Emerald Bank Rates & Review

Emerald Bank Review

Emerald Bank is a relative newcomer to the retail deposit market, serving central Ohio only since 2004. Its acquisition in 2007 by a larger bank has helped make its presence known further afield.

Emerald Bank was established in 2004, and operates from two sites in central Ohio: Dublin and Westerville, both of which are just north of Columbus. It provides a selection of banking services for local people and businesses alike, including Emerald eCorp Cash Management, which helps companies to manage their money effectively.

Since April 2007, Emerald Bank has been owned by Middlefield Banc Corp., founded in 1901 as the Middlefield Banking Company. On June 30, 2010, the corporation had total assets of $606.9 million.

Checking and savings account choices

Emerald Bank currently offers three types of checking account:

• Free Checking -- no monthly service fee, and no minimum balances
• Emerald Checking -- pays interest and no monthly fee when minimum balance conditions met
• Emerald 50 -- for those over 50 years old, lower threshold to avoid minimum balance fee

The bank also has a money market account, as well as two principal savings accounts:

• Emerald Prime Saving -- interest rate is pegged to the prime lending rate
• Emerald Savings Account -- low minimum balance to avoid monthly fees

There are three other savings accounts. One of these is tailored for children, one for those wanting to save for holidays, and the third is the Emerald Health Savings Account. In addition there are two CD products, one of which requires a low initial investment, and has term deposit options ranging from three months to five years. The other is an IRA CD.

Eligible deposits in all these accounts are insured in accordance with current FDIC requirements.

Emerald Bank gets an A

At the time of writing (2010), Emerald Bank is a A-rated BBB-accredited business with no registered complaints for the past 36 months.