Barclays Bank Review: Full Service Bank With Savings, CDs, and More

Barclays is an older financial institution, but it's only been in the last few year's they been pushing hard into the US banking space.

They are becoming well known for having top yielding savings accounts and CDs, but they also have other banking products that are helpful to consumers. 

The biggest drawback to Barclays banking is that it is only online - they don't have locations. But for most people, that shouldn't matter today.

See how they compare to the best high yield savings accounts right now.

Who Is Barclays Bank?

Barclays Bank has been around since 1690 and is based in the United Kingdom. They have branches throughout the world, including the United States. Barclays does banking for 48 million people globally.

Barclays has several websites. You can find the United States Barclays Bank website at https://www.banking.barclaysus.com/index.html.

What Do They Offer?

Barclays Bank offers online-only, high-interest-rate savings and CD accounts.

Savings Account

They currently offer one of the best online savings accounts, with a top yield and no minimum to open. They are consistently listed in the best high yield savings account list.

See how they compare to these other top savings accounts:

CDs

Barclays Bank has lots of CD durations, which allows you to ladder CDs. Laddering is a technique that offers CD rate yields with some of the liquidity of a savings account.

As an example, let’s say you want a 3-year CD with the option to withdraw money each year. If you buy a single 3-year CD, your money will be locked up for three years, assuming you don’t want to pay an early withdrawal penalty. Using a CD ladder, you instead purchase three CDs (note: rates hypothetical): 

• 1-year CD at 2.65% APY
• 2-year CD at 2.70% APY
• 3-year CD at 2.75% APY

After year one, the 1-year CD will mature. You can cash it out or buy a 2-year CD at 2.70% APY. In total, those two CDs have a maturity of three years.

In year two, the original 2-year CD matures. You can also cash this one out or buy a 1-year CD at 2.65%, letting you continue on to the three-year mark.

Finally, at year three, all three CDs mature, including the 3-year CD at 2.75% APY. If you elected to cash out the first two CDs, only the 3-year CD matures at this point and you are out of all of your CDs.

By rotating CDs with varying maturities, you are able to cash them out or buy another that matures with the first CDs with the longest duration in the ladder (in this case, the 3-year CD). CD laddering is a common technique for building in a little more liquidity and is not something unique to Barclays Bank.

See how Barclays' compares with the best bank CD rates.

Features and Services

You can do all of your banking through Barclays Bank’s website and their mobile app. To find the mobile app, search for “Barclays US Savings” on the Apple App Store or the Google Play store. On the Apple App Store, it has a 4.2 rating out of 708 ratings.

The mobile app allows you to deposit checks into your account simply by taking a photo of the check and verifying the amount. The daily check maximum is $5,000 and the daily account maximum is $10,000. You can deposit up to 10 checks in a single day. You can also do one-time transfers to and from external accounts.

The website allows you to deposit funds and do transfers with external accounts. There is a five-day hold for checks, but funds transferred through ACH are available immediately.

Are There Any Fees?

There are no monthly or maintenance fees on savings or CD accounts. Like most CD accounts, you’ll incur a penalty for early withdrawal. For CDs with a 24-month duration, the fee is 90 days of simple interest. For CDs with a duration that is greater than 24 months, the fee is 180 days of simple interest.

There is a $5 fee per item for insufficient funds. You can do six withdrawals per statement cycle. This limitation is not set by Barclays, but is instead imposed by federal law. There is a $5 fee for each withdrawal after six.

It’s best to set up paperless statements. Otherwise, you’ll be charged $0.50 per paper statement.

How Do I Open an Account?

Accounts can only be opened online for high-yield savings and CD accounts. Visit the above URL to open your account. You’ll need a Social Security number to open an account.

Get started with an account at Barclays here >>

Is My Money Safe?

Yes. Barclays Bank is FDIC-insured up to $250,000 per depositor. They also use bank-grade encryption for their website and mobile app.

Learn more about what FDIC insurance is here.

Is It Worth It?

Yes. Barclays is a well-known bank.

While there is a lot of competition for high-yield savings accounts and CDs right now, with most offering very similar products, sometimes it comes down to personal preference. If you have existing accounts with Barclays, opening your high-yield accounts with them will make transferring money between accounts easier.

Also, not all high-yield offerings have a $0 minimum deposit for opening. Some require a few thousand dollars. This makes Barclays Bank a good deal.