banks Archives | Wealthfront Blog

What Fees Do Banks Charge and How Can I Avoid Them?

The Wealthfront Team — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 22:14:46 +0000

When it comes to your savings, account fees are a bad thing. Fees can eat away at your wealth over time and are essentially negative earnings. Unfortunately, many financial institutions charge a broad range of fees on checking, savings, and cash accounts. They do this for two main reasons: one, according to our estimate, banks need […]

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Why Is the Wealthfront Cash Account APY So High?

Amber Guerrero — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 21:06:34 +0000

Note: As of , the Wealthfront Cash Account has a APY. Read more about it . We all know that when it comes to earning interest on your cash, more is better. But not all financial institutions pay the same rate—not even close. Since we launched the Wealthfront Cash Account back in early 2019, many […]

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FDIC and SIPC Insurance: What’s the Difference?

The Wealthfront Team — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 22:37:50 +0000

You’ve probably noticed when you go to a bank there’s usually a sign or placard announcing that deposits at that bank are FDIC insured. But what does FDIC insurance mean for you, and how is it different from SIPC insurance, the insurance you receive on your brokerage account? Here, we’ll break down what each kind […]

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Switching Banks? Here’s How Credit Cards Make It Easier

The Wealthfront Team — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 21:05:35 +0000

Banking can be a headache, particularly when you use a traditional bank. Between trekking to bank branches, earning little to no interest on your cash, and paying annoying fees, you might find yourself tempted to say goodbye to your bank and pick a new one. At the same time, you probably worry about the time […]

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How Do Banks Make Money?

The Wealthfront Team — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 17:43:02 +0000

Bank branches may seem like an antiquated way to conduct banking in this day and age (we certainly think so), but traditional banks’ business models are built around them. We’ve written before about how these branches provide an extremely poor customer experience and, infuriatingly, cost you $200 (or more!) per year even though you have […]

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Why You Should Ditch Bank Branches

The Wealthfront Team — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 22:16:13 +0000

Note: This post was updated on September 21, 2020. We can’t imagine there are many people who get excited about a trip to their local bank. Unless you have a penchant for capless ballpoint pens, uncomfortable waiting room chairs, and stale hard candies, there’s not much reason to visit your bank’s nearest retail branch. More […]

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Banks Are Having Their “Blockbuster Moment”

Dan Carroll — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 13:00:00 +0000

For many of us who came of age between the late 1980s and early aughts, Blockbuster Video is a pleasant memory. For roughly two decades, Blockbuster was a dominant force in the video rental industry. But despite this dominance, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy in 2010 and instead of operating 9,000 stores like it did in 2004, […]

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COVID-19 Has Put Bank Digitization On Fast-Forward

Dan Carroll — Thu, 14 May 2020 00:02:17 +0000

Legacy banks aren’t known for their innovative digital products. We’ve said it before: despite their billion-dollar annual IT budgets, banks’ biggest recent innovation has been building smartphone apps that put limited ATM capabilities on your phone. You can check your balances and transfer money, but you can’t see a consolidated picture of all of your […]

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Retail Branches Pose an Existential Threat to Banks

Dan Carroll — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 20:38:01 +0000

There’s a battle for branch expansion among banks in the U.S. today. Both J.P. Morgan and Bank of America, for example, have been duking it out to open a total of 180 new branches across the country this year alone as well as “modernizing” existing branches. This battle is completely misguided. It’s analogous to being […]

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Millennials and Bank Branches: A Bad Match

Andy Rachleff — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 17:00:08 +0000

Consumer banks are about to experience an unprecedented upheaval as more and more young people — a critical demographic on which they depend for growth — become disenchanted with the status quo. This creates an opportunity for new entrants to reimagine what banking will look like. The number of people who use consumer banking services […]

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