Sallie Mae CD Rates

Avoid at all cost. Their Security Department will flag your accounts out of the blue and then make ridiculous demands. They’ll even make harassing calls to family members they have no business contacting. I’m going to have to file a CFPB complaint to get access to my money. An extra 0.05% isn’t worth the hassle when there are way more professional institutions out there. You’ve been warned.

Been with Sallie Mae for over 15 years, and their Money Market Account (with limited checkwriting) has usually been the best rate out there and pretty convenient to access via free ACH transfers.

They have changed recently, however. Not crazy about their new website and some policy changes. For example, without notice, their money market account is now considered a savings account for ACH purposes when it used to be a checking account. They gave no notice of the policy change and simply removed the ACH guidance on this entirely from their FAQ's. I also can't get prior year 1099's anymore, even though website says they are available (had to call representative to get it emailed).

Today, I also had a very big disappointment with them worth bringing to everyone's attention. Although the bank offers same-day domestic wire transfers for a $20 fee and accompanied by photo ID, and even has a special wire transfer request form to specify the destination party and account, etc., somebody at this bank has seriously misinterpreted their own Deposit Agreement to mean that all wire transfer requests are "preauthorized transfers" and can only be made to one of your linked accounts for online ACH transfers. That means no wire transfers may be sent to third parties, and even no same day transfers to a new external account of your own (as to be an eligible linked account, it also must be ACH verified via trial deposits first).

I tried arguing with their representatives that a wire transfer request is not a preauthorized transfer, and the section of the Terms and Conditions Agreement which describes the wire transfer service makes no mention that a wire can only be sent to a verified linked account, but of course they won't budge. I'm likely going to submit a dispute claim with their compliance team on the matter for the money that I have now lost due to their refusal to execute the wire request, but who knows where that'll go...

Honestly, somebody there seems to have lost their mind by limiting wire transfers to only external accounts for which 2-day ACH transfers can already be performed by the customer (up to $500,000). And the information collected on their wire transfer form and photo ID requirement is totally unnecessary and ridiculous if they still only allow wire transfers into previously linked accounts, which they already know about and have verified that you own!

**Warning-reps at this call center may be trying to access personal information to sell or take over your phone to steal money from bank accounts**
I tried to open a two year cd here. Fraud says there is a problem with my address. I verify it. Then they ask questions like who is my phone carrier and whose name my phone account is under. Then they ask questions like my pets names. Why am I opening a cd? Etc. This goes on a long while. Then they want to call my bank the electronic transfer is coming from and verify over the phone which would have meant a rep from their office hearing my passwords. When I tell them they’re starting to sound like scammers, they scoff and say the security of my account is important. I ask to close the account. They lie and say it’s already been funded and they can’t close it. (I checked with the bank. It had not. But I wonder...if they have the money why are they calling my bank to verify? ) Don’t trust these guys. There is something not right about this “bank” and the reps working in their centers. No fraud rep would ask to call your bank and hear your passwords. I resolved the issue by paying for a stop payment with my bank so the account wouldn’t be funded. A truly horrible and creepy experience. Wish I had never gone down this road. Don’t trust these people. I worked in fraud and this is not normal.

I had a savings account with Sallie Mae. They closed it 3 weeks ago for (what they called) "suspicious activity." After 3 weeks, they still won't give me any answers about where my money is, whether or when I'll get it back, or even what this "suspicious activity" was supposed to be. To be 100% clear, the only thing I ever did with my account was put money in it -- there was no "suspicious activity," period, unless my account was hacked by someone else. Now I don't know whether I'll ever see my money again.

Just so you know, I'm a college professor, excellent credit, above-average financial wealth. I haven't had so much as a traffic ticket in over 15 years. So, if you think, "oh, this kind of thing only happens to shady characters, Sallie Mae would never treat me that way" -- think again. If it can happen to me, it can happen to you. DO NOT TRUST THEM WITH YOUR MONEY.

Awful Website and navigation. Took 15 minutes just to locate my routing number. Hold times when you call are 30 minutes minimum. The frustration is not worth the high interest. Go to Ally or Citizens access much more user friendly for the same interest.

Based on the fees and rates I decided to open a Money Market account with SallieMae for an emergency fund.
I tried to use the website to create an account, link a bank account to transfer money, and transfer money. For each one of these steps I ended up having to contact customer support by phone to get anything to happen. The user experience of the website is horrible, but I thought being a UX professional that designs these things, I should be able to navigate even the worst website, I was wrong. From misleading examples to incorrect flow and finally no clues as to what happened when an error occurred. The call center people were nice, but nobody could explain what happened and suggested that they perform the operation for me. For the third call which I had to make to see why the initial transfer into the account failed even though the account was verified, I decided that I'd had enough and couldn't trust the web interface enough to manage my money. I closed the account and moved on to a better option

I first signed up for this account about 10 years a go, when it had around the highest interest rates of its competitors. Coming into the 2018, the website has not changed at all. Its a very primitive website. Some may like that, others may not. I guess they figure "if its not broke, why change it"?
I'm okay with its primitiveness, but since I first opened the account, the interest rate has gone down significantly, and I actually switched to another online savings account that offers a higher interest rate.
The last thing that really bothers me and ultimately made me switch to another savings account, is the wait times on funds availability. It takes roughly 5-10 days for your funds in your account to become available. In this day in age of instant transfers and quick processing, I find the hold times to be WAY too long.
Overall, they need to revamp their site and their rules on availability and come into the year 2018.

In my experience with banking, Sallie Mae has keep my attention for a long time. With the interest rate always being competitive with the market and the great customer service I couldn't ask for anything from my bank. Over the last year my savings account earnings have more than doubled from any savings account I have ever had. With the boasting .9% interest rate what more could one ask for? It’s the simplest account I have ever set up, you make a few clicks online and you’re done. I have referred friend after friend to this account in hopes that we can all take advantage of the smartest way to save.

I have been using this savings account since 2008. The interest rate is high so you earn money quickly. It is very easy to use its internet interface. There are also no monthly fees, which is really nice. You also do not have to deposit any amount in a certain month. You are pretty free with this savings account, and it offers only good things. There are also no hidden fees that are added on. It does not take long for money to get transferred into the account either. It takes usually less than 48 hours for that to occur. It's one of my favorite checking accounts because of all that it has to offer.

I like this account because it offers a much higher interest rate than brick and mortar banks. It's also very user-friendly - I'm able to move money from my checking account to fund it and within 48 hours the transfer is complete. When I do need money from the account, I'm easily able to transfer money to my checking or use the account to pay my credit card bills. I also enjoy having more limited access to this account as I have to think to use the money and generally wait 48 hours for the money to transfer. That way I can't just pull out cash and spend it willy nilly.