I opened an account with CNB direct about 10 days ago. They do send emails and do the test deposit withdrawal like you say. The only problem I have is that the starting deposit I made about 5 days ago still hasn't shown up. And when I used their email help service I got a response from them saying the email didn't get through. It's not that I don't trust them, but it's pretty obvious the current staff is probably swamped with new accounts due to their 4.0% interest rate.

Posted: Oct 9, 2008

I would not recommed opening an account unless you have extra time to follow up with them. I've had to call several times as it doesn't seem as if I'm getting the emails as I should. The staff is really friendly but I don't really have extra time to waste calling the bank each day.

The rate is the only thing that makes it attractive when compared with larger financial institutions. The guaranteed rate of 4% for 6 months will keep me there for at least that long but then I'll be looking for someplace else to park my funds.

Posted: Oct 10, 2008

I agree with the comment that this staff must be overwhelmed. They have been courteous but I get the feeling their on over their head. I did not complete the the application process as it took too long. Since FDIC insurance was raised I can place more funds in my existing OSA at HSBC and Emigrant.

Posted: Oct 10, 2008

They are no longer offering the 6 month guarantee on the 4% APY for new accounts. You can still get 4% but they can now change the rate at any time.

Posted: Oct 14, 2008

I concur with all the above. Doesn't seem like the right hand knows what the left hand is doing, with these people. I have been trying to get my account opened for a week now and have now run out of patients, especially in light of all the other reviews. I'm sure there are at least Hundreds of other people, that haven't found this site to report. If its this hard to put money in, I'm not going to test them on how hard it is to get out. I am sending my $$$ back to my 3% Emigrant Direct account, where the service is excellent.

Posted: Oct 21, 2008

Hey Andrew- Since you have run out of "patients", I hope you are not a doctor. Otherwise you will not have any money to deposit in an on-line savings account.

Posted: Oct 22, 2008

every thing went smooth. took about a week just like most of them. I did not have to call them because i read ther directions. I like the 4% and they update your intrest made each day. Only think i do not like is you can not open a joint acount

Posted: Oct 23, 2008

The opening process is slow but ACH transfers are very fast (incoming are posted as soon as they are received, and there is less than a 4 hour delay between the time that outgoing funds are withdrawn from your account and arrive in your other account; this is the fastest I have ever seen, for an account that withdraws the funds before they are transmitted). They also show your daily accrued interest which is a nice feature that few banks have. With a 6-month guarantee of 4% I am very pleased with my account and will be using it as my primary deposit account for some time to come.

Posted: Oct 24, 2008

Here is my experience attempting to open an online savings account with CNB Direct:

10/18/08: Completed online application.
10/18/08: Received email verifying application was received.
10/21/08: Received email with instructions to e-sign some paperwork. I e-signed the paperwork the same day.
10/27/08: Received email with instructions for verifying two test transactions they sent to my linked account. I verified the transactions the same day.
10/28/08: Received email saying my account had finally been set up. Provided instructions for logging into my account.

I attempted to login using the instructions they provided, which took me to a screen saying "Unable to process request. Please try again later."

At this point, I've decided to forget the whole thing. It took 10 days for them to give me online access, and it doesn't actually work. I am going to contact CNB Direct tomorrow and ask them to close my account altogether.

Also, they only have phone support from 8 am to 5 pm EST, which makes it really difficult for people who work during the day to follow up with them.

I would not recommend signing up with this bank unless you have lots of time and lots of patience.

Posted: Oct 28, 2008

Come on, it's not that hard to sign up. Hardest thing is that when the account is ready, your "access code" is your account number. Based on the posts, it sounds like they have a bigger response than expected ... in my case, it was a week after I did the e-sign stuff before the account was ready for electronic access.

I also found that the ACH deposits were processed quickly.

Posted: Oct 29, 2008

Are they likely to keep rates at 4%? Or, do they traditionally have rates that are much higher than the average savings account?

Thanks

Posted: Nov 6, 2008

11/6 JUST STARTED PROCESS AND HAD SOME DIFFICULTY TRYING TO MAKE OUT IF THE INITIAL PW THEY SENT ME VIA E MAIL CONTAINED THE LETTER O OR IF IT WAS A ZERO. IT HAD ALPHA CAPS AND NUMERIC CHARACTERS. KEPT GETTING THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE.."You have entered an incorrect User ID/Password/SSN combination." Please try again. AFTER SENDING OUT AN E MAIL SOS TO THEM I FIGURED OUT THE CORRECT COMBINATION AFTER SEVERAL MORE ATTEMPS. DOCUMENTS NOW ALL SIGNED ON LINE, AWAITING TO GET MORE INFO. You can only do individual accts no joint accounts.????? Just opened two individual accts instead.

Posted: Nov 7, 2008

I found CNB Bank to be very quick and very easy to sign up with and fund. I requested funds from my CNB account to be sent back to my Bank of America account and it only took two days to show up. That is faster than any other on line bank. I am very happy withthis bank and its 4% rate.

Posted: Nov 12, 2008

I just want to second everything Larry said. After reading all stories of everyone having to wait so long, and then not having their password work, etc...my entire process took about 3 days. Tricky thing about the temporary passwords seems to be the "O" versus zero thing. Also, whether you enter it that way or not, they establish your new password in all capital letters. Entering it otherwise will cause a rejection. Now if we can just get the 4 percent rate to hold up.

Posted: Nov 15, 2008

I signed up for CNB last Wednesday with a confirmation the same day.

I haven't received any more e-mails on userid/password information or test deposits.

How long does this normally take? I wish they would have said this in the initial confirmation message.

Posted: Nov 17, 2008

I called up today and she said she would have to call me back and didn't give me a reason why? hmmm.

Not a good start.

Posted: Nov 17, 2008

It's quite a long process, but seems to be moving along now.

In a few days, they will send the deposits.

Posted: Nov 19, 2008

Deposits have been submitted to them on Nov. 21, 2008. Now we need to wait for another e-mail for login details???? Unbelievable.

Posted: Nov 24, 2008

I signed onto the account and waiting another 2-3 business days for my deposit to be sent.

It takes awhile to get this setup, but it appears to be a good interface.

Posted: Nov 25, 2008

I got setup a couple days ago Wednesday. It looks like the rate has went down from 4% to 3.75% after I just logged in...My luck. Oh well.

It took awhile, but it looks like it will be a good choice for a savings account.

Later.

Posted: Nov 28, 2008

I have an account there and best I can remember the process was about the same as other banks. I got in while the guarantee of 4% was srill in effect. When they droped to 3.75 I called and they said I would get the 4% for 6 months. So far I like the account.

Posted: Dec 6, 2008

Pros: Low minimum, great interest rate.
Cons: Website quite rudimentary, can only have one linked account, can only transfer in and out of your linked account i.e. cannot make any other electronic transfers (for payments, etc.).

Posted: Dec 15, 2008

It's now at 3.5%...dropping like a rock since I opened last month.

Posted: Dec 17, 2008

Started the opening process when it was at 4.0% (I did not get the 6-month guarantee), now down to 3.5%... but still better than ING or HSBC which I also have. The account opening process was slow and I experienced the problems mentioned with error messages about incorrect passwords - I even once requested my password be reset and copy-pasted the new one emailed to me and still couldn't access my account. Within a couple days I was able to request a new password that worked and haven't had any problems since. I agree that the website does seem rudimentary, but it meets my needs. 3 things that I have been impressed with are: (1) updates interest earned each day which HSBC is missing, (2) deposits and withdrawals have been about the same speed as ING - pretty good in my opinion, and (3) I haven't had any problems accessing the website since my initial problems, and I haven't run accross any system down-times yet. As long as the rate stays up I'll stay invested with CNB.

Posted: Jan 3, 2009

Since CNB allows only one linked account, I linked CNB from one of my other online banks and it worked (i.e. the trial deposits landed in my CNB account, although I have not tried any real transfers yet). However, when I tried to link it from my ING account, the trial deposits never appeared.
Has anyone tried linking CNB from other online banks? With what results?

Posted: Jan 21, 2009

Seems to take quite a long time to opoen an account. Seems foolish, in a sense, that I am willing to give them my money, but they are in no rush to open the account.
Also, the idea of waiting for several emails in order to proceed with the opening of the account, etc., is a waste of time for me. Doing all of this via emails seems a bit un-secure to me. They should allow me to sign-in with my own password and then send secure messages via my 'secure' page.
Security does seem a bit laxed.

Posted: Jan 30, 2009

You can link to CNBBankDirect from other online banks. We have several customers that do it without a problem. We have noticed sometimes other banks won't allow an ACH withdrawal for the test deposits out of a savings account.

Posted: Feb 2, 2009

I was able to link my CNB account from my other online banks. The only one that won't link it is ING. Thanks for the advice.

Posted: Feb 9, 2009

It is very slow to open the account and takes several emails and phone calls to understand the way to do it. I have several online accounts, and this was by far the most difficult. I originally did it for the interest rate, which is no longer the highest, even though they still advertise the highest rates. There are at least 4 banks higher than the 3.20% currently offered. The rate seems to drop each week now, with no notice. I will be closing this out soon. It takes to long for ACHs to show up and I lose money in the process.

Posted: Feb 10, 2009

Been with them for 4 months now. The online interface isn't as intuitive or user friendly like others (HSBC, ING, OnBank) but does the job. ACH transfer in and out are fast. Questions via email get answered within 24 hours. No complaints so far.

Posted: Feb 21, 2009

I agree NY. I've been w/them a couple months. I do think it's time more of us with money there email them about the rate drops. We've lost a full percent in little over 2 months. I realize the state of our economy to be the main factor, but keep that rate near the top or lose my business. I can get .5 percent more by switching at this point.

Posted: Feb 21, 2009

Is it typical for online banks to lower rates this often? It seems the rate on my accounts has dropped 5 times in the past 2 months. Do banks think we won't notice? The Federal Reserve doesn't meet that often so what is impacting the rate change if nothing more than profit? I'm out! Really was not worth the hasle imo.

Posted: Mar 4, 2009

To be fair, even though frequent rate drops over the past couple months are discouraging, rate is still top tier. Although if this keeps going, the rate differential will make the $ difference almost meaningless in absolute terms -- at which point I'll probably make the switch to GMAC (better interface)

Posted: Mar 5, 2009

Just wanted to say thanks to the reviewers above. I was ready to pull the trigger on a new account with CNB but after reading the bad reviews here I've decided otherwise. Just finished opening a high-yield account elsewhere and funding it with the $118,000 CNB would've gotten if they had been competitive. Maybe next year.

Posted: Mar 6, 2009

I just opened and no problems. Not sure why people are complaining about rate. Of course they are going to drop their rate when everyone else does. This is a savings account, not a CD. Still, they are in the top five rates on this site and they seem committed to staying competitive. I'll stick with them for now.

Posted: Mar 6, 2009

I just opened a CNB savings account also. I like being able to sign documents online, saves time. So far so good, but we'll see how long things take. I suspect folks last year may have suffered from a mad rush of people opening accounts to get the 4% rate, but I suspect things have quieted down by now, so I expect better turnaround times. Will post results. Hopefully their rate stays competitive longer than the last account I opened (Dollar Savings plummeted almost 40% two weeks after I opened it)!

Posted: Mar 7, 2009

I've got my money out of CNB Bank Direct. I get alot of errors moving around in the account, which makes me feel a little nervous. Plus I don't see the option of being able to keep your beneficiaries updated online. I'm transferring my money to GMAC with a little lower rate but feel better about it.

Posted: Mar 8, 2009

I've been with CNB for several months now. All transfers in have been very fast. There have been no errors of any type with the interface for me, not sure what Aaron saw. I am 100% satisfied - great rate, no problems.

Posted: Mar 10, 2009

I am very happy with CNB Direct. I opened an account with them several months ago when the rate was 3.50%. it is still 3%. I also opened at the same time with Dollar Savings at 4% which has gone to 2.25% and Wilmington Direct which went from 3.2 to 2.01%. Customer service is also very good.

Posted: Mar 10, 2009

I am very happy with GMAC Bank. The customer service is excellent. The beneficiaries were updated in a couple days and e-mail questions were answered within 24 hours.

Posted: Mar 12, 2009

I haven't actually used the account yet, but I can say that it takes a while to set up the account, much longer than any of the other online accounts I've opened with hsbc, countrywide, or onbank. I've already gone through two long steps and am waiting a few more days for my login and password. Definitely feel as if the process should and could be expedited quite a bit. But the rate on those other accounts is awful now, so I think CNB will be worth the hassle once I start earning a considerably better rate. Hopefully sooner than later. We'll see.

Posted: Mar 14, 2009

All savings accounts are getting cut daily. It really is getting ridiculous. It's not even 1/2 of the annual inflation rate of 5-6%.

I agree CNB Bank took a long time to setup. I think it took me a little over a week to wait for each step.

Posted: Mar 16, 2009

A follow-up posting to my 1/3/09 post... still no complaints other than others' sentiments (rate drops). However, as their rate is still about 1% higher than my HSBC and ING accounts I have kept my money here.

Posted: Mar 18, 2009

Rate now 2.3% from 2.8%. Makes the case to switch back to GMAC more compelling (better interface, equally as quick ACH transfer.... and better rate, at least for now).

Posted: Mar 22, 2009

2.3%...wow!!!! It's dropping like a rock.

Glad i moved back to GMAC BANK a few weeks ago.

jrazzy, I had the same experience.

Posted: Mar 23, 2009

yes. most banks now over 2.5% are intro-promotional rates to lure you in and then drop rapidly in a few weeks.

Very low depressing savings rates right now.

Posted: Mar 31, 2009

I like cnb interest rates and the four star rating but they don't allow joint account. Took several attemps to set up two accounts. While rates have dropped they managed to stay near the top. Would feel much better if they allowed second funding account. Interface is lacking somewhat but staff is friendly and helpful.

Posted: Apr 17, 2009

I've been with CNB for about a year now and the only complaint I have is with their website...it is atrocious and the WORSE one I have ever had (and I have had many). Only being able to have one linked account is also a very bad thing. Otherwise, the service is very prompt.

Posted: Jun 1, 2009

Been with CNB for about 6 months and ditto to everything John said. Rate is still at the top of the non-promotional rates, so my money stays here.

Posted: Jul 27, 2009

Been with CNB for more than 9 months now. Though rate has been dropped but it is still competitive. The service is good and i can see updates on accounts fairly quickly in matter of couple of days. The only thing which need some improvement is the website. Sometimes do get error while navigating to various pages on the website but that does not mean that your money is unsafe. I am satisfied but would still like their website to be improved.

Posted: Aug 6, 2009

Only drawback is the lack of automated download to Quicken.

Posted: Sep 3, 2009

I've had an account here for about 6 months. Haven't had any problems, and I do move money back and forth quite a bit. Glad to see their rate is still among the best.

Posted: Oct 6, 2009