The Huntington National Bank Review

The Huntington National Bank Savings

0.01% APY

Huntington National Bank is a Columbus, Ohio-based financial institution offering customers in the Midwest an array of services, including checking accounts, savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs). It also provides various loan, insurance and investment options. However, you have to be a resident of Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin to open an account. 

The bank’s savings products don’t carry the best interest rates, but you can link them to checking accounts in order to eliminate certain fees and get perks like overdraft protection. In the case of CDs, connecting them to different checking accounts can bump up your interest rate. Huntington also offers a fairly unique 24-hour overdraft grace period. So if your account dips to a negative balance and you push it up to the positive range within a day, the bank will waive its overdraft fee. Huntington’s award-winning customer service also makes it stand out. 

Overall, Huntington National Bank offers an array of customizable products that can serve people with basic banking needs—especially if they value face-to-face customer service and the convenience of having a local branch.

Products Offered

The Huntington National Bank Interest Rate Comparison

Huntington National Bank Overview 

The Huntington National Bank was founded in 1866 in Columbus, Ohio, where it’s still based. Today, the bank is a subsidiary of Huntington Bancshares Inc., a bank holding company with more than $188.7 billion in assets under management. 

The bank continues to serve clients in the Midwest by operating branches throughout Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 

Following a stock and cash acquisition of the Ohio-based FirstMerit Bank in 2016, Huntington now stands as one of Ohio’s biggest banks by deposits. It currently serves customers at more than 1,000 branches and has more than 1,800 ATMs.  

Huntington offers checking, saving, credit and investment accounts as well as a variety of mortgage, home equity, auto loan, direct lending and insurance options. 

Huntington’s consumer products are highly customizable. For example, you can combine different checking and savings accounts for specific perks like waiving monthly service fees or eliminating minimum balances. In addition, the bank earned Highest Customer Satisfaction with Retail Banking in the North Central Region by J.D. Power for five years in a row. 

Huntington Bank Account Features

Huntington offers a variety of savings options ranging from standard savings accounts to CDs. All savings accounts offer 24-hour overdraft grace protection, free online bill pay and all-day deposit. You can also easily waive monthly fees for all savings accounts. You’ll get additional benefits if you link some savings accounts to checking accounts in the Huntington system. We’ll explore all options below. 

Huntington Relationship Savings

The Huntington Relationship Savings account doesn’t offer the best interest rates compared to some online banks, but it outshines most major brick-and-mortar banks on that front. 

The interest rate and variable APY currently stand at 0.01%. By linking the account to a Huntington Perks Checking Account or a Huntington Platinum Perks Checking Account, however, you can bump those percentages to a variable 0.02%. And by linking your savings account to a Private Client Account, you can raise them to 0.06%. However, you can find competing savings rates with online banks that bring your yield closer to 1% or higher. 

The minimum opening balance for a Relationship Savings Account is also rather high at $2,500. However, the bank offers some helpful perks including overdraft protection. An overdraft happens when a payment is processed, but there isn’t enough money in it to cover the purchase. Most banks cover the bill but charge an overdraft fee for doing so. 

However, Huntington powers all its savings and checking accounts with a 24-hour overdraft grace period.

This means you can waive the $15 overdraft fee by making a deposit that brings the account back to the positive range by midnight on the business day after your account drops into the negative range.

Huntington goes the extra mile by eliminating an overdraft fee from the day before as long as by the next day you bring your account back to the positive (not counting the previous overdraft fee). 

You can make a deposit at a Huntington branch or ATM. It's also possible to put money into your account by making an electronic transfer from another account at an ATM or through Huntington’s online, mobile or telephone banking services. However, you can’t use a night depository box or drop box at a branch in order to avoid an overdraft fee. 

In addition, the 24-hour overdraft grace period does not apply to return fees. These are generally levied when a check bounces or a company tries to draw an automatic payment from your account when there is not enough money in it to cover the charge. In this case, Huntington won’t process the transaction and, in effect, returns your check or automatic payment through whatever networks the bank received it. 

However, you can avoid both overdraft fees and return fees if you link your Huntington savings account to one of the bank’s checking accounts. If there is enough money to cover a payment that will push your savings account into the negative, the bank will transfer the necessary amount from your checking account to cover the charge. Therefore, neither an overdraft fee nor a return fee goes into effect regardless of what the payment was for. 

Huntington’s deposit-to-deposit overdraft plan applies to all checking and savings account, but you have to specify to the bank that you want this protection.  

Keep in mind, however, that federal regulations limit the number of transfers you can make on savings and on money market accounts during the calendar month or statement cycle. The transfer of money from a checking account into a savings or money market account to avoid an overdraft fee or return fee will count as a transaction. 

Huntington charges an excessive debit fee for each withdrawal or transfer (excluding ATM, telephone and internet banking transfers) that exceeds six per calendar month if you receive quarterly statements or six per statement cycle if you receive monthly statements.

But tracking your daily balance and bill payment alerts regularly via the Huntington Mobile Banking App or online is the best way to avoid overdrafts or returns. 

By setting up free alerts through the banking app, you can receive text and email notifications when your account dips below a certain amount or when it’s overdrawn. It can also alert you when a bill payment deadline is near. 

Avoiding the $10 monthly fee for the Relationship Savings Account is fairly simple by linking to a Huntington Checking Account. 

However, Huntington will charge specific fees that most banks will charge as well. These include a $31 stop payment fee, a $25 fee for expedited delivery of a debit card, a $6 fee per cashier check and fees for various wire transfers ranging from $15 to $75. These apply to all Huntington savings and money market accounts (MMAs). 

Overdraft fees in particular can really add up, which is why Huntington’s 24-hour overdraft grace period really makes it stand out. But you have to take advantage of it by keeping an eye on your transaction history to know when you have to take action. If your account remains overdrawn for five consecutive business days, the bank will charge you another overdraft fee on the sixth business day.

Huntington Premier Savings

This savings account comes with all the features of the Relationship Savings Account, but its opening balance minimum is much smaller at $50. The current APY and interest rate for this account are 0.01%.

You can avoid the monthly service fee by keeping an average daily balance of at least $300 when the payment is due or by linking to a Huntington Asterisk-Free Checking Account or a Private Client Account. Still, the fee is relatively low at $4. 

But beyond the fact that it’s generally less expensive, this account is not much different than the Relationship Savings Account. So if you can’t fork over $2,500 into a savings account and don't want to open another checking account to avoid a fee, this could be the right savings account to start building that rainy-day fund.

Huntington Certificates of Deposit (CDs)

Huntington National Bank offers CDs with various rates and terms. A CD is like a savings account with a clock. You agree to lock up your money for a set amount of time and the bank will pay you interest on that amount. Normally, these interest rates tend to be higher than your average savings account. However, you’ll take a penalty hit if you remove your money early. 

The minimum deposit to open a standard CD is $1,000. You need a deposit of more than $100,000 to open a jumbo CD.

Beyond the promotional rates, however, Huntington CDs don’t pack a very strong punch. Even the highest interest rate for a fixed-rate jumbo CD is still lower than the current rates for several online savings accounts. Overall, a Huntington CD is not exactly the place you want to lock your money in if you expect it to grow significantly while it’s away from your pocket. 

Your early withdrawal penalty will depend on the amount of money you put in, how long you kept your money in the account and the interest rate at the time you withdraw your funds. But an early withdrawal penalty is generally hefty with any bank. Be sure to follow one of the golden rules of investing in any CD: don’t touch your money until the term ends. 

If you choose to invest in a Huntington CD, you have a 10-business-day grace period to take your money out after the term ends. At that point, the CD will get renewed. This is like getting the same type of CD with whatever money was left in the previous one.

Huntington Money Market Savings Account

Huntington MMAs require a rather large minimum opening balance of $25,000 to generate a variable introductory interest rate of 4.49% or 4.70% depending on which account you have. You can earn interest on a lesser balance by linking it to a Huntington Perks Checking Account, a Huntington Platinum Perks Checking Account or a Private Client Account. 

If you have a balance of at least $25,000, you can bump your interest even further by linking to these checking accounts. 

Still, you can find money market account rates with online banks that offer near or slightly better interest rates without such an initial opening balance or requirement to open another account. 

You may also be able to raise the interest rate on your money market account if it’s linked to a relationship savings account that’s also linked to a checking account. 

That’s because the interest rate on the Huntington Relationship Savings and Money Market accounts are variable. So if a rate changes, the bank will raise the interest rate as long as either one is linked to a Huntington checking account. 

This is how it works for both the Relationship Savings Account and the Huntington Money Market Account. You may qualify for an additional amount to be added to your interest rate after the rate is adjusted if your account is tied to a Huntington Checking Account. 

You may also qualify for an additional amount to be added to your interest rate after the rate is adjusted if either account is tied to a Huntington Checking Account. 

But either way, better rates are out there without these requirements.

Huntington Platinum Perks Checking Account

The Huntington Platinum Perks Checking Account is the bank’s premier checking account that earns interest. It also waives all out-of-network ATM fees per statement cycle, so you have easy access to your money wherever you are. You can also bump the interest rate on your Relationship Savings Account or Money Market Account by linking either one to your Huntington Platinum Perks Checking account at opening. 

All Huntington checking accounts offer the 24-hour overdraft grace protection, free online bill pay and all-day deposit, which means you can deposit checks via an ATM or by snapping a photo of your check on your mobile device at any time. Fund availability, however, may vary.

Overall, this is a fairly strong checking account that collects interest and offers some perks, especially if you’re tired of out-of-network ATM fees. However, the minimum balance to knock out the $25 monthly service fee is fairly high.

Huntington Perks Checking Account

The Huntington Perks Checking Account earns interest, plus the bank also waives your first five non-Huntington ATM withdrawals per statement cycle. Huntington goes a step further by also reimbursing you for any fees charged by the owners of these same ATMs.

The monthly maintenance fee is low at $10, but you can waive it if you maintain a monthly Total Relationship Balance of at least $5,000, or if you have $1,000 or more in monthly eligible direct deposits into the account. That $5,000 includes all your money held by Huntington National Bank and qualifying investments with its affiliate The Huntington Investment Company.

Overall, this is a notch below the account above. But it’s still a fairly simple checking account that also earns interest and has no minimum balance and a fairly easily waived monthly fee.

Huntington Asterisk-Free Checking Account

The Huntington Asterisk-Free Checking Account is one of the bank’s simplest offers. It comes with the same benefits offered by all of Huntington’s checking accounts, but it also carries no monthly maintenance fee. 

The bank waives the minimum balance fee for a Premier Savings Account if you link it to an Asterisk-free checking account. 

This option is basically for the customer who wants a bare-bones checking account. It generates no interest, but it will allow you to link conveniently to a standard savings account that would require no minimum balance. It’s a good combination for the customer who wants to start building his nest egg while keeping banking fairly simple.

Where Can I Find Huntington National Bank?

You can find Huntington National Bank online and through physical branches throughout Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. You can also access Huntington’s mobile banking app. 

The bank is currently active in more than 1,000 locations and operates around 1,800 ATMs.

What Can You Do Online With Huntington National Bank?

Huntington’s website allows you to do just about anything you can do with any major bank’s website. The mobile banking app lets you check your balance, deposit checks, pay bills, transfer money to other Huntington account holders and look up locations of branches and ATMs via an interactive map. 

You can also use the app to set up email and text alerts letting you know when a bill payment is coming up, when there’s a withdrawal and more. The alerts capabilities are customizable and are great if you like to be 100% on top of your finances.

How Do I Access My Money?

You can access your money online, through the app or at a physical branch. You can also deposit checks via an ATM or through your mobile device at any time of the day.

How Can I Save More Money With Huntington National Bank?

Huntington National Bank doesn’t excel with its savings offerings. Its savings, MMAs and CDs carry relatively low rates compared to online banks. However, you can waive several recurring fees by linking to other accounts or maintaining certain balances. Its 24-hour overdraft grace period, which is standard with all accounts, is also beneficial if you tend to fall into overdraft pits. However, it’s useful only if you keep an eye on your transaction history and bills. Luckily, the Huntington mobile banking app makes this very easy.  

What’s the Process for Opening an Account With National Huntington Bank?

The easiest way to open an account with Huntington National Bank is online. You’ll need your government-issued ID and Social Security number. You’ll also have to provide some basic personal information like date of birth and your email address. In addition, you’ll have to have Adobe Reader to submit electronic documents. You’ll also be asked a series of questions.  

The whole process should take about 10 minutes.

What’s the Catch? 

You have to be a resident in one of the states where Huntington National Bank operates to sign up for an account. Once you open an account, you’ll have access to more than 1,000 branches and 1,800 ATMs. The bank’s saving accounts don’t generate much interest, but you can save on fees if you link them with checking accounts. Its 24-hour overdraft grace period is particularly unique and helpful.  

Bottom Line

If you live in the states where it operates, Huntington National Bank acts as a full-service bank that can provide you with all the basics to meet your banking needs. It also offers an array of other options including mortgages, specialty mortgages, direct loans, auto loans, insurance and investments. Its mobile banking app offers a good user experience and is especially helpful with its array of alerts. You can customize these notifications to keep yourself on top of your finances and use them to find a nearby branch or ATM.