{"menuItems":[{"label":"Am I eligible?","anchorName":"#am-i-eligible"},{"label":"What banking products does Suncoast offer?","anchorName":"#what-banking-products-does-suncoast-offer"},{"label":"How does Suncoast compare to other banks?","anchorName":"#how-does-suncoast-compare-to-other-banks"},{"label":"Compare with leading bank and credit union accounts","anchorName":"#compare-with-leading-bank-and-credit-union-accounts"},{"label":"Suncoast customer service","anchorName":"#suncoast-customer-service"},{"label":"Bottom line","anchorName":"#bottom-line"},{"label":"Frequently asked questions","anchorName":"#frequently-asked-questions"}]}
Suncoast Credit Union offers decent rates considering it’s primarily a brick-and-mortar provider, and might appeal to folks in western Florida hoping to stash cash away in long-term certificates. But it isn’t the most competitive when it comes to variety of products and high-yield savings.
Am I eligible?
To join, you must meet at least one of the following criteria:
Someone in your immediate family is a member.
You live in Florida — specifically, in one of the counties Suncoast services.
You’re an alumnus of Florida College.
Counties that Suncoast serves include:
Alachua
Brevard
Broward
Charlotte
Citrus
Clay
Collier
DeSoto
Dixie
Duval
Gilchrist
Glades
Hardee
Hernando
Highlands
Hillsborough
Indian River
Lake
Lee
Leon
Levy
Manatee
Marion
Martin
Miami-Dade
Monroe
Orange
Osceola
Palm Beach
Pasco
Pinellas
Polk
Sarasota
Seminole
St. Johns
St. Lucie
Sumter
Volusia
What banking products does Suncoast offer?
Suncoast offers a large suite of personal and business bank accounts.
Personal
With a Suncoast checking or savings account, you’ll get access to its online and mobile banking tools, including direct deposit capabilities.
Checking
Each time you swipe your debit card, Suncoast donates two cents towards helping kids in the community via the Suncoast Credit Union Foundation. Its checking accounts include:
Teen Checking. For adolescents 13 and older, this account is free to open and maintain, with no minimum balance required. Cash grows at a small 0.05% APY, and a parent or legal guardian needs to sign on as joint owner.
Smart Checking. It’s free to open and maintain, there’s no minimum balance required, and your cash will grow at 0.05% APY.
Savings
To become a member with Suncoast Credit Union, you’ve got to open and maintain a Regular Share Membership savings account. Consider it an access pass that doubles as a savings account.
Regular Share Membership. There’s no monthly maintenance fees, and you need $5 to get started. Then, to stay a member you must maintain a balance of at least $5. Expect an APY of 0.15%.
Special Share. Save for a special occasion like a vacation or a wedding, with no minimum balance required. Deposit $5 to get started, and expect funds to grow at about 0.15% APY.
Smart Start Certificate. Start with a $50 opening balance, and commit to depositing $40 a month for 12 months. At that point, you’ll have saved over $500 plus interest which accumulates at 1.25% APY.
Share Certificate. Deposit $500 initially and watch your money grow at APYs ranging from 1% to 2.25% for term lengths you choose ranging between six and 60 months. You’re penalized for withdrawing cash early.
Jumbo Certificates. Start with $100,000 and choose a term length between six and 60 months, with APYs ranging from 1% to 2.45%. Note that you’ll be penalized for withdrawing funds early.
Other personal products
Retirement. Plan finances for your sunset years with special tax sheltered accounts and saving plans.
Health savings. Set up a Health Savings Account (HSA) to help fund medical costs that your regular insurance doesn’t cover.
College savings. Start an Education Savings Account (ESA) to earn tax-free interest on savings allocated towards your child’s education.
Loans. Borrow money to fund a personal or vehicle loan.
Mortgage. Take out a mortgage to buy a house in the sunshine state. After pre-approval, your interest rate will be locked in for at least 60 days.
Investing. Partner with an investment advisor to map out and manage your investment portfolio.
Insurance. Buy personal, vehicle or property insurance as a backup plan for worst-case scenarios.
Business
Suncoast offers a wide range of solutions for business owners, from payroll support to insurance. You’ll get a free debit card to use with your Suncoast business accounts, with access to Suncoast and CO-OP ATMs throughout Florida.
Similar to the personal accounts, you’ll need to open a Business Regular Savings account with a $5 deposit to kick-start a business-banking relationship.
Checking
Business Smart Checking. No monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements, though you’ll need to deposit $50 to get started with this account. Get 200 debit or credit transactions for free each statement period, then pay $0.20 for each swipe thereafter.
Business Classic Checking. There’s a $20 monthly maintenance fee, but you can avoid it by keeping at least $2,000 in the account. Get started with a $50 deposit. You’ll get 300 free transactions each statement period, but will be charged $0.10 for each excess swipe.
Savings
Business Regular Savings. Deposit $5 to get started, and keep at least $5 in the account to remain an eligible Suncoast business member. Expect funds to grow at an APY of 0.15%.
Business Special Savings. Similar to the Business Regular Savings, but there’s no minimum balance required. Save for a specific event with an APY of 0.15% and withdraw funds when the time comes.
Business Share Certificate. Deposit $500 to open this account, with term lengths ranging between six to 60 months and APYs from 1% to 2.25%. But you’ll be penalized for withdrawing cash early.
Business Jumbo Certificate. Choose term lengths between six to 60 months, with APYs ranging between 1% to 2.45%, respectively. But you’ll need to deposit at least $100,000 to get started and you won’t have access to the money until the term is up.
Money Market
Business Money Market. Tiered interest rates mean the more you save, the more you’ll earn. You’ll need to deposit $1,000 to open the account, then APYs climb accordingly — though rates are variable, meaning they could change over time.
Balance
Estimated APY
$0–$999.99
0.15%
$1,000–$24,999.99
0.35%
$25,000–$49,000
0.45%
$50,000–$99,999
0.75%
$100,000–250,000
0.90%
$250,000+
1.10%
Other business products
Credit card. Charge travel, supplied or other business needs to the Suncoast Business Platinum VISA, earning one point for each $1 spent.
Commercial loans. Borrow funds to grow your company, from vehicles and equipment to real estate.
Insurance. It partners with Members Insurance Center to provide general liability insurance, as well as commercial property insurance, workers compensation, auto coverage and more.
How does Suncoast compare to other banks?
Suncoast is focused on serving sunshine state residents. Suncoast Credit Union is a nonprofit and owned by its members which typically means lower fees overall.
Checking accounts
Pros
No monthly fees. All checking accounts are free to open and maintain — except for the Business Classic Checking, which has an avoidable $20 monthly fee.
Interest-bearing options. Both of Suncoast’s personal checking accounts earn 0.05% APY.
Low minimum deposits. You can open personal checking accounts with as little as $5 and business checking accounts with $50.
Cons
Small selection of checking accounts. There’s only one personal checking account for adults and it doesn’t offer much in terms of rewards or special perks.
Small transaction limits on business accounts. You’ll get 300 free transactions a month at most, which means Suncoast may not be ideal if your monthly activity typically exceeds these limits.
Low APYs for checking. Although most checking accounts don’t earn interest, there are other banks that offer higher APYs.
Savings accounts
Pros
Several account options. Choose from two personal savings accounts and two business savings accounts.
Automatic savings features. Set up automatic transfers to have money sent from checking to savings on a regular basis. Or, sign up for payroll deduction and have part of your paycheck automatically deposited in savings on when you get paid.
Cons
Low APYs. All of Suncoast’s personal and business savings accounts earn 0.15% APY, while most high-yield savings accounts at other banks have rates above 1.5%.
Excessive transaction limit. Like other savings accounts, if you make more than six outgoing transactions a month, you’ll pay a fee or risk having your account closed. But check with the provider to see if this rule is temporarily suspended.
Cash withdraw limits. Each Suncoast savings account comes with an ATM card, but you can’t withdraw more than $615 a day.
CDs
Pros
Share certificates have high yield potential. A 60-month share certificate of $500 will earn a 2.25% APY, which is fairly competitive in the market.
Low opening deposits. Regular CDs have a low $500 minimum deposit requirement, while other financial institutions have minimums as high as $10,000.
Several account options. Suncoast offers regular CDs, Jumbo CDs, Teen CDs and a Smart Start CD where you can save $40 a month until you have at least $500 saved up for a regular CD.
Cons
Early withdrawal penalties. You’ll pay a penalty equal to 90 days to 180 days interest if you need to access the funds in your CD before it matures.
Can’t directly apply online. You’ll need to visit a local branch, call customer service or send a secure email through your Suncoast account portal to open a CD.
Overall banking
Pros
Easy ATM access. Suncoast is part of the CO-OP ATM network in Florida, which means you can use tens of thousands of ATMs around the state for free.
Membership perks. Suncoast members get access to free financial literacy workshops and webinars, free financial counseling and more.
Cons
Limited customer service hours. Representatives keep bank hours and can’t be reached over the phone on Sundays. You can call between 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays
Strict membership requirements. Suncoast is only available to people in western Florida, so outsiders should look elsewhere.
No shared branching. Unlike other credit unions, Suncoast doesn’t participate in shared branching, so in-person support is limited to its 66 branch locations.
Compare with leading bank and credit union accounts
Suncoast customer service
You can reach a Suncoast Credit Union representative via:
Phone. 800-999-5887 or 813-621-751
Social media. Send a message through Facebook or Twitter.
Snail mail. Address your note to:
PO Box 11904
Tampa, FL 33680
Bottom line
If you’re a ride-or-die Florida resident and are looking for a full-service, locally operated institution, you might be drawn to Suncoast’s solid reputation and fee-free accounts. But folks hoping for more variety and a national presence should see what other providers have to offer.
Frequently asked questions
263 182 817 is Suncoast Credit Union’s routing number.
Suncoast Credit Union’s Member Care Center is open weekdays 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. Note that customer service is closed on Sundays.
Visit a Suncoast branch or call customer service at 800-999-5887 ext. 88400 to open a savings account with Suncoast Credit Union.
Head to Suncoast’s ATM locator, input your ZIP code and hit, FIND LOCATIONS.
Amy Stoltenberg manages newsletters at Finder, gathering the best articles each week to help subscribers save money and stretch their hard-earned dollars. She also handles the Twitter account, dabbling in Instagram and Facebook too. When she's not on the computer, you can find her exploring Los Angeles with a good book in tow. She studied writing at Savannah College of Art and Design and has been featured on the Zoe Report.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser Disclosure
finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
