Western Alliance Bank with Raisin Review

Western Alliance CD Visit Site

Advantages Over Traditional Banks

Raisin partners with over 400 credit unions and banks to help you find high-yield savings and CD accounts. When you open an account through Raisin, the company is able to offer you higher interest rates because it receives revenue from advertising. 

Additionally, unlike traditional banks, Raisin doesn’t charge any monthly maintenance fees, meaning you get to keep all of the interest you earn. Another benefit of using Raisin is that you only need to deposit $1 to open a CD account. Most banks require a minimum deposit of $500-$2,500, making Raisin a great option for college students or those on a tight budget who still want to save. 

Additionally, Raisin doesn’t require you to place all of your funds in one account. Rather, you can split your money across as many accounts as you want. You also don’t have to worry about creating an account for each bank you sign up with. This is because Raisin holds your money in a custodial account managed by Lewis & Clark Bank, which pools all of your funds together. 

Cutting-Edge Banking Services 

It takes just a few minutes to sign up for Raisin. Once you log into the dashboard you can view all of your account information in one place—including your account sum and total interest earned—even if you’ve opened accounts with multiple banks. Raisin also allows you to complete all of your transfers online, which typically takes one to three business days to process. 

Additionally, you can browse all of Raisin’s product offerings entirely online, and you can even sort them according to APY rates to see which banks offer the highest. 

Traditional Banking Services

While Raisin doesn’t offer checking or business accounts, you can find many of the same accounts as traditional banks, including CD and no-penalty CD accounts, savings accounts, and money market accounts. 

Like many other traditional banks, you can manage all of your funds with Raisin online. However, Raisin does not have any physical branch locations, ATMs, or credit/debit card services. 

Interest Rates and Fees 

Raisin is unique in that it doesn’t charge any fees for its services.  Additionally, you won’t have to pay any monthly maintenance fees to the partner bank you sign on with. Typically, savings accounts at national banks charge monthly fees if you don’t qualify for a waiver, which can cut into the interest income you earn. 

Western Alliance Bank offers high-yield and no-penalty CDs up to 5.41% APY. 

Customer Service and Online Experience

Raisin offers several avenues for getting in touch with customer service. These include:

Phone: 844-994-3276 (Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm ET)

Email: support.us@raisin.com

AI live chat: Access through the Raisin website 

Raisin has a rating of A with the Better Business Bureau and has been accredited since 2022. It also has 3.7 out of five on Trustpilot, based on 48 reviews. Many of the negative reviews on both sites relate to Raisin's customer service, with users being on hold for over 45 minutes or having to call multiple times. There are also reports that it can take a few days to hear back from email support representatives. 

However, the company’s FAQs page is very robust, and the AI chat tool is intuitive and user-friendly. You should therefore be able to get most of your questions answered via the website. Here, you can also find detailed guides on how to save money and comprehensive information on CD accounts—what they are, how they work, and how to choose the right one for your needs. 

Mobile App  

Raisin offers a mobile app, which is available for download on Android and iOS devices. The app allows you to transfer funds, as well as view your account balances and how much interest you’ve accrued. 

The Raisin app doesn’t have a rating on the Google Play Store, but it has 2.2 out of five stars on the Apple App Store, based on 19 reviews. Most of the complaints are about the app itself and not Raisin’s product offerings. Some users have complained that the dashboard isn’t very intuitive and that it’s difficult to do much more than view your account balance. 

Additionally, users noted that you need to undergo two-factor authentication every time you sign in, and you can’t use Touch ID or Face ID. However, these extra protocols are common in banking apps and are likely intended to protect customers’ identities.

Security 

Raisin only partners with NCUA-insured credit unions and FDIC-insured banks, so all of your deposits with Raisin are protected with up to $250,000 in federal insurance. However, the company does not have a dedicated fraud team.

Raisin enables two-factor authentication when logging into its platform, which is also SOC 2 compliant. This means it has met the requirements outlined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to ensure it has the correct controls in place to keep customers' data secure and private.  

Summary

Raisin is a unique platform that gives you access to some of the best CD rates on the market. You only need to deposit $1 to open a CD account, which is a much more affordable deposit than traditional banks offer. Additionally, Raisin doesn’t charge any monthly maintenance fees, so all of the interest you earn goes into your pocket. 

Signing up for an account is easy. You can do it entirely online, and you even have the option to open multiple accounts with one of Raisin’s 400+ partner financial institutions such as Western Alliance. The website interface is user-friendly and easy to navigate, and you can view all of your account information through Raisin’s dashboard. 

In addition to phone and email customer service, Raisin offers a plethora of useful information on its website, including a blog, an FAQs section, and savings guides. It also offers detailed information on CD accounts and how to choose between a traditional CD account or a no-penalty CD account. 

Western Alliance CD Visit Site

Methodology

This review was compiled using information from the Raisin website, by speaking to Raisin customer service representatives, and by engaging with the Raisin AI chat. Information was also pulled from Trustpilot, the Better Business Bureau, and the Apple App Store.