Overview: TD Bank vs. Bank of America vs. Capital One | Ranking Comparison & Reviews
What is Capital One? Capital One is a bank holding company that specializes in consumer finance. They offer business, personal, and commercial banking services.
What is Capital One most known for? Capital One is popularly known for its credit cards as well as its online banking service, Capital One 360. This Bank of America, TD Bank, and Capital One review will review this service in addition to the products and services offered by the other banks.
This Bank of America, TD Bank, and Capital One review will also provide details about TD Bank and about Capital One.
What is TD Bank? TD Bank is a Canadian multinational banking company that provides banking services in the United States.
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Capital One Review: What is Capital One 360?
Part of this Bank of America, TD Bank, and Capital One review will touch on Capital One 360. What is Capital One 360? Capital One 360 is the company’s online banking service, which was born after the U.S. branch of ING Direct was acquired.
What is Capital One 360’s appeal as an online bank? For starters, there is name recognition and consumer comfort. People who are uncomfortable about the idea of putting their money in an online bank gain some comfort knowing that the parent company, Capital One, has a few physical locations.
It also provides a way to neatly keep all of your financial products under the same bank if you have other products with Capital One. As this Capital One review notes, Capital One is mainly known for its credit cards. In fact, Capital One got its start as a credit card company before branching out into other financial products and services.
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Capital One Review: Capital One 360 Checking Account
People interested in online banking are usually exploring it for one main reason: they want lower fees. (And when it comes to savings accounts, they are looking for high interest rates. We will answer the question, “What is Capital One 360’s interest rate like?” later.)
So what is Capital One 360’s fees for checking accounts? Everyone’s favorite price: free! Capital One 360 charges no checking account fee.
Another appealing feature this Capital One review should note about Capital One 360’s checking account service is that there are no overdraft fees. Capital One 360 users can bank with peace of mind, knowing they will not be charged for accidentally using more funds than they have available in their account.
Instead, users are simply charged interest on those funds that they borrowed at an interest rate of 11.50% APR, although the rate is variable and can change.
What is Capital One 360’s system for depositing money? Electronic funds can be received normally, but if somebody receives their pay in a physical check, he may be concerned that he cannot deposit these funds in an online account. This is not the case with Capital One 360: customers depositing checks can use the company’s mobile check deposit system.
There are also physical Capital One ATM machines that customers can use for check deposits as well.
Capital One 360 users enjoy the same features of a regular checking account including the privilege of order a checkbook, the ability to pay bills, and a mobile app for convenient on-the-go banking.
Capital One vs. Bank of America: Comparison of Checking Accounts
Bank of America is the second largest bank in America, so it’s only natural that it would be one of the banks people compare other banks to. This review will conduct a number of comparisons, starting with a comparison of Capital One vs. Bank of America.
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Capital One vs. Bank of America: Rates and Fees
In order for this comparison to be comprehensive, this Bank of America vs. Capital One review will compare the checking accounts offered by the two companies. Since the Bank of America website provides fee information based on the state, it’s important for the reader to know that in this Capital One vs. Bank of America comparison, the state selected was New York. In the case of Capital One 360, there was no selection required.
There are two main checking accounts offered by Bank of America: Core Checking and Interest Checking. Core Checking carries a fee of $12 per month, while Interest Checking carries a fee of $25 per month. For those looking for free checking, Capital One 360’s free checking already looks more attractive in this Bank of America vs. Capital One review.
Nevertheless, there are ways to avoid the fees on both Bank of America checking accounts.
For the Core Checking account, the fee is waived under any one of these three circumstances:
- If you are a student under the age of 23
- If you have a direct deposit of $250 or more (has to be a qualifying deposit, i.e. salary, pension, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits, or any other regular monthly payment)
- If you maintain an average daily balance of $1,500 or more
For the Interest Checking account, the fee is waived if you maintain a combined balance of $10,000 or more at each statement cycle.
Another important point to make in this Bank of America vs. Capital One review of its checking account fees is that Bank of America’s checking accounts require a minimum deposit, while Capital One 360 does not. The Core Checking account requires a minimum opening deposit of $25 and the Interest Checking account requires a minimum opening deposit of $100.
When comparing Bank of America vs. Capital One, customers will find varying offers in terms of interest rates. What is Capital One 360’s annual percentage yield for varying checking account balances? For balances $49,999.99 and under, 0.20%. For balances from $50,000 to $99,999.99, it’s 0.75%; and for balances that are $100,000 or more, the APY is 0.90%.
Bank of America is the weaker candidate in a Bank of America vs. Capital One interest rate comparison. The interest rate for less than $50,000 is 0.01%; for $50,000 to $99,999, it’s 0.02%; and for $100,000 or more, it is also 0.02 %. The reason for the drastic difference is that online banks have less overhead costs, and so they can afford to offer more in interest.
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TD Bank vs. Bank of America: Comparison of Checking Accounts
For this TD Bank vs. Bank of America comparison, New York was also selected as the location remain consistent with the New York information provided by Bank of America.
TD Bank has several checking account options. The two accounts that this Bank of America vs. TD Bank review will cover are the TD Simple Checking account and the TD Convenience Checking account—they are most fairly comparable to the Bank of America checking accounts used in the Capital One vs. Bank of America comparison above.
The TD Simple Checking account does not require a minimum starting deposit; however, it carries a monthly fee of $5.99. The other important thing to know about TD Simple Checking is that this account does not pay interest and does carry overdraft fees. The TD Convenience Checking account also does not require a minimum starting deposit, and it has a monthly fee of $15.
However, customers who want to waive this fee can do so by having a minimum daily balance of $100. This account also does not earn interest.
Compared to its competition, TD Bank vs. Bank of America comes out more favorably when considering the monthly fees. But it is important to recognize that a true, direct comparison is a little difficult, since these accounts offer different features. For instance, both of the TD bank accounts mentioned above do not offer interest on their balances.
The TD account that does offer interest is the TD Premier Checking. There are two other accounts that offer interest payments: TD Relationship Checking and TD 60 Plus Checking.
But the thing about TD bank Relationship account and 60 Plus is that they have specific requirements for opening those accounts that make a direct comparison unhelpful. The best comparison of Bank of America vs. TD Bank checking accounts that offer interest is between Bank of America’s Interest Checking account and TD’s Premier Checking account.
The TD Premier Checking account carries a monthly fee of $25, which can be waived if the account holder maintains a daily minimum balance of $2,500.
The account offers tiered interest rates that increase along with the account balance, but the frustrating thing about TD Bank is that those rates (even if they are subject to change) are not displayed with their Premier Checking account guide or on the checking account page, making it difficult for customers to make an educated decision and a fair comparison with other banks.
When it comes to the basic Checking Account, TD Bank has a more attractive option because of the lower fees, but for the accounts that earn interest, it is difficult to say which is better between TD Bank vs. Bank of America because TD Bank does not demonstrate what its tiered interest rates are alongside the Premier account’s rates.
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What Customers Have To Say about TD Bank, about Capital One, and about Bank of America
For some, it isn’t really about the fees. It is about trust and customer service. This makes sense since money is a very important part of your well-being, and you want to ensure it is being held by an institution you trust. This is why this TD Bank, Bank of America, and Capital One review also includes a section on the customer service ratings of the three banks.
A recent study of the country’s largest banks demonstrated that Bank of America’s customer service has improved, but they are still lagging behind their other big bank counterparts. In every region the study surveyed, Bank of America earned below the average score. Competitors like JPMorgan Chase & Co., along with Wells Fargo, scored above average in most of the surveyed regions.
In the same survey from 2015, Bloomberg pointed out that Bank of America lagged in the regions where it had the most branches. In other words, those who had the most interactions with Bank of America were the least happy with the company.
It also received one of the highest recommendation ratings, which shows that more people are talking about TD Bank and telling their friends and colleagues to bank with TD.
Capital One 360 enjoys good reviews in terms of their lack of fees, but one thing you’ll notice in any Capital One review note is mention of the lack of round the clock customer service.
While this may seem minor, many people are used to brick and mortar banks that have constant accessibility to a telephone customer service representative. What is Capital One 360’s telephone availability?
They are available 7 days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. They also do not have online chat as a customer service option. So while Capital One may have more attractive features in terms of fees and interest rates, you have to be willing to have limited human interaction.
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