Sallie Mae Bank Reviews (45)

Rated 2.07 stars out of 5 - based on 29 reviews with ratings
  • Aug 2, 2023 |

    Online CDs 18 Month Rates

    Sallie mae is just a horrible institution. We've done business with them before and swore on the holy bible not to go near there again, but a 18 mos cd at 5.55% brought us back.

  • Feb 28, 2023 |

    How often do people agree? When the overall rating is two stars, then this bank has to be terrible. Try finding multiple deposit accounts; try waiting on your deposit to post due to them floating your funds to and from an external account; the website is geared for transfers and loans, not you tracking your funds. The web designer was clueless in developing this system for users. If you are shaky in your computer knowledge or timid on transferring funds, this is not the bank for you. For peace of mind, you can do much better elsewhere. Again, check the star rating. Are they listening to their customers?

  • Feb 10, 2023 |

    They will now lock you out of your account until you contact them personally whenever you add an external bank that is not in their system. If it's a big name bank there's no problem but if it's not then prepare to be inconvenienced big time. To top it off you can't have more than 3 external banks. I closed my accounts due to this ridiculous new hoop to jump through.

  • Nov 30, 2022 |

    Sallie Mae managed to lose our $500,000 account and all the goodwill that had been built over 10 years plus as customers in one simple phone call. Their CSR began screaming at me when I inquired about a product that I saw advertised by something called Save Better. She said "We don't match Save Better. They set their own rates" and went on fuming over the inquiry. My husband and I were both aghast and now we're gone. You should be too.

  • Sep 11, 2022 |

    If I could leave a -10 star review I would do it in a. This is a classic example of a ridiculously unmanaged government program with zero oversight and zero sensibility.

    In April 2022 I applied for a student loan for my sons flight school. I had a few credit cards and a couple of car notes on my credit report and had about a 740 credit rating.

    I requested a loan in the amount of $113,000 and they wanted 8.75% interest rate on a 15 year loan. That was ridiculous as I haven’t had an interest rate that high since I was in college. I am now 54 I’ve had my home since 2006 never a late payment I have been employed by the same company for 21 years as a professional pilot. There are no negatives whatsoever on my credit report. I had to call them five different times because it took ten days when I reapplied for $100,000 loan and every single time I was on hold for a solid hour or more to get a human being that not once offered any sensible assistance.

    I reapplied for a lesser amount given the horrific interest rate. I had since paid off three cars, all credit cards and I have zero short-term debt. I have a primary mortgage that is well within my means and a second mortgage on a rented rental home. I also have a boat payment that is more than half paid off . Those are the only three line items on my credit report and I have well over $150,000 available credit in credit cards. They all have a zero balance. I also show an 820+ credit rating on all three bureaus.

    During one of my five phone calls the person on the telephone attempted to educate me on how credit scores are calculated. I really wish I had said, do you think with my credit rating that I don’t know how to use credit properly? I did not say that, I did ask her why on earth with my credit rating and my credit file how they now have come back with a 14.75% interest rate, the highest one they can charge.

    She had no answer, only to try and educate me on credit scores and informed me that it was automatically done by the computer and there was nothing she could do, needless to say this is a broken system with zero oversight no accountability and no common sense.

    They have you over a barrel when it comes to flight school training they are literally one of the only ones that will offer a student loan for this type of school.

    If anyone out there thinks that Sallie Mae is a good option for any financing I would think again I would look long and hard to avoid dealing with these morons at any cost.

  • Aug 5, 2022 |

    Aweful customer service sending nasty and condescending emails when asked if they would match their own rates through this save better scam. I was told to get lost and I will.

  • Jul 27, 2022 |

    I've been a customer since the beginning. I called with an inquiry and some woman started arguing with me that it is no longer Sallie Mae but is now called Smarty something. Between this experience and an antiquated website, I am now in the market for a better brand.

  • Apr 20, 2022 |

    The rates are sometimes competitive, but navigating the website is like trying to find a Monet in a yard sale.

  • Nov 6, 2021 |

    Website agonizingly SLOOOOOWWW. Only 3 linked external accounts allowed.

  • Aug 4, 2020 |

    Sallie Mae is going to absolutely be the right bank for you if you enjoy calling during normal business hours and speaking with a automated voice response system that gives you no information and refuses to pass you to a human.

  • Aug 1, 2020 | | Replies 2

    terrible website but transfers are instantaneous and service is solid.

    Gunner | Dec 28, 2021

    I agree with a terrible website, but while the transactions may seem instantaneous, the hold/wait time on your money deposited or transferred is ridiculous. I rate them one star.

    Gunner | Dec 28, 2021

    I agree with a terrible website, but while the transactions may seem instantaneous, the hold/wait time on your money deposited or transferred is ridiculous. I rate them one star.

  • Apr 13, 2020 |

    I've been with Sallie since 2013. I've had as much as $210,000 in their MM. They have always floated your deposit/withdrawals to their advantage (late deposits to the SM account, but early withdrawals from SM but several days before transfers show up to the nonSM account.) Recently though, the dividend rates have nose dived without notice (from 2.25% (Jan) down to 1.35% today). So much so, that even this site can't keep track of the current untimely rate change. Makes you wonder if they are going under too. The website is a mess. Recent changes makes it difficult for you to find your transaction history. Whoever deisigned it should have consulted a user/layman before deploying the new design. I am steadily moving funds out, so do your due diligence before jumping on board. As is, this is not the account to open. Five thumbs down

  • Mar 4, 2020 |

    Competitive rate, poor transfer time to and from account, and the worst online access screen. Difficult to find your history transactions. However, Sallie Mae clutters the initial screen with fund transfer screens that never displays incoming or outgoing transactions.

  • Feb 14, 2020 |

    I've been an account holder since 2011. The original website was ok, but it worked. The current one does not. Now they have gone from immediate external transfers to five days. I will wrap this up when my CDs mature.

  • Jan 16, 2020 |

    Online CDs 12 Month Rates

    Sallie Mae's website is awful. Plus, I opened myself up to a lifetime's worth of spam and garbage email. Who knows who they sold my email to as well. I cannot wait for my CD to mature so I can be done with this. Not worth the additional few pennies.

  • Dec 18, 2019 |

    Online CDs 12 Month Rates

    Impossible to have a CD with this bank because they will harass you with mail and emails trying to get you to have a worthless credit card or borrow from this. It is fine otherwise. Website still not good after redesign.

  • Oct 1, 2019 | | Replies 2

    It is quite a feat, but new website is even worse than the old one!

    Heronva | Jan 6, 2020

    I Agree.

    Heronva | Jan 6, 2020

    I Agree.

  • Dec 6, 2018 | | Replies 1

    I have been pretty happy with Sallie for many years. The MM account is now paying 2.20%. They have been bombarding me with emails to get me to open a Smartypig account with them that pays 1.75%. Why would they send me these emails and why would I do that?

    JP Thero | Feb 14, 2020

    It is all about cross selling. That is where they are making all their money. More absurd still are the emails to say that you've been preapproved for some worthless Sallie credit card.

  • Nov 25, 2018 |

    I have a money market account with Sallie Mae. I enjoy consistently making one of the highest rates here. There are three things I really do not like. First, you need to transfer money in or out on a Tuesday. They don't do transfers on Monday, and any transfer later in the week won't be credited until the following week. Second, the hold times are odd. Deposits over $5,000 are on hold for 2 weeks. Third, they are always trying to convince me to switch my money to something stupid called Smarty Pig which pays a lower rate. If you cannot put up with these three odd things, this one is not for you.

  • Sep 10, 2018 |

    I have been very happy with Sallie's rates, but I cannot stand the transfer process. If you set up an incoming "immediate transfer", you don't see the date until you confirm the transaction and the date is 2 days later. Outgoing immediate transfers are also one day longer than Ally or Purepoint. Those get 5 stars. This one only three.

  • Aug 18, 2018 |

    We have an account here and it has always been as good as any of the other ones.

  • Jul 7, 2018 |

    Worse still, if you set up a transfer on a Thursday, the money will be pulled from your other account immediately, but you won't be credited until the following Monday. And, you don't know that they are doing this until you enter "immediate transfer" and get the confirmation and cannot cancel it. The rates are always good and I have never had any problems but this should be illegal!

  • May 31, 2018 |

    I have been a customer for a long time. The rate is always good; the website is always lousy. The thing that has always annoyed me has been the long hold periods on transfers.
    Transfers over $5,000 are always locked up for 2 weeks so when I switched most of my money to Purepoint and felt like I had just been released from jail.

  • May 28, 2018 |

    I like the fact that the rates move up a little faster than Ally but the website is difficult to use.

  • May 3, 2018 |

    I find transfer times in very frustrating. I cannot see the date for immediate transfers until I press enter. If I enter a big transfer in on a Thursday, the date will be the following Monday and I am out a weekend of interest. The transfers out are processed immediately and show up in my Bank of America account the next morning and there are no limits.

  • Jan 10, 2018 |

    They raise rates and that is good, but then they slow down in and out transfer speeds to pay for it! 1-star as a savings account. CDs here may be better.

  • Nov 18, 2017

    Transfer times are too long! They are conning you on the float.

  • Aug 16, 2017 |

    I opened an account here recently. Have had no problems, although the website isn't the most userfreildly.

  • Jul 25, 2017 |

    I love how you set up an inbound transfer, hit enter, and then see a confirmation that the money won't be deposited in your account for 4 days. Yet, they pull the money from your corresponding account right away anyway.

  • May 19, 2017 |

    The person who created the website should be forced to try and change a transfer date or amount. The person who manages the phone support should be forced to try to call in with an inquiry ...

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