Aurora Bank FSB Saving Account Review

Aurora Bank FSB has an impressive record to begin with. It received a five out of a five star rating system from DepositAccounts.com, which speaks highly of the bank’s performance, at least until the third quarter of 2011.

But that’s about bank’s health, when I tried to open an account, I met with their rates. Which is as below.

Savings Account Rates

As for deposits, one can do better than the 0.25 APR Aurora Bank is offering for its savings account.

While it is at least in the positive, if compared to Chase Bank, for example, which offers 0% for deposits less than USD 1,000, Ally is offering the same account for 0.85% variable APR.

Needless to say, I didn’t complete the registration process for 0.25% interest. Sure Aurora Bank interest is at par with other major Brick and Mortar banks.

Financial health of Aurora Bank FSB

The Texas ratio is the ability of a bank to cover its present loans – in other words, the total amount of loans that are considered risks measured against the bank’s equity.

Aurora Bank, as of September 30, 2011, had USD 114.41 million falling under the loans under risk, and USD 856.48 million in equity.

In short, the Texas ratio of Aurora Bank is at 13.36%, which is above average – the closer the ratio is to 100%, the more the bank is at risk.

And the performance of the bank is also excellent. Precisely one year before the 13.36% Texas Ratio, Aurora Bank had a 28.26% Texas ratio. This means that either around half of the loans considered at risk were converted into equity for the bank, or that the bank doubled its equity within one year of operations.

The Aurora Bank also increased its deposits by 6.31% from the previous period, or by an amount of USD 202.02 million. This is considering that the annual percent rate of Aurora Bank is only at 0.25% for their savings account, which is low compared to Ally Bank which is at 0.85%.

Even though sitting on a healthy zone, many customer reviews reveal a poor relationship Aurora Bank has maintained with its account holders and customers.

How to open the Aurora bank account

To open your first Aurora Bank personal account takes no effort at all – you can do the whole procedure online. After finishing the online application, the next step is waiting for Aurora Bank’s welcome kit at your doorstep to finalize the process.

If you have any questions at all regarding your application, Aurora Bank’s customer care is even there to help you along. Then, to add new personal accounts after the first account becomes even easier.

Other accounts can be linked to your personal savings account with Aurora Bank. You may want to take advantage of this feature with Aurora Bank to protect yourself from overdraft situations, though this comes at a price.

Personal Account Arrangements

The Aurora personal account is a savings account, and like with most banks, a limit of six withdrawals or transfers per month come with the package, after which bank charges will apply.

Now, linking your checking account with your personal account could be a great way to assure yourself that you will always have the funds to cover your checks – but each time you use your personal account with Aurora Bank, it counts towards the six withdrawal or transfer limit per month. Then the bank charges on your personal account will apply.

You can link Aurora bank account with your checking account with test deposits set up, like all other banks I have used so far.

Linking your personal account to a checking account will also affect your personal account status with Aurora Bank.

While the minimum balance for a personal account at Aurora Bank is USD 1.00, Aurora Bank will charge a monthly fee with personal accounts with less than USD 500 as its daily minimum balance.

The easiest solution is always to exercise more control and responsibility in using your savings account.

High annual percentage yields may come with the territory, but this is under the assumption that your personal account is really a savings account where the only activities in the account is assumed to be for infrequent rainy days only, or for another addition of funds.

Breaking any of these two bank assumptions has penalties, and bank charges are the most often method to enforce responsible and controlled use of personal accounts.

Here’s something you may want to know about if you are opening an Aurora Bank personal account or if you already have one.

In this link is a list of fees the bank may charge you if you are ever in a situation where the charges apply. Contact Aurora Bank’s customer care of you wish to know more about the fees. So that just in case you come near any situation where the charges apply, you know what you are getting into, or your way around it.

Aurora Bank Security and other features

you deposit at Aurora Bank is FDIC insured to up to USD 250,000 per depositor. Another thing that Aurora Bank is capable of is not only its online banking service, but also its mobile banking service – a great feature to have for a bank as more and more users and uses of smartphones are making their presence felt in the market.

Security for both modes of banking is as safe as can be, making all your transactions just as safe as if you were in the bank itself.

Should you open an account with Aurora Bank FSB

Aurora Bank is one of the healthiest banks in the country.It’s 183rd largest bank in terms of deposit amount in USA. Aurora bank tops and beats many established banks in terms of asset quality. It has lesser exposure to risky real estate loans, as compared to other banks.

For financial health, at the moment Aurora Bank is as steady as a rock. However, their customer service need improvements as per opinions expressed in the internet forums. I do not have a first hand experience of their customer service though.

In terms of earnings, your money can do better elsewhere. I am getting higher rates on American Express Saving Account, Capital one Saving Account and Discover Saving Accounts. I didn’t feel the need to open an account with Aurora bank FSB.

Overall we are assigning a “Skip” rating to Aurora Bank FSB Savings and Money market accounts for the investors.

Note: Savings and money market accounts are not necessarily investments. With the interest earned you can never beat the official rate of inflation. The purpose of savings in such accounts is to have cash ready at an instant, either for an emergency or for impending spending, like purchasing a car within a year or few months.

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