Overview

Union Bank is an American full-service bank with 376 branches in California, Washington and Oregon. It is wholly owned by Japanese Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bank. Union Bank provides a broad spectrum of corporate, commercial, retail banking, and wealth management services. The bank, which was established in 1979, also offers investment banking, personal and corporate trust, capital markets, global custody, transaction banking, and other services.

As of September 30, the bank has $114.4 billion in assets. MUFG Union Bank is a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE: MTU), one of the world’s largest financial organizations with total assets of approximately ¥286.1 trillion or $2.4 trillion (USD)* as of March 31, 2015. MUFG Americas Holdings Corporation, the financial holding company, and MUFG Union Bank, N.A., have corporate headquarters in New York City.

What Are Union Bank’s Checking and Savings Accounts Like?

Union Bank has a flexible range of checking accounts that allow users to decide what features and perks they want to include. It has four main accounts:

Banking By Design, Ready To Go Checking, Signature Banking, and Priority Banking. These are the main features and benefits of each account.
Design By Banking is a basic checking account that allows users only to pay for the functions that are important to them. It has a $100 minimum opening deposit and $3 monthly service fee ($4 if you need paper statements). You can waive this fee if you have a monthly direct deposit of at least $250. Opening a personal savings account costs $1.50 per month. An optional $3 monthly fee gives you two “free” accesses to non-Union Bank ATMs.

Ready to Go Checking has all the basics plus unlimited check supply and a personal savings account at no extra cost. You do have to pay extra for the non-Union Bank ATM access, cashier checks and money orders, and incoming wire transfers. The monthly fee is $8 and can be avoided if you have a direct deposit of at least $500 or you keep a monthly balance of $1,500. A combined average monthly balance of $5,000 in their savings and checking accounts will also work.

Signature Banking is an excellent option for those looking for additional benefits and perks from their checking account. It includes free access to non-Union Bank ATMs (although international ATMs do include a fee), a personal savings bank, free cashier’s checks and money orders, no charge for stop payments, and pays interest. The monthly fee $18 ($20 for paper statements) and the minimum opening deposit is $100. You can avoid the fee if you keep a combined average monthly balance of $25,000.

The Priority Banking account offers premium banking features and higher rewards. It includes unlimited free access to all ATMs (national and international), unlimited wire transfers, no annual custodial fee on IRA account and access to priority banking client services. The monthly service fee is $30, and the minimum opening deposit is $100. You can avoid the fee if you keep a combined balance of $50,000.

Savings Account

Union Bank offers a simple personal savings account that provides access to money market account features. It only takes $50 to open an account. The higher your balance, the more interest you earn. Savings account rates range from 0.01% APY ($0 to $2,500) to 0.15 (over $1 million). The money market account requires a minimum deposit of $2,500. Interest rates on the money market accounts range from 0.01% APY to 0.10%.

What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages of Union Bank’s Checking And Savings Accounts?

We love this about Union Bank:

• Flexible features and services 
• Pay only for the services you need
• Low mínimum deposit
• Wide selection of checking accounts
• Several ways to avoid monthly service fees
• Free non-Union Bank ATM access for certain users

We don’t like this about Union Bank:

• Low-interest rates
• High mínimum balances for higher interest rates
• Fees for regular banking procedures
• Only wealthy users receive prime features and services