First Internet Bank Review: Checking, Savings, CD, Money Market and IRA Accounts

First Internet Bank is currently the 326th largest bank in the United States, after opening its doors (virtually, at least) in early 1999. And while this bank may not even be old enough to drink if it were a person, it’s grown tremendously. Today, it offers a wide range of services, including deposit accounts and loans for both personal and business use.

In this article, we’ll guide you through First Internet Bank’s personal deposit accounts. We’ll tell you if it’s any good and what you need to know about it before you open an account.

First Internet Bank’s Most Popular AccountsAPY

Account Type

Account Name

Compare Rates from Similar Accounts

0.60%

Savings

First Internet Bank Regular Savings

1.85%

Goldman Sachs Bank USA High-yield Online Savings Account

on Goldman Sachs Bank USA’s secure website

2.53%

CD Rates

First Internet Bank 12 Month CD

2.70%

Synchrony Bank 36 Month CD

on Synchrony Bank’s secure website

2.83%

CD Rates

First Internet Bank 36 Month CD

3.00%

Goldman Sachs Bank USA High-yield 5 Year CD

on Goldman Sachs Bank USA’s secure website

First Internet Bank’s checking account options

First Internet Bank’s savings account options

First Internet Bank’s CD rates

First Internet Bank’s money market account options

First Internet Bank’s IRA options

Overall review of First Internet Bank’s banking products

It’s easy to earn interest with this checking account.APY

Minimum Balance Amount

0.55%

$500 to earn interest and avoid the monthly fee

Some banks require you to have a lot of money in your checking account before you earn any interest. That’s not the case with this account. You can open Bank of Internet’s Interest Checking account with as little as $100, but you’ll want to try and keep at least $500 in the account. That way, you don’t have to pay the monthly fee, and you’ll also be eligible to earn interest.

In addition, First Internet Bank offers your first order of checks for free. After that, you’ll have to pay for them yourself, and the cost will depend on which style you order.

You can get online statements for free. If you want paper statements, however, you’ll pay $3 per statement.

As you would expect, First Internet Bank makes it easy to open its Interest Checking account online. You’ll need to be a U.S. resident, at least 18 years old and have some form of a government-issued ID.

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If worrying about how to avoid monthly fees isn’t really your thing and you’re OK with not earning any interest on the money in your checking account, this could be a better option for you.

In addition to losing out on the interest, however, you also forgo the ATM surcharge reimbursements. That means that you can still use any ATM you want without paying a First Internet Bank ATM fee, but you still may owe a surcharge fee from the ATM’s actual owner.

Electronic statements come free with this account, but you’ll need to pay an extra $3 per-statement fee if you opt for paper statements instead. Finally, your first order of checks is free. After that, you’ll have to pay for your own checks, and the cost will vary depending on which style you choose.

You can easily open this account online. Things you’ll need include personal information like your Social Security number and a photo ID. This account is available to U.S. residents 18 years and older.

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First Internet Bank’s checking accounts are a decent choice, especially if you want to use any ATM you want without paying an ATM fee (from First Internet Bank, at least). Whether the ATM owner’s surcharge fee is reimbursed or not depends on which type of account you choose.

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First Internet Bank offers a mediocre interest rate with this account and charges a monthly fee to boot if you don’t keep at least $1,000 in the account.APY

Minimum Balance Amount

0.60%

$0

This account has a low minimum opening deposit (just $100), meaning that this account should be fairly accessible to most people just starting out on their savings journey. However, if you’re interested in opening this account, we suggest waiting until you have at least $1,000 saved.

If your account balance drops below the $1,000 mark, you’ll pay a $2 monthly fee. This will more than eat up any earnings you get each month from the account, which means it’ll slowly be whittled away to nothing unless you deposit more money in the account or close it.

As with all savings accounts, you’re limited to just six pre-authorized, automatic, telephone or online withdrawals per month. Each time you go over that limit, you’ll pay a $5 fee.

U.S. residents who are 18 years or older are eligible to open these accounts online. Aside from your personal information, you’ll also need to provide a government-issued photo ID.

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This savings account comes with a lower interest rate, but you can drop the balance down as low as you want without having to worry about paying a monthly fee.APY

Minimum Balance Amount

0.40%

$0

First Internet Bank’s Free Savings account is indeed free in the sense that there are no monthly fees with this account, ever. However, in return for this benefit, you pay for it with two concessions.

First, you don’t get any ATM surcharge reimbursements. That means you can still use whatever ATM you want, but you’ll be footing the bill on your own depending on whatever surcharge fee the ATM’s owner decides to charge you. Second, you’ll earn a lower interest rate.

You’re also limited to just six of certain types of transactions (automatic, pre-authorized, telephone or online transfers) per month. Each time you go over that amount, you’ll pay a $5 excess transaction fee.

If you’re age 18 or over and a U.S. citizen, you can open this account online. You’ll need to have your government-issued ID handy.

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This savings account allows kids to learn about saving for free until they turn 18.APY

Minimum Balance Amount

0.60%

$0

Oftentimes, banks will downgrade the interest rates on their kids savings accounts so that your child is hardly likely to see any interest accrue. That’s not the case here. First Internet Bank offers its highest savings account interest rate to children under age 18, and with no monthly fees.

The catch is that you or your child will need at least $100 to open the account, which may be a tall order for your child to manage on their own unless you give them a jump-start. Another important thing to note is that this account does not come with ATM access (you don’t want your child being tempted to empty out their account at the first candy store they pass, do you?)

Once your child turns 18, this account will automatically be converted into a Regular Savings account, complete with a $2 monthly fee if they don’t keep at least $1,000 in the account.

Finally, your child is limited to just six preauthorized, telephone, online or automatic transfers per month with this account. If they go over that, they’ll pay a $5 per-transaction fee.

If you want to open this account for your child, you’ll need to open the account with them as a joint account holder. You’ll need a government-issued photo ID along with you and your child’s information to open this account online.

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However, there are a couple of things we do like about these accounts. The excess withdrawal fee is very reasonable, at just $5 per item. Many banks charge much more than this. In addition, it offers its top-earning savings account for children, for free. These are good qualities, but we’re still left with a bit of a sour taste in our mouth due to the lackluster interest rates.

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First Internet Bank offers fantastic rates on their CDs.Term

APY

3 months

1.61%

6 months

2.07%

12 months

2.53%

18 months

2.63%

24 months

2.73%

36 months

2.83%

48 months

2.94%

60 months

3.20%

If you have at least $1,000 laying around, you can open up a CD with First Internet Bank. It offers great rates on its CDs, as well as a couple of options on how to have interest paid out.

You can choose to have earnings redeposited back into the CD. In fact, this is what First Internet Bank assumes you’ll do. Alternatively, you can have the interest deposited into your checking or savings account. However, if you do this, the actual APY you earn may be less than the stated APY above.

Once your CD matures, First Internet Bank will automatically renew it for another CD of the same term, unless you notify them not to do so. Even if it does renew, you still get a 10-day grace period to withdraw the money, add more or make any other changes to the CD.

If you opt for the CD to not renew, it’ll be automatically deposited into your savings or checking account. If you don’t have one with them, First Internet Bank will charge you a $5 “check issued for account closure” fee.

It’s easy to open up these CDs online (what did you expect from a bank with “Internet” in its name, after all?). Aside from your personal information like name and Social Security number, you’ll also need a government-issued ID.

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You’ll need to watch out for the monthly fee with this account.APY

Minimum Balance Amount

1.61%

Up to $250,000

1.81%

$250,000.01+

Although you can open this account with as little as $100, we recommend waiting to save up until you’ve got a $4,000 deposit. If your average daily balance for the month drops below this number at all, you’ll pay a $5 fee for that month.

This account does come with an ATM card. First Internet Bank will also reimburse up to $10 in ATM surcharge fees each month — a nice feature, especially if you use ATMs frequently. Just remember that as with all savings and money market accounts, you’re limited to just six telephone, pre-authorized, automatic or internet transfers per month. First Internet Bank will charge you a $5 fee each time you go over that limit.

If you’re a U.S. citizen and over 18 years of age, you can open this account. Remember to have a copy of your government-issued ID handy, which you’ll need to open your account.

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The interest rate offered on this account is much higher than the interest rates offered on First Internet Bank’s savings accounts. If you are already a First Internet Bank customer and don’t want the hassle of opening an account at another bank, but want to earn the most money possible in a savings-type account, we definitely recommend this account.

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These CDs work similarly to First Internet Bank’s regular CDs, but you can open them under the umbrella of an IRA.Term

APY

12 months

2.53%

18 months

2.63%

24 months

2.73%

36 months

2.83%

48 months

2.94%

60 months

3.20%

If you’re looking for a high-earning IRA CD, these may be a good option to explore further. You can open one with as little as $1,000 within the framework of a Traditional, Roth or SEP IRA.

When your CD matures, First Internet Bank will automatically renew your CD. After this happens, though, you’ll get a 10-day grace period to make any changes to the CD (including withdrawing the money, if you choose) without any penalty. Alternatively, you could notify First Internet Bank in writing before the CD matures that you don’t want it renewed.

You can easily open an IRA CD with First Internet Bank online:

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One disadvantage of First Internet Bank’s IRA CDs compared with their regular CDs is that you can’t choose the three- and six-month terms; you can only choose a 12-month term or longer. That may not be a huge deal though, since your retirement investments are generally for the long haul anyway.

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This account comes with no monthly fees (unlike the regular Money Market account) and no ATM card.APY

Minimum Balance Amount

1.61%

Up to $250,000

1.81%

$250,000.01+

If you want the freedom to move your IRA money around at any time rather than having it locked away in an IRA CD, consider an IRA Money Market account instead. You can open this account with as little as $100, which is a much easier deposit size to manage compared with $1,000 for the IRA CD.

There are two important differences between First Internet Bank’s IRA Money Market account and its regular Money Market account. First, there are no monthly fees with the IRA version. Second, the IRA Money Market account doesn’t come with an ATM card. But since it’s your retirement savings, it’s a good idea to avoid making frequent withdrawals until retirement anyway, if at all possible.

You can open this IRA Money Market account as a Traditional, Roth or SEP IRA online:

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We like First Internet Bank for its high CD rates (both IRA CDs and regular CDs) and for the high rate offered on its Interest Checking account.

With many of its accounts, however, (including its Interest Checking account) you’ll need to watch out for monthly fees. You can avoid each of these fees by keeping a certain balance in your account, but you’ll need to make the call on whether you’re able to do that with your personal finance situation.

First Internet Bank also offers generously low fees for many of its accounts. For example, the “excess transaction fee” for its savings and money market accounts is a reasonable $5. In addition, there are no ATM fees (not counting the ATM surcharge fees from the ATM’s owner, and even then, First Internet Bank offers refunds for this on some accounts). In addition, you can link up a savings or money market account to most of these accounts and get free overdraft transfers.

All in all, First Internet Bank is a decent choice with a few good products. However, there still are even better options for each of these accounts.

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