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Beneficial State Bank may be a good fit if you live on the West Coast and want to bank with a mission-driven financial institution that supports environmental sustainability and social justice. Its strongest product is its free checking account.
Beneficial State Bank Review: Overall Rating
| Feature | Insider rating (out of 5) |
| Savings | 3.25 |
| Checking | 4 |
| Money market account | 3.75 |
| CD | 3.5 |
| Trustworthiness | 4 |
| Total | 3.75 |
Beneficial State Bank Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
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Beneficial State Bank Account Reviews
Beneficial State Bank Savings Account
$3 or $5 monthly service fee
0.40%
$50
- Possible to waive the monthly service fee
- ATM card included
- Low interest rate
- $50 minimum opening deposit
- $3 or $5 monthly service fee
- 7 branches in California, Oregon, and Washington
- Access to over 70,000 surcharge-free ATMs through the MoneyPass ATM network
- $5 monthly service fee if you receive paper bank statements
- $3 monthly service fee if you receive online statements
- Waive the monthly service fee if meet one of the following requirements: keep a monthly average balance of $200 or more; are a service member or student; are over the age of 55
- Interest compounded daily and deposited monthly
- Member FDIC
The Beneficial State Bank Savings Account could be a good option if you're a service member, a student, or over the age of 55 — the monthly service fee is automatically waived for you. Otherwise, you'll have to maintain an average monthly balance of $200 or more in your account to waive the fee.
Beneficial State Bank eChecking Account
no monthly service fee
None
$50
- No monthly service fees
- Free overdraft protection
- $50 minimum opening deposit
- $15 overdraft fee
- $2.50 out-of-network ATM fee
- 7 branches in California, Oregon, and Washington
- Access to over 70,000 surcharge-free ATMs through the MoneyPass ATM network
- Free overdraft protection that lets you link your checking account to a savings account
- Member FDIC
You may like the Beneficial State Bank eChecking Account if you're looking to avoid bank fees. There are no monthly service fee. You may also get free overdraft protection if you link your checking account to a savings account.
Beneficial State Bank CD
1.26% to 4.07%
$250
- $250 minimum opening deposit
- Standard term options
- Standard CD penalties
- Low interest rates compared to on online banks
- 7 branches in California, Oregon, and Washington
- Access to over 70,000 surcharge-free ATMs through the MoneyPass ATM network
- Terms range from 3 months to 60 months
- Early withdrawal penalties depend on the amount deposited and term chosen; Contact your nearest branch for more information
- Interest compounded daily, deposited quarterly
- Member FDIC
Beneficial State Bank might be worthwhile if you'd like to open a CD with a low minimum opening deposit. The bank pays solid CD rates overall, but the best CD rates are still at online banks.
Beneficial State Bank Money Market Account
$13 or $15 monthly service fee
0.75%
$50
- $50 minimum opening deposit
- Possible to waive the monthly service fee
- Checks included
- Debit card included
- Low interest rate
- $15 or $13 monthly service fee
- 7 branches in California, Oregon, and Washington
- Access to over 70,000 surcharge-free ATMs through the MoneyPass ATM network
- $15 monthly service fee if you receive paper bank statements
- $13 monthly service fee if you receive online statements
- To waive the monthly service fee, meet one of the following requirements: keep a monthly average balance of $3,000 or more; are a service member or student; are over the age of 55
- Interest compounded daily and deposited monthly
- Member FDIC
The Beneficial State Bank Money Market Account has a much higher monthly service fee than the savings account, and the minimum monthly average balance to waive the fee is $3,000. But you'll also have more access to your money with checks and a debit card, whereas with the savings account, you'll only get an ATM card.
About Beneficial State Bank
Beneficial State Bank is a socially responsible bank with seven branches in California, Oregon, and Washington.
The bank is a part of the following organizations for its social and environmental impact:
- Global Alliance for Banking on Values
- Community Development Bankers Association
- B Corporation
- National Community Investment Fund
- US Department of Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
Customers have access to over 70,000 surcharge-free ATMs through the MoneyPass ATM network.
The Customer Care Center is available over the phone from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. PT on Saturdays.
The bank has poor mobile app ratings. In the Google Play store, it's rated 3.1 out of 5 stars. In the Apple store, it has 2.4 out of 5 stars.
Beneficial State Bank is FDIC insured so up to $250,000 is protected in individual bank accounts and $500,000 in joint accounts.
Is Beneficial State Bank Trustworthy?
Beneficial State Bank hasn't been involved in any recent public controversies.
The Better Business Bureau rates companies based on responses to customer complaints, honesty in advertising, and transparency about business practices. Beneficial State Bank has an A+ rating from the BBB.
The Role of Community Development Financial Institutions
Community development financial institutions, or CDFIs, serve low-income and disadvantaged communities. Banks and credit unions have to undergo certification by the US Department of Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund and meet specific requirements to address banking barriers.
Beneficial State Bank has a mission-aligned loans policy. A minimum of 75% of Beneficial State Bank lending goes to businesses that focus on at least one of the following areas:
- Have products or services that help communities and address affordable housing, arts, education, environmental justice, healthy food, or social justice
- Have corporate practices that hire underserved groups or source ethically made materials
- Are non-profit organizations, social purpose corporations, tribal government entities, or worker-owned cooperatives
- Are companies owned by individuals of underserved communities
The bank also will not provide lending to companies leading projects on pollution, resource extraction, incarceration, weapons, or discrimination.
Beneficial State Bank FAQs
Yes, Beneficial is a legitimate bank. It has FDIC insurance and is certified as a community development financial institution.
The interest rate depends on which Beneficial State Bank account you open. You'll earn 0.40% on savings, 0.75% on the money market account, and 1.26% to 4.07% on CDs.
Yes, Beneficial State Bank has FDIC insurance. This means that even if the bank shut down, your insured money would still be safe.
Beneficial State Bank has seven locations: one in Washington, three in Oregon, and three in California.
How Beneficial State Bank Compares
Beneficial State Bank vs. Amalgamated Bank
Beneficial State Bank and Amalgamated Bank are financial institutions that support environmental sustainability. Amalgamated Bank has locations in San Francisco, Washington DC, and New York City, but you can also open checking and savings accounts online. The best option for you might depend on where you live.
Minimum opening requirements, fees, and interest rates on bank accounts may also impact your decision. For instance, Beneficial State Bank has more lenient opening requirements for how much money you have to deposit upfront in a bank account, but Amalgamated Bank may offer a more appealing APY for checking and savings.
Beneficial State Bank vs. Atmos Financial
Atmos Financial is another great environmentally friendly bank. It has multiple green practices; for example, when you open the Atmos Financial Climate-Positive Savings Account, Atmos calculates the carbon impact of your account balance, which you'll be able to see on the platform's mobile app.
Atmos is a good option if you want an eco-friendly bank with a high-yield savings account. It pays 2.40% APY if you choose to make monthly donations of at least $1 to a non-profit organization partnered with Atmos.
However, Atmos is an online-only institution, so you're better off with Beneficial State Bank if you want to bank in person. Atmos also doesn't offer CDs or a money market account.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Beneficial State Bank
We used our bank account methodology to review Beneficial State Bank's savings, checking, and money market accounts. For its CDs, we use our certificate of deposit methodology. We give each account a rating between one and five stars.
We evaluate ethics, security, customer service, miscellaneous features, and the mobile app when rating each account. Other categories considered depend on which type of account we're reviewing. For example, we look at overdraft protection and monthly fees for checking accounts, but early withdrawal penalties for CDs.
We use a weighted average to get our star rating, which means we weigh certain features, like interest rates and fees, at a higher weight percentage than others. We understand that these areas can more heavily impact a person's overall banking experience.
Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards.
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.
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