I always thought the two General Electric banks with similar names should merge or change names to avoid confusion. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one with the idea because one of them has spun off from its parent company and now there are two completely separate financial institutions with two distinct names. Yay!
GE Capital Bank is the one still owned by GE, and since forever, they’ve offered an online savings account for the masses. This won’t surprise you, but it’s nice to know that the bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), meaning that our deposits are bulletproof for up to $250,000 per person.
But enough history. Let’s get straight to what really matters:
More Ways to Access to Your Money Than the Online Platform
I’m just going to skip talking about the online functions because every platform, while looks different, practically has the same functions. What GE Capital Bank does have that’s not readily offered is its 24/7 automated phone system for people who need offline access. This sounds like 90s tech, I know, but perhaps this will appeal to a relative who just aren’t as online savvy as you. And plus, wouldn’t you want another option to transfer funds if, say, your Internet connection went down at just the wrong moment?
And if pressing #0 on the phone repeated just to get to a live person is your thing, you’d be happy to know that you can just dial the same number 1-855-730-SAVE (7283) Monday through Friday, 7am to 11pm CT, to reach one. Another nice touch that I don’t remember seeing elsewhere is that the bank includes a number, 1-319-841-5200, for those who want to reach the bank when traveling out of the country. The same hours apply though, of course.
Some Limits of Interest for the Aspiring Wealth Builder
From my research, it’s interesting to note that GE Capital Bank sets some account limits applicable for the high rollers. For example, each account’s maximum balance is $1,000,000. Not that most of us will ever keep that much in an online savings account, but the limit is worth noting anyway. In fact, the combination of accounts cannot exceed $3,000,000.
What’s more relevant to perhaps affluent individuals is the $125,000 outgoing transfer limit per transactions. In reality though, the transfer limit is really $750,000 because you can transfer $125,000 six times per statement cycle (six is the limit for any U.S. savings accounts). The website does say to contact customer service if you need to withdrawal more than the limit, but keep that in mind and don’t freak out when your transaction is blocked if you are, say, parking money for a home purchase and you need to transfer the money out last minute.
There’s also a deposit limit of $250,000 in any rolling 30-day period per customer but if you are making enough dough to slush this kind of money around so frequently, then this review likely isn’t an interest to you.
Certificate of Deposit (CDs)
Yup, of course they offer CDs. It is interesting to note that the longest CD they offer is currently the 6 year version. And I thought everybody knows this, but someone recently asked me where the interests of a CD actually goes.
GE Capital does what’s standard, but you can either get the interest:
- added to the principal balance of your CD so the balance grows even more
- transferred to the savings account at GE Capital
- to any linked external bank accounts
Number 1 is the default, so you need to call customer service to set it up if you rather have the interest distributed to you. What’s nice though is that you always have the option to take out any interest that’s accumulated to your account during the term of your CD without penalty, so you won’t be hurt if you drag your feet in telling them your preference.
Click here to find out the current CD rates.
Conclusion
This is an interesting bank for many reasons. For one, your deposits are mainly used to fund small and medium sized businesses (if you care about this) and not some huge evil corporation or other consumers. Plus, the rate right now is just about the best you can get for an online bank, as you can see from our list of the best options for short term savings here. What’s not to like?
Other Useful Info
Routing Number: 1240-8526-0
Address:
General Inquiries:
GE Capital Bank
PO Box 1978
Cranberry Twp, PA 16066
Checks should be sent to:
GE Capital Bank
PO Box 4571
Carol Stream, IL 60197-4571
Phone: 1-855-730-SAVE (7283) Available 7am – 11am CT on weekdays
Want to learn more about the bank? Here’s a link to their page for more info.
You can also see the list of online banks in the marketplace today here.
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