Evergreen Bank Review dynamic]current-month[/dynamic] 2024: A solid online bank with good APY and ATM reimbursements

Evergreen Bank could be an excellent option for customers looking for an online bank with several interest-earning deposit accounts and a wide range of banking products and services, including free checking accounts, high-yield savings, CDs, and more.

Evergreen Bank was founded in 1999 and became a subsidiary of Bancorp Financial, Inc. in 2007 when President and CEO Darin Campbell and a group of investors reorganized the Evergreen Park, Illinois bank. The bank operates five locations, with three branches in the Chicagoland area and two lending locations in Reno: FreedomRoad Financial and Performance Financial. Those locations exclusively provide loans for power sports equipment.

If you are located outside the Chicagoland and Reno areas, Evergreen Bank operates as an online-only bank.

All rates and fees are current as of May 20, 2024, and are subject to change.

Evergreen Bank

Checking accounts:	Starting at $0 per month
Savings accounts:	Open with $100
Certificate of deposit (CD) rates:	Earn up to 4.75% APY

Pros and Cons

Pros

• All three checking options have no monthly fee
• Reimbursed ATM fees of up to $10 in entry-level account to unlimited in two higher-tier accounts
• Online bank with full-service banking offerings, including deposit accounts, credit cards and lending products
• A strong selection of business products, including checking, savings, loans, lines of credit, and treasury management

Cons

• Very limited physical locations near Chicago and Reno
• Savings and Money Market APY outside of High-Yield Online Savings and Free Linked Savings are very low
• Must have 12 debit card purchases post and settle to earn ATM fee reimbursement, and those do not count ATM transactions

Who is Evergreen Bank good for?

Evergreen Bank is best for people who do not mind banking online and through ATMs. It is also best for people wanting to earn interest on a free checking account, as Evergreen Bank’s interest-bearing Free Rewards Checking option charges no monthly maintenance fee.

Who shouldn’t use Evergreen Bank?

If you prefer to visit a physical branch for your banking, Evergreen Bank may not be the best option unless you live near one of the five bank locations in Chicago or Reno.

Also, even though the High-Yield Online Savings account earns a very solid 5.25% APY and Free Linked Savings earns up to 2.00% APY, the other savings options and the money market account (MMA) offer very low APYs of just 0.35%, and a range of 0.30–0.50%, respectively.

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Evergreen Bank rates and products

For customers looking for a free checking account, Evergreen Bank offers three free personal checking accounts. In addition, the bank offers five savings accounts, an MMA, and both CDs and individual retirement account (IRA) CDs of varying lengths. All but the two entry-level checking accounts offer interest earnings.

Checking accounts 

Evergreen Bank offers three checking accounts. All are free checking accounts with no monthly maintenance fees. Unfortunately, Evergreen Bank does not offer a checking account sign-up bonus. 

Evergreen Bank Free Checking Account

The entry-level account offers few perks besides up to $10 in ATM fee reimbursements. 

Evergreen Bank Free Cash Back Checking

If you prefer cash back bonuses, the mid-tier Free Cash Back Checking pays 3.00% cash back on debit card purchases up to $200, meaning you can earn up to $6 monthly. You must make at least 12 debit card purchases and be enrolled in e-statements to earn the rewards.

Evergreen Bank Free Rewards Checking

It is rare to find free checking accounts with as good of an APY as Evergreen Bank’s Free Rewards Checking. You earn 4.00% APY on balances up to $25,000 as long as you post and settle 12 or more debit card purchases and are enrolled in e-statements.

Mobile deposit and automated clearing house (ACH) limits are set based on the length of the customer relationship. Once you have been a customer for at least 11 days, you can have ACH transactions of up to $5,000 per day. This increases to $100,000 in the account on day 60 and $250,000 on day 120. ACH limits out of the account increase to $25,000 on day 120.

Mobile check deposits of $2,500 are available starting on day 11. This goes up to $5,000 on day 60 and $25,000 on day 120. You are limited to 25 monthly mobile check deposits after you exceed 10 days as a customer.

Savings accounts

Evergreen Bank offers five savings accounts. If you are looking for a high-yield savings account, Evergreen Bank provides a solid option. 

Evergreen Bank High-Yield Online Savings account

The bank’s High-Yield Online Savings account offers an APY of 5.25% on balances up to $1 million.

Evergreen Bank Free Linked Saver account

The bank also offers a Free Linked Saver account that earns up to 2.00% APY on balances up to $100,000. The account links to either the Free Rewards Checking or Free Cash Back Checking account and can provide automatic transfers between checking and savings.

The same ACH and mobile deposit limits listed for checking accounts also apply to savings. For more information on how savings accounts work, see our primer on high-interest savings accounts.

Evergreen Bank savings rates compared to current top rates*

While Evergreen Bank is a great option, some institutions offer higher interest rates. Compare the rates above to this list of competitors:

Money market accounts 

Evergreen Bank offers the Cornerstone Money Market account with tiered interest earnings depending on your balance. However, the APY for all three tiers is low compared to the best MMAs. You need $2,500 to open an MMA and must have that balance to earn APY. If your balance drops below $2,500, you will pay a $15 monthly service fee.

The same ACH and mobile deposit limits apply to your money market account. Check out our introduction to MMAs for more information on the differences between an MMA and other types of savings accounts.

Certificates of deposit

Evergreen Bank offers both standard CDs and IRA CDs. The rates for both are the same, but IRA CDs are specifically for retirement funds. 

All CD lengths require at least a $500 deposit to open, except a special seven-month CD that requires $10,000 to open but earns 5.00% APY. The rest of the CDs range from 3.00% to 4.75% APY. Check out our list of the best CD rates to see how Evergreen Bank compares with its competitors.

There are penalties for early withdrawals for both types of CDs, but there are also tax penalties for early withdrawal from IRA CDs if you are 59 1/2 or younger. See our guide on early withdrawal penalties to learn more. 

Other services Evergreen Bank offers 

Evergreen Bank offers customers multiple other banking services, including: 

• Small business products: Evergreen Bank offers two business checking accounts, a business savings account, a business MMA, and business CDs. It also provides lines of credit, term loans, working capital loans, commercial loans, and commercial real estate (CRE) loans.
• Small business treasury management: In addition to deposit and lending products, Evergreen Bank offers business treasury management, including collections and receivables, payments and disbursements, fraud protection services, and treasury management digital banking.
• Personal Loans: Evergreen Bank offers customers access to home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), home mortgage loans, auto loans, and motorcycle loans.
• Credit cards: Evergreen Bank has partnered with TCM Bank, N.A. to offer a Visa Platinum credit card.

Online banking

Evergreen Bank offers personal digital banking services, including online banking and bill pay. Online banking is free and allows customers to access e-statements, view account balances and history, transfer funds between accounts, view written checks, and make loan payments, among other features. 

Customers can use bill pay to schedule payments in advance, set up payment reminders, and ensure payments are received on time.

For peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, Evergreen Bank allows you to use Zelle. You can also use the bank’s “Pay a Person” feature for free.

Evergreen Bank platform and customer support 

You can access online banking with Evergreen Bank via desktop or mobile apps. The mobile app is called Evergreen Bank Group – Mobile on the Apple App Store and Google Play. It has a rating of 4.6 on the Apple App Store based on around 100 ratings and 4.1 on Google Play based on more than 30 reviews.

To reach Evergreen Bank customer service, call (888) 505-BANK (2265) or complete a secure form on the bank’s website. The bank states it will respond within one business day. You can also stop in for assistance if you are near one of the five branch locations.

Is Evergreen Bank secure?

With the mobile app, you can set up multifactor authentication (MFA) and choose to log in with biometrics. Evergreen Bank also notifies cardholders of high-risk debit card transactions via text, email, or telephone. 

For customers who need additional Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) insurance, Evergreen Bank partners with IntraFi Network Deposits, which can provide multimillion-dollar FDIC insurance for certain account types. Contact the bank for information on additional FDIC insurance.

Evergreen Bank user reviews

Evergreen Bank has mixed reviews online. On DepositAccounts, it is rated 3 stars out of 5, while WalletHub ratings are 2.9 stars out of 5. 

One of the biggest drawbacks mentioned on Reddit is the ACH and mobile deposit limits, although the bank has told customers that this is to prevent wire fraud. However, people on Reddit and DepositAccounts were both pleased with the APY rate on the high-yield savings account.

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