Huntington Premier Savings Account 2024 Review
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The savings account is the second most popular type of bank account in the U.S., with only the checking account being more common.
Because savings accounts are so common, banks have to compete with each other to get new customers. That means banks are constantly improving their interest rates and adding new features to their accounts.
If you take the time to do some research and compare account, you can find great deals.
Huntington Bank, based in Ohio, serves consumers in eight states and has more than $100 billion under management. Its network of 956 branches makes it a great choice for consumers in the states that it operates in.
One of the accounts offered by Huntington Bank is the Huntington Premier savings account.
In this Huntington Bank Premier Savings review, we'll compare rates, fees, and services to other national and online banks.
Huntington Premier Savings Account Pros & Cons
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Huntington Keeps Your Money Safe
There are two reasons that most people want to open a savings account: storing extra cash and helping their savings grow.
The Huntington Premier savings account certainly offers the safety that consumers are looking for. Like nearly all savings accounts in the United States, the account is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The FDIC was founded after the Great Depression to help restore confidence in the U.S. banking system. To do this, the FDIC guaranteed that depositors would be able to withdraw any money they deposit to a savings account. Today, the insurance that the FDIC provides protects balances up to $250,000.
If you deposit money into a savings account, and the bank is unable to return your money, the FDIC will reimburse you for any amount lost, up to the $250,000 limit.
Earn a Low Interest Rate
People also open savings accounts because they want to earn interest so they can help their savings grow. The Huntington Premier savings account offers a single rate of interest, regardless of what your account’s balance is. Unfortunately, this rate is not very high.
The interest rate that your savings earns also plays a role in keeping your savings safe. Over time, money tends to become less valuable.
For example, you may have heard your grandparents talk about how a loaf of bread used to cost a nickel, even though it now costs a dollar or two.
The increase in cost is caused by this process, which is known as inflation.
Inflation, like interest rates, is expressed as a percentage. If inflation is 2% per year, that means that the dollar is losing 2% of its value each year. $100 will only have the purchasing power of $98 once the year ends.
You should look for a savings account that offers an interest rate that is equal to or greater than the inflation rate.
This will ensure that your savings maintains or increases its value. If your savings earns a lower rate of interest than the inflation rate, your savings is actually losing value every year.
Two Ways to Waive the Monthly Fee
Many banks have started charging monthly fees for their checking and savings accounts. They charge these fees for two reasons.
First, monthly fees help to compensate the bank for the cost of managing checking and savings accounts.
Second, these fees give banks a way to influence the behavior of their customers. Usually, there are ways to get the bank to waive the monthly fee, such as making a certain number of transactions or maintaining a specific balance. The bank can use these fee waiver requirements to influence customers to act in ways that generate more income for the bank.
Maintenance fees can have a huge impact on the value of your savings over time. That means that avoiding these fees is incredibly important, especially because it’s nearly impossible to earn enough interest to offset the fees.
The Huntington Premier savings account charges a $4 monthly fee. There are two ways to avoid the fee.
- Open and maintain an Asterisk-Free checking account
- Maintain a daily average balance of $300 or more
Neither of these requirements is difficult to meet, and the Asterisk-Free checking account is a fee-free account, so you can easily waive the fee, even without having $300 to spare.
Other Fees
While you mostly have to worry about monthly fees when you open a savings account, it’s good to know the other fees that you may see.
Some of the fees that may apply to the Huntington Premier savings account are:
Huntington Premier Savings Account Fees
| Type of Fee | Fee |
|---|---|
| Monthly Maintenance | $4 |
| Excess Withdrawal | $2 |
| Stop Payment Fee | $34 |
| Returned Item Fee | $10 |
| Non-Sufficient Funds Fee | $37.50 |
| Domestic Incoming Wire Transfers | $15 |
| Domestic Outgoing Wire Transfer | $25 |
Get Relief from Overdraft Fees
The Huntington Premier savings account offers customers two ways to get relief from overdraft fees.
24-Hour Grace Period
The first is 24-Hour Grace, which gives you one day to deposit money to your checking account after you’ve overdrawn it.
If you can deposit enough to the account to get your balance back above $0, you will not be charged an overdraft fee. All you have to do is move money from your savings account manually to avoid being charged.
Free overdraft protection transfers
The second is automatic overdraft protection transfers from your savings account.
You can sign up to have money moved from your savings account to your checking account automatically. If you would ever overdraft your checking account, the money will be moved automatically.
There is no additional fee for this service, so it can help you avoid significant overdraft fees.
Same Day Deposit Gives You Quick Access to Your Money
When you deposit a check to your savings account, it usually takes a few days for the bank to clear the check and make the money available to you.
This is because it takes time to process a check transaction to ensure that the check is legitimate.
Often, banks will post the schedule of how long it takes to clear a transaction. These schedules usually include something about how deposits made after business hours will be treated as having occurred at the start of the next business day.
That means most banks treat a deposit at 5:30 PM on Monday as having happened on Tuesday morning.
The Huntington Premier savings account offers all day deposit. If you deposit money at 11:59 PM, it will be treated just the same as a deposit made at 9 AM on that same day.
That means that money you deposit will be available for withdrawal or transfer that much earlier.
How It Compares
When you’re looking to open a new savings account you might be overwhelmed by all of the options available to you.
Still, it’s important that you take the time to put in the effort to find the best account for your needs.
The difference between choosing the right account and a worse account can be hundreds or thousands of dollars.
When you’re comparing accounts, the first thing that you should do is look at their fee policies. You want to find an account that does not charge any kind of monthly fee. At a minimum, you should look for an account that has fee waiver requirements that you can easily meet.
Next, compare the interest rates that each account offers.
The interest rate determines how quickly your savings will grow, and whether it will keep pace with inflation. Choose the account that offers the highest rate of interest while still avoiding fees.
Settling for a lower rate is like giving up free money.
Finally, look into the special features that each account offers.
Some accounts offer free financial management software or identity protection services.
Other accounts give you free overdraft transfers. Which of these services is most valuable to you depends on your personal situation.
Knowing what features are available can help you make a decision between similar accounts.
The Final Verdict
The Huntington Premier savings account offers some useful account features, but its interest rate isn’t enough to make it an appealing account.
If you’ll make significant use of the free overdraft transfers, you may consider the account, but you should do what you can to avoid overdrafts in the first place.
If you want a low-fee account that offers a great rate of interest, you should instead consider an online savings account.
