Best Banks in South Carolina

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According to Ally Bank’s website, the 4.00% APY affiliated with its Online Savings Account is around 10x the national average. For reference, if you were to deposit $10,000 in your account and let it sit for four years, the aforementioned APY would earn you nearly $1,698.59 in interest. Pair this savings potential with major perks like no minimums or monthly fees, and the principal savings account at Ally looks pretty appealing.

No savings account is complete without a suitable checking account to partner with. Ally presents a compelling offer with its Spending Account. Perhaps the best part of this account is its ability to extend your interest-earning capabilities to your checking balance. As a matter of fact, you can earn a rate as high as 0.25% if you maintain a minimum daily balance above $15,000. If not, a 0.10% APY will apply. A debit card comes free with this account, along with fee-free access to the Allpoint ATM network that’s 55,000 machines strong.

Mobile banking apps are quickly morphing into one of the centerpieces of the banking industry, and Ally appears to be one of the leaders. More specifically, the app has garnered a 4.35-star rating out of 5 on the Apple and Android app stores. The Ally mobile banking app is extremely self-sufficient, as it boasts an Allpoint ATM locator, mobile check deposit, digital account statements and more.

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Wells Fargo opened the doors to its first branch in San Francisco in 1852. Currently, the bank holds about a fifth of South Carolina’s customer deposits and has around 150 branches throughout the state. This obviously gives it a significant presence there, aside from its already massive status as one of the big three American banks. There are more than 13,000 Wells Fargo ATMs throughout the U.S., including nearly 350 in South Carolina.

Those who prefer banking online or through their devices will also find Wells Fargo a good fit. As a matter of fact, its Apple and Android mobile offerings combine for around two million ratings between them. Even after these scrupulous reviews, though, it has maintained a near perfect 5-star rating. Mobile app users are afforded many benefits, such as an ATM/branch locator, mobile check deposit, transaction histories, account balances, Wells Fargo investment account activities, internal account transfers and the Zelle® money transfer service.

Between savings and checking accounts, Wells Fargo offers eight different choices. Each is built around a separate style of customer that’s looking for different features and interest-earning capabilities. For checking account holders, there are low-fee options for those new to banking, teens, anyone with a checkered credit past and existing customers with a Wells Fargo mortgage or other bank accounts. On the other hand, the savings accounts are more tier-based. These start with the Way2Save® Savings account for those with low balances, the Platinum Savings account for anyone with a higher initial deposit and multiple certificates of deposit (CDs).

Runner-up: Bank of America (see below)

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It doesn’t take a degree to realize that savings accounts with the best rates will help you save the most. The CIT Savings Builder account is a perfect example of this, as its 1.00% APY would tack on almost $510 to a $10,000 balance over five years. Of course, a rate like this has some stipulations that, if not met, would cause your APY to shrink to 0.40%. Here’s what you’ll need to do to get CIT’s top APY:

• Make no less than $100 in deposits per month
• Maintain an account balance of $25,000

Savings Builder account holders are not barred from owning other savings products at CIT Bank. If you’re interested, here’s what CIT has to offer:

• Premier High-Yield Savings account
• Money market account
• 6-month to 5-year term CDs
• 2-year to 5-year jumbo CDs
• 1-year to 4-year “RampUp” CDs
• No-Penalty/11-Month CD

The CIT Bank mobile app has a myriad of services that customers can utilize. Perhaps the most important features are mobile check deposit, digital account statements, inter-account money transfers and up-to-date transaction histories. Beyond this, money market account holders can send funds to their friends and family via “People Pay.” At an average rating of 3.85 stars out of 5, Apple and Android customers alike seem to look favorably on CIT’s app.

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Bank of America narrowly missed the title of “Best National Bank in South Carolina,” although it undoubtedly claims the best mobile experience of any bank in the state. In fact, J.D. Power recognized the bank for its apps too, giving it a recent 2018 award for “an outstanding mobile banking customer experience.” The app is available for both Android and Apple phones, and has a 4.8-star rating between both stores.

What this app is aimed to do, and does so successfully, is to allow customers to do nearly anything they could in a branch, only remotely. This is principally accomplished through mobile check deposit, internal account transfers and the ability to look over your transaction histories and current account balances. Zelle® is included too, affording you the ability to pay and receive money from friends and family even if they don’t bank with Bank of America. Through this app, you can also find online bill pay, travel notices, an ATM locator and the balances of your non-bank accounts (mortgages, auto loans).

Being that Bank of America is one of the largest financial institutions in the U.S., it should come as no surprise that it has thousands of branches and fee-free ATMs all over the country. There are about 80 branches in South Carolina with ATMs at each, along with numerous other machines sprinkled across retail locations, airports and other places.

Runner-up: Wells Fargo (see above)

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United Community Bank was ranked by J.D. Power as the bank with the highest level of customer satisfaction in the entirety of the southeastern corner of the U.S. As a matter of fact, it even places in the top 11 in the nation according to the legendary data and awards company. United Community operates more than 90 branch locations, with around a third of them being in South Carolina. It also has an extremely responsive customer phone line that’s open 10 hours every Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays.

If the bank is closed, you can also get a hold of your account information from United Community’s mobile app on both Android and Apple phones. It averages a 4-star rating between the two app stores and comes with significant features like mobile check deposit, an ATM/branch locator, online bill pay, account balances and transaction histories.

There’s a multitude of banking products available at United Community Bank. These include the following: free, interest, investment and student checking accounts; money market accounts; standard and student savings accounts; certificates of deposit (CDs); individual retirement accounts (IRAs), health savings accounts (HSAs); credit cards; mortgages; auto loans and more.