Live Oak Bank review: High rates on savings and CDs, and no monthly service fees

Overall bank rating

Feature	Insider rating (out of 5)
Savings	4
CD	3.25
Trustworthiness	3
Total:	3.5

Pros and cons

Pros:	Cons:
High rates on savings account High rates on CDs	No checking account or money market account $2,500 required to open a CD Lacks quick access to your savings

Savings

The Live Oak Bank Online Savings Account doesn’t require a minimum opening deposit or charge monthly fees. It also pays a competitive interest rate.

Depositing and receiving cash are the tricky parts. Although you can transfer funds into your account and deposit checks digitally, there’s no way to deposit cash.  You’ll have to transfer funds to an external bank account, which can take a couple of business days.

CDs

Live Oak’s minimum deposit of $2,500 is pretty steep. If you don’t have $2,500 on hand, you can open a CD with less at another online bank.

Live Oak pays competitive rates on CDs, but depending on the term, you may be able to find better rates at other online banks. The bank charges a relatively low early withdrawal penalty if you withdraw funds before your CD matures, especially for longer terms.

How Live Oak Bank works

Live Oak is an online bank with a savings account and CDs. Not many customers have reviewed the mobile app in the Apple or Google Play stores, but the average review ratings so far are mediocre.

Speak to a customer service representative over the phone Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET. There’s no customer support available on weekends. There’s no live online chat feature, but you can fill out an online form and wait for a response.

Your deposits are FDIC insured for $250,000, or $500,000 for a joint account.

Is Live Oak Bank trustworthy?

The Better Business grades companies’ trustworthiness. The current grade for Live Oak Bank is an A+ rating. 

A good BBB rating won’t guarantee that a bank will be right for you. If you want to get a better picture of whether a bank may be good for you, make sure to get perspectives from friends, family, or online reviews. 

As of March 2021, there are allegations that Live Oak, nCino, and Apiture agreed to not hire employees from other companies in Wilmington, North Carolina. As a result, the three banking companies could avoid offering people competitive salaries. The lawsuit is ongoing, but if the scandal worries you, you may decide you’d rather bank elsewhere.

How Live Oak Bank compares 

We compared Live Oak with two other online banks that pay high yields: Marcus by Goldman Sachs and Ally.

Account types Savings, CD	Account types Savings, CD	Account types Savings, CD, checking, money market account
Savings APY 0.70% APY	Savings APY 0.60% APY	Savings APY 0.80% APY
CDs APY 0.60% to 0.80% APY	CDs APY 0.45% to 0.90% APY	CDs APY 0.20% to 1.00% APY
Minimum opening deposits $2,500 for CDs	Minimum opening deposits $500 for CDs	Minimum opening deposits $0
Live Oak Bank Live Oak Bank Online Savings Account	Goldman Sachs Marcus by Goldman Sachs High Yield Online Savings Account	Ally Ally High Yield Savings Account

For a full banking experience, you’ll likely prefer Ally to Marcus or Live Oak Bank. Ally is the only financial institution of the three to offer checking and money market accounts.

If your priority is finding a savings account, all three online banks offer high-interest rates. You’ll have to delve a bit further to see which is the best match. 

Liave Oak Bank and Marcus have a pretty straightforward and simple account – no minimum opening deposit and no monthly services. Meanwhile, Ally has savings tools that let you sort your money into “savings buckets” to help you save for financial goals. 

If you don’t have a lot of money to deposit into your CD, Ally or Marcus might be stronger contenders than Live Oak Bank. Ally lets you open a CD with no minimum opening deposit and Marcus has a mandatory opening deposit of $500. Both institutions also have no-penalty CDs, which may be something to explore if you’re unsure about early withdrawal penalties.