Prime Alliance Bank Personal Money Market

Prime Alliance Bank is a small Utah chartered bank based in Woods Cross that has quietly run one of the better nationally available deposit rates for years. It is not a marketing driven online brand, and the website reflects that: sparse, dated in places, and light on the product theater you get from larger competitors. What it offers instead is a straightforward rate. The Personal Money Market pays 3.75% APY on a 3.69% interest rate, with interest credited monthly. There is a single tier, so the rate applies to the whole balance regardless of size. Prime Alliance charges no monthly maintenance fee and imposes no minimum balance requirement, which is a rarer combination than it sounds among accounts paying near the top of the market. Deposits are FDIC insured and the bank states this plainly on the product page. The account allows unlimited deposits and up to six withdrawals or transfers per month. The fine print starts with the rate's status. Prime Alliance states that both the rate and the APY are variable and may change without notice, and the bank does not publish a rate effective date on the money market page, which makes it harder to tell how fresh a posted number is than at banks that timestamp their rate sheets. Confirm the current APY directly before funding. Access is the weak point. This is a savings vehicle, not a spending account. Third party reviews report that Prime Alliance does not issue a debit or ATM card with the money market account, and the six withdrawal per month limit carries a $25 charge per transaction beyond it, which is steep compared with the $10 that is more typical. There is no meaningful branch network outside Utah either, so account servicing happens by phone and online. This is a good fit for a set and forget balance: an emergency fund, a tax reserve, a down payment being held for a year. If you rarely touch the money, 3.75% with no fee and no minimum is close to the best available terms and beats most of the better known online banks by half a point or more. Skip it if you need cash access, since there is no card. Skip it if you move money frequently, because $25 per excess withdrawal punishes activity hard. And if you are the type who wants a polished app, timestamped rate disclosures and 24 hour support, a larger online bank will be a better experience even at a slightly lower rate.