Venture Bank Direct their website with some really cool animation of an owl (wise old owl) and their online savings account beginning at 3.75 APR as of August 25, 2008.
There are several pluses to begin an account with Venture Bank Direct. One is, as mentioned above, their 3.75% interest rate for opening an account and you can begin for as little as $1. You have to enjoy that.
Now let’s take a look at Venture Bank Direct. According to their website, it was originally founded in 1979 by a few local business owners. They have steadily grown and it appears worked together to look at the future of banking. However, it was hard to find any complaints or problems currently since they are so very new.
They are based in Washington State and currently have about $1.2 billion in assets. Like most online banks, it is FDIC secured up to $100,000 per depositor.
Now, how do you open a savings account at Venture Bank Direct? You just apply online with their application and fund the account with your linked bank account from your funding bank. The usual applies – 18 years old, valid social, legal US address, valid driver’s license, state ID or military ID, and a personal bank account in a U.S. bank. Once you finish that up, you will receive an email with you application number and then another email when your account is open and ready to go. Your account number is only available online via instructions from the email that is sent to you.
Deposits and withdrawals are done through your online banking accounts and are linked via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) and it takes about two to four business days. Verification to linked account is done by Venture Bank depositing two small deposits in your account and then you log into your Venture Bank account to tell them what the deposit amounts were in your linked account.
New deposits are available after verification of those deposits and future deposits can be withdrawn after five business days.The interest is compounded monthly and paid monthly on daily collected balances.
You can get a joint account and add a beneficiary to your account as well. Accounts can be checked on line.
The only down part of venture Bank Direct Online Savings is the inability to access via an ATM. However, they will be getting an online checking account soon so this may change.
After looking over Venture Bank it seems like it would be a good savings account to begin online. It has a good opening rate, no minimum balance, and the ability to export to MS Money, Quicken, QuickBooks, and other accounting software. Impressive little down home bank!