TIAA Bank Review

TIAA Bank Money Market

3.55% APY

TIAA Bank, Member FDIC, may appeal most to customers who are able to meet its high account minimums. Most TIAA Bank savings accounts require a minimum deposit, ranging from $1,000 for a Basic CD to $500 for a Yield Pledge Money Market Account. TIAA Bank also offers special kinds of CDs, like IntraFI Network Deposits - CD Option accounts for clients with large amounts of money.

If you are able to meet TIAA Bank's high minimums, you’ll have access to a large variety of savings options. TIAA Bank has some of the most options of any bank we review.  It also has some of the highest interest rates available. 

It’s important to note that TIAA Bank only has physical locations in Florida. To access your accounts elsewhere, you will be limited to its website, mobile app or over-the-phone service.

In June 2017, TIAA Bank officially acquired EverBank. As of June 2018, EverBank has rebranded as TIAA Bank.

Read on below to explore TIAA's many offerings.

TIAA Bank Overview

TIAA Bank traces its roots back to 1918 when Andrew Carnegie founded the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA). It was designed to provide pensions for professors. In June 2017, TIAA Bank acquired EverBank and Everbank, in turn, began rebranding all its services as TIAA Bank in June 2018. Much of EverBank's products and systems remained the same. 

TIAA Bank operates a full suite of retail banking services online as well as in its Florida locations. Home lending offices can be found around the country as well for mortgage clients. 

At TIAA Bank, you can choose from an extensive variety of CDs, savings, and other bank accounts that offer competitive interest rates. 

TIAA Bank Interest Rate Comparison

TIAA Bank Savings Summary 

You have all sorts of options at TIAA Bank, such as the typical retail bank offerings of checking and savings accounts and CDs. On top of that, you can choose from a variety of specialized TIAA Bank CDs such as the IntraFI Network Deposits - CD Option account or Bump Rate CDs. Also available are checking accounts with interest and money market accounts. Many of the bank's accounts have higher-than-average minimum deposits, which is something to note if you’re a newer saver and don’t have much money to start with.

TIAA Bank Yield Pledge® Checking Account

While most checkings accounts don’t earn interest, you can actually earn interest with TIAA Bank's Yield Pledge® Checking account. You need at least $100 to open the account.

Since this is a checking account, you will have an ATM card and have free bill pay with the account. You’ll receive unlimited ATM fee reimbursements if you keep your minimum balance over $5,000.

TIAA Bank Yield Pledge® Money Market Account

If you want to earn interest on your money at a solid rate, the Yield Pledge® money market account may be a good idea. While you can’t execute as many transactions with this type of account as it’s more akin to a savings account, you can still access funds easily. You have six transactions per month with TIAA Bank's Yield Pledge® Money Market account. 

TIAA Bank Basic CD

The Basic CDs that TIAA offers carry a $1,000 minimum to open. You can choose from three-month terms all the way to five years. You’ll have FDIC-coverage, a 20-day maturity alert and automatic rollover with these accounts.

TIAA Bank 3.5-Year Bump Rate CD

This specialty CD has the option of a one-time rate bump. The benefit to opening this CD is that if interest rates rise, you won’t miss out. If interest rates rise during your CD’s term, you can request to use your bump. For the rest of the term, you’ll earn that higher rate. In addition, if interest rates lower past your initial rate, you will still keep your higher interest rate.  There’s only one term for this CD, which is 42 months, but the minimum deposit is only $1,500. 

TIAA Bank IntraFI Network Deposits

TIAA Bank partners with IntraFI Network Deposits to offer clients a way to protect large amounts of money with FDIC insurance. If you exceed the $250,000 FDIC limit at any one bank, you lose out on keeping your money protected in case of a bank failure or other negative event. 

With IntraFI Network Deposits, your money will be spread across the IntraFI Network Deposits bank network, ensuring that you don’t go over the $250,000 limit at any one bank. The minimum is $10,000 to open, but most clients use this for assets in the millions. You will have limits depending on the term length you choose. The shortest term is three months, which you can fund up to $8 million. The longest term, three years, has a cap of $0.5 million.

Unlike most CDs, your CDs won’t automatically roll over if you use the IntraFI Network Deposits - CD Option account. You’ll have to call and request a rollover if you’d like one for your account. 

TIAA Bank Basic Checking and Basic Savings

TIAA Bank is a full-scale retail bank, so along with the premium savings options, you can also find basic checking and savings accounts. With the checking account, you’ll get an ATM card and free online bill pay. If you keep your account of about $5,000, you'll receive full ATM fee refunds. Otherwise, you'll only be reimbursed up to $15 in ATM fees per month. 

Earning at a 3.70% APY, the basic savings account has many of the typical features you’d find in a bank account: up to six transactions a month, mobile check deposits and FDIC insurance. Plus, you have the option of opening a TIAA Bank Basic Savings account as an IRA. All TIAA Bank accounts can be accessed through the website, mobile app, or telephone, so you’ll never not have access to your account.

Where Can I Find TIAA Bank?

Florida is home to a number of TIAA Bank retail branches. But for most customers, you’ll access the bank online, either through its website or mobile app. The company operates online and offers its savings and other accounts through its website, so you never have to visit a branch unless you want to. You also have the option to call the bank’s phone line, if you don’t have readily available internet access.

What Can You Do Online With TIAA Bank?

TIAA Bank prides itself on its online presence. You can apply for its products online without having to call or mail in an application. Once you have an account, you can pay bills, transfer money, activate direct deposit and more through the site. The company offers a free download of Trusteer Rapport, a software to help keep your information secure on its site for customer use. If you want to chat with a customer service rep but don’t feel like calling, you can use the chat feature on the website. 

In addition to the website, you can download the Android or iPhone app TIAA Bank provides. With the mobile app, you can deposit checks, check balances, find an ATM, pay bills and more. You’ll be able to see the status of your account or accounts at any time with TIAA Bank's online system. 

How Do I Access My Money?

You have a variety of ways to access the money you have in a TIAA Bank account. If you have a checking account, you can use your ATM card to withdraw cash. With some accounts, if you keep your balance above $5,000 you’ll have all ATM charges refunded. 

For other accounts, you can withdraw money via electronic transfer. This means linking an external bank account and sending money to yourself from one account to another. At any time, you can check your balances using the mobile app or the website. And with the mobile app, you can transfer money internally.

If you need access to your money to pay bills, you can do so with TIAA Bank. You can also send money to friends and family by check, directly deposited to their bank accounts or through PayPal with TIAA Bank's People Pay. 

Florida residents can access their money in person at one of TIAA Bank's retail banking locations. Other customers will have to use the website, mobile app or phone number to get access to funds. 

How Can I Save More Money With a TIAA Bank Account?

One of the first things to mention is that TIAA Bank offers checking accounts that earn interest. That’s a difference to the norm, which is no interest whatsoever on most checking accounts. However, you’ll have to keep a high balance in the account for it to make sense. The minimum is $100 to open, and you’ll want to keep at least that much in the account if you want to avoid ATM charges.

Let’s say you have a checking account you keep roughly $8,000 in. If that’s sitting in a typical no-interest account, at the end of the year you’ll have the same amount of money (except for withdrawals and deposits). However, with a TIAA Bank Yield Pledge Checking Account, you’d earn $8 in the first year from interest. That’s just by having the money in the account. If you keep large amounts of cash in your checking account, this type of account may be beneficial to you.

If you still want to save money, and don’t need the features that accompany a checking account (such as ATM cards and unlimited transactions), you could also save similar amounts of cash with a money market account. While you won’t make the type of gains seen in a brokerage account, with savings accounts you have the backing of FDIC insurance. You won’t lose money. However, that said, you may not earn as much as you thought. No savings rate is locked other than CDs, so if you open a money market, savings or checking account, you’re not guaranteed the same interest rate.

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

When you’re ready to open an account, you can get started right away using the website. The first step of the process is shown here. You simply need to choose which account, or accounts, you'd like to open. You’ll need your personal information, such as date of birth, Social Security number, address and a few more pieces of data depending on the account type. After you enter in the necessary information, you’ll review details, accept disclosures and submit your account application.

You can also apply by phone if you’d rather not use the online system. If you choose that option, you’ll need to provide the same information that you would online. 

You’ll need to fund your account once it’s opened. To do so, you can use a mobile deposit by capturing a photo of your check and sending it in via mobile app. One of the easiest ways is by linking a bank account. This will take a few days, as your account will have to be verified with a small test deposit and withdrawal. Once it’s linked, however, you can transfer money each way with your external account.

Another option, albeit slower than mobile deposits or electronic transfers, is by mail. TIAA Bank has a New York mailing address that you can use if you’d prefer sending a hard copy of your check. Wire transfers are another option. However, the banking institution you send the funds from may charge you a service fee. Typically this will range from $20 to $35. 

If you have a question during the process of account opening, you can reach out and call the phone number listed on the bank's website, or use the chat feature. 

Once your account is established, you can monitor and initiate transactions online or through the mobile app, which you’ll have to download if you wish to use it. 

What’s the Catch? 

It’s not really exactly a catch per se, but TIAA Bank has some of the highest minimums required to open many of its accounts. Many of the company’s best products are for those willing to drop $5,000 or more at a minimum. It’s not the most friendly for those with less money to save or those new to banking. 

However, if you do meet those minimums, the accounts do have some advantageous features, such as the IntraFI Network Deposits - CD Option account or the Yield Pledge Money Market Account. With the competitive interest rates TIAA Bank offers, some of its products stand to earn you a good amount of interest.

Lastly, if you’re planning for your children’s college or financial future, TIAA Bank doesn’t offer many options tailored to that need. You won’t find 529 college saving plans or UTMA/UGMA accounts. And for trusts or custodial accounts, you’ll have to call the bank directly. There’s not much information on those options on the website. 

Bottom Line 

For those with deeper pockets and more room to save, TIAA Bank is a decent option to get competitive interest rates. Many of the CD options are geared toward more affluent customers, such as the IntraFI Network Deposits - CD Option account. So if you fit the bill, becoming a TIAA Bank customer could be to your advantage.

However, if you’re just starting your savings journey, perhaps with not a whole lot of cash, you may be better served elsewhere. Plenty of other companies have lower minimums (or none at all!) for high-yield savings accounts. The same for CDs and money market accounts – if you can’t afford the minimum deposits at this company, you can find just as good (if not better) interest elsewhere.