Optum Bank started operating on July 21, 2003, in Salt Lake City, Utah, as a Utah state-chartered industrial loan corporation. Optum Bank is part of the financial services unit of Optum, a health and wellness company serving more than 115 million people. Optum is part of the United Health Group (NYSE:UNH) family of companies. Optum Bank services close to 5.6 million HSAs and holds more than $12 billion in HSA assets, making it one of the largest administrators in the industry.

Report Card for Optum Bank

as a Spending Vehicle

Fees for Individuals (Non-Employer Group)

The best HSAs for spenders are characterized by low maintenance fees. Optum Bank's $2.75 monthly maintenance fee is a little higher than we’d like to see, but can be avoided by holding $3,000 in the HSA checking account. To avoid this fee, consider maxing out your HSA as quickly as possible.  

The best HSAs for spenders also have very few behavioral fees. Behavioral fees are not recurring in nature, but can be incurred by the account holder when a certain action is executed. Optum Bank’s fee schedule only has a few behavioral fees that are easily avoidable.

Below we have reconstructed Optum Bank's fee schedule to exhibit fees spenders are most likely to encounter.

In the chart below you can compare Optum Bank's fees with its top competitors.

The chart below shows maintenance fees charged for account balances ranging from $0 to $10,000 for the 10 best spender HSAs. As you can see in the chart, Optum Bank charges a maintenance fee to participants with balances in the HSA checking account ranging from $0 - $3,000. Once account holders accumulate more than $3,000 in their HSA checking account they are no longer charged a maintenance fee.

Value Added

Participants can achieve significant savings when administrators give healthcare consumers the proper tools to make smart health care spending choices.

First and foremost, account holders need a readily available tool that exhibits eligible expenses. The list of expenses is ever growing and consumers should be equipped with an easy to use tool. Also, a tool that combs through a participants credit cards and bank accounts for eligible expenses is a nice feature.

• Optum has a nice qualified medical expense tool that is available on a desktop and a mobile platform. Furthermore, Optum has recently opened the Optum Store, where you can buy HSA eligible products in a snap.

Administrators can go even further to help spenders save money on healthcare expenses by partnering with healthcare companies providing eligible medical expenses on the servicing or product side of the equation.

• Optum has the luxury of being a large corporation with a lot of resources at its disposal. They don’t need to partner with other companies. In fact, they decided to create their own virtual care service. Optum participants get access to their family of accredited primary care physicians, specialists, mental health professionals and more.

Payments

When you, your spouse, and your dependents have qualified medical expenses that aren’t covered by your health care plan, you can use your HSA money tax-free to pay for them. HSA administrators should make it easy to access your HSA dollars. The best HSAs for spenders allow participants to pay for qualified medical expenses in multiple ways (debit card, virtual card, bill pay, and check).

Optum Bank lets participants pay for qualified medical expenses with a debit card and bill pay. Checks are not provided, however users can order checks on their own and write checks against their account.

Optum users can now use Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay as a way to pay for your eligible healthcare expenses using your Optum Bank HSA debit Mastercard® with a single touch of the finger from your mobile device.

Reimbursement

You can pay for qualified medical expenses out-of-pocket and reimburse yourself anytime using your HSA money. As long as you opened your HSA before the expense was incurred, your reimbursement will be tax-free.

When you pay for qualified medical expenses out-of-pocket, you should be able to access your HSA dollars multiple ways whether it be via online transfers, check disbursements, or ATM withdrawals.

Generally speaking, the best way to reimburse yourself is with electronic funds transfers (EFTs) that are processed through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network. EFTs are easy, speedy, cost-effective, paperless, safe and secure.

Optum participants can reimburse themselves via transfers, check and ATM withdrawals.

Features

Intuitive Website

The Optum Bank member portal provides a user-friendly interface for easy, self-service account management. Using the Optum Bank member portal, you can check your balance, review transactions, view insurance claims, invest in mutual funds, pay providers and submit for reimbursement. 

Customer Service Team

Access to a team of HSA expert customer service representatives.

Mobile App

The Optum Bank mobile app features include:

• Photo Documentation - Simply take a photo with your device to initiate claims and payments.

• Payments & Reimbursements -You can send payments to providers or reimburse yourself for out-of-pocket expenses from your HSA.

• Manage Debit Card Transactions - Link your debit card transactions to claims and documentation.

• View Claims Status - View the status of claims as well as link payments and documentation to claims

As you can see from the graphic below, iOs and Android users are extremely satisfied with the Optum Bank mobile app.

Schedule Your Contributions

Check to see if your employer offers payroll deduction. Or arrange to make regular deposits yourself. When you sign in to your account, you can set up one-time or recurring contributions.

Receipt Vault

• Archive and manage receipts, explanations of benefits (EOBs), invoices, and more in one central location

• Intuitive, step-by-step process

• Documents archived on safe, secure servers

• No need to keep originals that can get lost or damaged

Qualified Medical Expense Tool

Find out what you can buy with your health account. Qualified medical expenses (QME) are designated by the IRS. They include medical, dental, vision and prescription expenses.

Pros & Cons

Which participants are best suited for a Optum Bank HSA?

• Those who plan on having at least $2,500 in base HSA account. No monthly maintenance fee would be incurred under these circumstances.

• Participants looking for a feature rich HSA offering. The Optum Bank HSA is a premium offering with many bells and whistles.

• Dual-purpose use (spender/investor). Optum bank is a top 10 investment HSA.

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