Live Oak Bank review

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Overall bank rating

Pros and cons

The Live Oak Bank Online Savings Account doesn’t require a minimum opening deposit (must have at least $0.01 to earn interest) or charge monthly fees. It also pays a competitive interest rate.

Depositing and receiving cash are the tricky parts. Although you can transfer funds into your account and deposit checks digitally, there’s no way to deposit cash.  You’ll have to transfer funds to an external bank account, which can take a couple of business days.

Live Oak’s minimum deposit of $2,500 is pretty steep. If you don’t have $2,500 on hand, you can open a CD with less at another online bank.

How Live Oak Bank works

Live Oak is an online bank with a savings account and CDs. Not many customers have reviewed the mobile app in the Apple or Google Play stores, but the average review ratings so far are mediocre.

Speak to a customer service representative over the phone Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET. There’s no customer support available on weekends. There’s no live online chat feature, but you can fill out an online form and wait for a response.

Your deposits are FDIC insured for $250,000, or $500,000 for a joint account.

Live Oak Bank trustworthiness and BBB ratings

The Better Business grades companies’ trustworthiness. The current grade for Live Oak Bank is an A+ rating. 

A good BBB rating won’t guarantee that a bank will be right for you. If you want to get a better picture of whether a bank may be good for you, make sure to get perspectives from friends, family, or online reviews. 

In 2021, Live Oak Bank and digital banking platform Apiture agreed to pay $4.65 million in a settlement that accused Live Oak Bank, Apiture, and nCino of having an agreement where they would not hire employees from other companies in Wilmington, North Carolina so the three banking companies could avoid offering competitive salaries.

Live Oak Bank vs. Ally

For a full banking experience, you’ll likely prefer Ally to Live Oak Bank. Ally is the only financial institution of the three to offer checking and money market accounts.

Live Oak Bank has a pretty straightforward and simple saving account – there’s no minimum opening deposit and no monthly services. Meanwhile, Ally has savings tools that let you sort your money into “savings buckets” to help you save for financial goals. 

Live Oak Bank vs. Marcus

Live Oak Bank and Marcus have  similar savings accounts that require no minimum opening deposit and no monthly service fees. 

If you don’t have a lot of money to deposit into your CD, Marcus might be a stronger contender than Live Oak Bank. Marcus has a minimum opening deposit of $500 and also no-penalty CDs.

Laura Grace Tarpley, CEPF

Personal Finance Reviews Editor

Laura Grace Tarpley (she/her) is a personal finance reviews editor at Insider. She edits articles about mortgage rates, refinance rates, lenders, bank accounts, wealth building, and borrowing and savings tips for Personal Finance Insider. She was a writer and editor for Insider’s “The Road to Home” series, which won a Silver award from the National Associate of Real Estate Editors. She is also a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF).
She has written about personal finance for over six years. Before joining the Insider team, she was a freelance finance writer for companies like SoFi and The Penny Hoarder, as well as an editor at FluentU. You can reach Laura Grace at ltarpley@insider.com.
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