Bank of Internet USA Review and 2014 Analysis
Bank of Internet USA (BOFI) is an online bank that’s making waves in the banking industry.
Over the last few months, we’ve published banking reviews and analysis on some of the key online banking firms:
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Today we will take a detailed look at Bank of Internet USA, reviewing the various pros, cons, benefits and services of using this online bank.
Bank of Internet USA – Review and Analysis
- Origin and Growth
- Services
- Unique Benefits
- Rates and Fees
- Consumer Complaints
- Conclusion
1. Origin and Growth
Bank of Internet USA is a relatively new company, founded in 1999. This bank is the brainchild of Gary Lewis Evans, who was the president of La Jolla Bank in 1999.
Bank of Internet USA was founded in San Diego, California, and in 2007 it crossed a personal landmark when it started doing business in all US states. Currently the bank has over 2 billion dollars in assets.
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2. Review of Bank of Internet USA Services
Bank of Internet USA services include a limited selection of mortgages and personal banking options like checking, savings, CD’s and business banking.
By offering only a small group of core products, Bank of Internet USA aims to ensure an optimized experience for their customers.
For banks that operate entirely online without physical branches, it is extremely important for their account management tools and services to be of the utmost quality.
This was a key criteria in our review and analysis of online banking firms.
From our analysis, we identified that Bank of Internet USA provides very high quality online account management tools. Their user interface is very easy to use, with quick and efficient navigation features.
They offer customer support by phone and email. Automated telephone banking is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Their live phone support is available from 6am to 6pm Monday through Friday.
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3. Unique Benefits – Bank of Internet USA Reviews
The number one unique benefit of banking with Bank of Internet USA is the low cost that comes with their accounts.
See Bank of Internet USA’s rates and fees below.
The incredibly low overhead cost associated with being an internet only bank lets them offer some of the lowest-cost accounts available.
Another unique benefit is the small group of core products provided. At first, we thought this would be a disadvantage to the bank. After further review, however, we realized that it was actually a huge advantage.
In providing limited products, Bank of Internet USA has not spread itself too thin and has been able to provide an outstanding level of support to each provided service and product.
4. Rates and Fees
As mentioned above, Bank of Internet USA has an incredibly low overhead cost.
Because the cost of running the business is so low, the cost consumers pay for their accounts is a bit lower than traditional banking options.
There are no monthly fees for using the bank’s checking accounts. Also, even with no monthly fee, their lowest level checking account allows you to earn interest.
In addition, their savings accounts have no monthly maintenance fee and provide higher than average interest rates.
The same competitive fee structure goes for their mortgages as well. Overall, their rates and fees are some of the best in the banking industry.
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5. Bank of Internet USA Consumer Complaints
Below are some top complaints and negative reviews that BOFI consumers have posted online.
- Limited customer service hours with no weekend hours (Monday through Friday, 6a to 6p)
- Unreasonable online transfer restrictions
- Chat isn't available until 11:00 CST and only on weekdays
- Calls getting disconnected
- Instances of poor customer service
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6. Conclusion
For a new company, Bank of Internet USA operates like it’s been around for decades.
They don’t have a high level of consumer complaints, relative to some of the banks we’ve reviewed.
Overall, they’ve got incredibly low fees and outstanding services.
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