposit of $500. That’s relatively low — some banks have minimum deposits as high as $10,000. The interest rates on OneUnited’s CDs are low compared to other banks.
» See more options: Best CD rates
Customer experience
The bank’s mobile apps get high ratings in the app stores and offer standard features such as electronic money transfers and mobile check deposit. OneUnited’s website also has a financial library of video tutorials on topics such as how to save for financial goals and how to avoid overdraft fees. Customer service is available by phone for extended hours Monday through Friday, but isn’t available at all on weekends.
» SEE: Best online banks
Overdraft fees
OneUnited Bank offers optional overdraft protection, but it can be costly. The bank charges $37 per overdraft transaction, up to three times a day. But the bank does not charge a fee for overdraft protection transfers. If you link another OneUnited bank account as a backup and a transaction prompts an overdraft, the bank would transfer funds to the checking account from the backup account for free. Though it’s nice that OneUnited provides free overdraft protection, other banks also offer this service for free while charging less for overdrafts, or not at all.
» COMPARE: Best banks for overdrafts
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). The ratings are incremented in tenths of a star.