GN Bank review: Black-owned bank with a large free ATM network

May 24, 2021

The bottom line: You may like GN Bank if you want to work with a Black-owned bank that gives back to its community. But it isn’t the best institution for earning high interest rates.

Overall bank rating

Feature	Insider rating (out of 5)
Savings	3.5
Checking	3.75
CD	3.75
Money market account	2.5
Trustworthiness	5
Total	3.7

Pros and cons

Pros	Cons
Black-owned bank Large free ATM network Competitive interest rates on longer-term CDs	Low interest rates on most accounts High monthly service fees if you don’t qualify to waive them Money market account doesn’t include a debit card or paper checks

Savings

GN Bank Statement Savings Account

The GN Bank mobile app doesn’t have many online reviews yet. So far, it has 3.2 out of 5 stars in the Apple store, and 4.2 out of 5 stars in the Google Play store.

Your deposits are FDIC insured for up to $250,000, or up to $500,000 for joint accounts.

Is GN Bank trustworthy?

GN Bank doesn’t have any recent public controversies.

The Better Business Bureau gives GN Bank an A+ in trustworthiness. A good BBB score indicates a company responds effective to customer complaints, advertises honestly, and is transparent about business practices.

A strong BBB score doesn’t guarantee you’ll have a good relationship with GN Bank, though. You still may want to read online customer reviews or ask family and friends about the experiences with the bank.

How GN Bank compares to similar banks

We’ve compared GN Bank to two other Black-owned banks you can access in Chicago: Liberty Bank and Trust and OneUnited Bank.

GN	Liberty Bank	OneUnited Bank
Chicago branches 2	Chicago branches 1	Chicago branches None; online
Savings rate 0.01% APY	Savings rate Varies by region	Savings rate 0.10% APY
Open an account	Open an account	Open an account

GN Bank vs. Liberty Bank and Trust

Although Liberty Bank and Trust savings rates vary depending on where you live, its rates are generally much higher than what you’d earn with GN Bank. Liberty also pays high rates on CDs.

But Liberty requires a minimum $500 balance to waive the monthly service fee on your checking account, while GN Bank only requires $100. If you don’t expect to keep a $500 balance in checking, you may prefer GN Bank.

GN Bank vs. OneUnited Bank

OneUnited Bank doesn’t have any branches in Chicago, but you can bank online from around the US. You may like OneUnited if you’re comfortable banking digitally, but if not, GN Bank is the clear choice between the two.

OneUnited has early direct deposit features, so it could process your paychecks up to two days early. This is especially convenient if you live paycheck to paycheck and need money fast.

About the author

Laura Grace Tarpley is an editor at Personal Finance Insider, covering bank reviews and guides. She is also a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF). Over her five years of covering personal finance, she has written extensively about ways to save.

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Personal Finance Insider team. We occasionally highlight financial products and services that can help you make smarter decisions with your money. We do not give investment advice or encourage you to adopt a certain investment strategy. What you decide to do with your money is up to you. If you take action based on one of our recommendations, we get a small share of the revenue from our commerce partners. This does not influence whether we feature a financial product or service. We operate independently from our advertising sales team.

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