Exploring Pacific Western Bank's High-Yield Savings Account: Features, Benefits, and Considerations

If you're looking to save money and want to earn good interest, high-yield savings accounts, which earn higher-than-average annual percentage yields (APYs), should have a place in your game plan. Pacific Western Bank savings accounts have long been known for offering great APYs. In November 2023, Pacific Western Bank merged with Banc of California, and all Pacific Western Banks now carry the latter’s name. In spite of the name change, the great high-interest Pacific Western Bank savings accounts — now under the Banc of California name — still exist.

Key Features of Banc of California Savings Accounts: Continuing Pacific Western's Legacy

Banc of California offers various savings account options to meet different financial needs. These options include standard savings accounts, money market accounts (MMAs), and certificates of deposit (CDs).

Some of the key features of these accounts are:

• Interest earning
• Fully FDIC-insured
• Eligible for online banking
• Only $100 required to open a CD

Personal Savings Accounts

Personal savings accounts offer interest rates on the cash you put in them, and they're insured by the FDIC, which provides security for deposits up to $250,000. To qualify for and maintain one of these accounts, you'll need to follow a few deposit rules, like making minimum monthly deposits and maintaining a minimum average monthly balance in your account.

Compared to Banc of California's other savings options, such as money markets or CDs, high-yield savings accounts offer easier access to your fund if you need to withdraw.

Money Market Accounts

In addition to high-yield savings accounts, Banc of California offers money market accounts (MMAs). The interest rates on these Banc of California savings accounts are typically higher than the average, and they offer account holders check-writing capabilities and debit card access. This makes them an attractive option for people looking to combine high-yield savings with everyday banking needs.

Certificate Deposits

Other Banc of California savings accounts are certificate deposits (CDs). The interest rates on CDs like these are traditionally higher than on standard and even high-yield savings accounts. But there's a trade-off: You must commit to keeping your money deposited for a fixed term — generally ranging from several months to several years — to earn all the promised interest.

Interest Rates: What to Expect

Interest rates on Banc of California's savings accounts follow the U.S. Federal Funds Rate and remain competitive with the market. Banc of California doesn’t publish its savings accounts APYs online.

Typical personal savings accounts offer 0.55% APY. If you're interested in a CD, the average APYs are 1.75% for a one-year CD, 1.42% for a three-year CD, and 1.44% for a five-year CD.

As for an MMA, you can expect the average APY to land around 0.66%.

Fees and Charges Associated With Savings Accounts

When comparing savings accounts, watch for monthly maintenance fees and additional check-writing fees on MMA accounts. Many accounts also charge fees for excessive transactions, which can happen if you make more transactions during a set period than the limit set on your account.

While fees for excessive transactions and some other fees may be fixed, you may be able to avoid any monthly maintenance fees on your Banc of California savings account by maintaining a specific average balance or having a certain number of automatic direct deposits bringing money into your account regularly.

Account Management Features

Banc of California offers customers several account management features, from online banking to mobile apps, to simplify the banking experience.

Online Banking Capabilities

Banc of California's online banking experience is robust, helpful, and free. The interface allows you to do everything you'd expect, including checking your account balance, making transfers, viewing statements and images of deposited checks, and paying bills. You can also transfer money through Zelle.

Mobile App Functionality

Our phones have become our access point to everything, including our finances, and Banc of California offers a great mobile app. The mobile banking app, available on Google Play or the Apple App Store, allows you to do all the same things you can do with online banking and adds the ability to use your phone’s camera to make mobile check deposits.

Customer Support Options

Partnering with a bank means you’re entrusting your finances with that institution and want to ensure it delivers the customer support you require. Banc of California offers several ways to contact its customer support team, including:

• Emailing support through the website or to ClientServices@bancofcal.com
• Calling 1-877-770-2262
• Connecting through Facebook, X, LinkedIn, or Instagram

With a wide range of options to reach Banc of California’s customer support team, you should have no issues resolving any problems you may encounter.

Factors To Consider When Choosing a Savings Account

Choosing the best savings account for you depends on your personal priorities. What’s most important to you may not be as critical to someone else. Make a list of your goals in order of importance, and find a savings account that aligns with your highest priorities.

Some important variables to consider are:

• Interest Rates: The APY is generally one of the first things you’ll look at when considering a new savings account. You want to know how fast your money will grow within your account.
• Accessibility: With life becoming busier as time goes on, you want accessibility. For example, having a bank open later or with weekend hours can make life much easier. Also, remember that many banks are online-only to reduce overhead and offer significantly higher APYs. With an online-only bank, you can run into many headaches, such as the inability to get cashier’s checks, the need to mail in larger deposits, and the fact that you can only access funds via ATM withdrawals, which often have strict limits. This is the big trade-off you’ll sometimes experience if you focus solely on interest rates.
• Fees: Fees are just part of banking. They’re one way banks earn money and remain open. However, some banks charge much higher fees than others. Review all the fees thoroughly before choosing a bank, focusing on the fees that impact you. For example, if you never travel out of the country, foreign transaction fees won’t matter. However, if you get a lot of inbound wire transfers, a fee on each transaction can significantly impact your finances.
• Account features: Today’s bank accounts offer tons of features, such as peer-to-peer instant money transfers, investment options, automatic savings, minimum deposit requirements, and more. List the features that matter most to you, and find the account that matches most of your desired features.

For more information on this and other financial products, check out our MoneyAtlas, your platform for expert comparisons of banking, loans, credit cards, and investments.