Tired of jumping through hoops just to avoid paying fees for your traditional checking account? Online checking accounts provide a hassle-free alternative to the traditional options.
The ranking of the top online checking accounts features companies that offer a full-featured account, and most of them have no minimum balance, no monthly fee, allow you to earn interest, and those are just the basics.
Online banks are where you’ll find the most innovation in the banking world.
Between cashback programs, competitive interest rates, innovative solutions for problems like over-drafting, ATM fees, and countless convenient features, these companies are looking to improve your banking experience from every angle.
The ranking features a wide variety of online checking accounts that meet a diverse set of needs, from basic but innovative accounts like Capital One 360 to checking services designed to compliment brokerage accounts at Fidelity or Schwab.
You will need to perform certain qualifying transactions to earn up-to 1.25% APY from Axos Bank, or maybe earning up to $3,000 per month cashback on debit card purchases with a Discover checking account that’s entirely up to you.
Do a lot of traveling? Check out Ally Bank and Schwab. They reimburse ATM fees no matter where in the world you find yourself.
Need to send regular checks but hate writing and tracking them? Simple will write and mail the checks for you.
Many of these accounts also offer convenient person-to-person payment systems that allow you to easily transfer money to anybody for any reason.
You can find more information on our methodology and the benefits of online checking after the ranking. But first, check out the top ten online checking accounts and what they have to offer.
Best Online Checking Accounts in 2022
#1. Axos Bank Rewards Checking
Rating: 13
Axos Bank (earlier – Bank of Internet USA) is the oldest internet bank in the market.
As a customer, you get a cashback program tailored to your personal spending habits. Don’t like the hassle of figuring out which ATMs are free to use? No worries! Bank of Internet USA reimburses all domestic ATM fees.
As long as you have enough money to cover an overdraft in a linked account, you don’t have to worry about overdraft fees either. With Popmoney, Axos Bank helps you to make person-to-person transfers painless.
- APY: Up to 1.25%
- Overdraft Protection: Moderate
- ATM Forgiveness, Reimbursement, or Coverage: Exceptional
- Miscellaneous Features: 3
#2. Capital One 360 Checking
Rating: 12
Capital One’s innovative overdraft line of credit means that even with no linked savings account or credit card you won’t have to worry about overdraft fees.
Instead the overdraft line of credit, Capital One simply charges an interest rate on the overdraft funds until you pay back the amount owed. No more $35 fees for a two-dollar overdraft!
Capital One 360 online checking also has no minimum balance or deposit. Person-to-person payments can be made through Zelle. Capital One ATMs and Allpoint ATMs are free to use when checking with Capital One 360.
The interest rate for the checking account is competitive with other top checking accounts ranked here.
- APY: 0.10%
- Overdraft Protection: Exceptional
- ATM Forgiveness, Reimbursement, or Coverage: Moderate
- Miscellaneous Features: 5
#3. Aspiration Save & Spend
Rating: 11
Aspiration offers a 1% APY interest rate on the first $10,000 in your account in a particular month. Balances over $10,000 earn 0.10% APY. You also need to spend $1000 on your debit card per month.
There is no monthly minimum balance, no monthly service fee, no minimum monthly deposit. Overdrafting will cost you $25, but that’s at least $10 less than the industry standard fee.
Customers never have to worry about ATM fees because Aspiration provides unlimited ATM reimbursement internationally. That’s no fees on any ATM, anywhere, ever.
- APY: up to 1.00%
- Overdraft Protection: Moderate
- ATM Forgiveness, Reimbursement, or Coverage: Exceptional
- Miscellaneous Features: 2
#4. Ally Bank Interest Checking
Rating: 11
Ally Bank partners with Allpoint ATMs to provide customers with surcharge-free ATM access.
For situations where you can’t find an in-network ATM, Ally Bank provides $10/month reimbursement for ATM fees. Person-to-person transfers are available through Popmoney.
Another feature offered by Ally Bank is that cashier’s checks, incoming domestic wires, and incoming international wires are all free of any fees.
Overdraft protection is available as long as you have a savings account linked to your checking account that can cover the charges.
- APY: up to 0.25%
- Overdraft Protection: Moderate.
- ATM Forgiveness, Reimbursement, or Coverage: Exceptional
- Miscellaneous Features: 3
#5. Bank5 Connect High-Interest Checking
Rating: 10
Bank5 Connect doesn’t charge an overdraft fee if the charge is covered by funds in a linked account. If the worst should happen and the overdraft isn’t covered, the overdraft fee is only $15.
Customers can use ATMs in the SUM network surcharge-free. Bank5 Connect reimburses up to $15 in ATM fees per month. Customers aren’t charged any fee for incoming wires either.
The UChoose Debit Rewards Program lets you decide where you get your cashback rewards.
The minimum balance to open a checking account with Bank5 Connect is just $10, and you can earn interest by maintaining a $100 balance.
- APY: 0.20% APY
- Overdraft Protection: Moderate
- ATM Forgiveness, Reimbursement, or Coverage: Exceptional
- Miscellaneous Features: 2
#6. Memory Bank EarnMore Checking
Rating: 10
Memory Bank customers have access to 92,000 surcharge-free ATMs across the country. Tailored money-back rewards make sure you’re rewarded for shopping at your favorite places.
Memory Bank is compatible with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Person-to-person payments can be made through Popmoney.
Memory Bank has an 0.02% APY on balances up to $250,000 with no hidden fees or activity requirements.
- APY: 0.02%
- Overdraft Protection: Moderate
- ATM Forgiveness, Reimbursement, or Coverage: Exceptional Coverage
- Miscellaneous Features: 4
Also read – Best personal finance books for beginners
#7. Simple Online Checking
Rating: 10
Simple requires no minimum balance. Paying with your smartphone is easy with apps that enable both Apple Pay and Android Pay. The Apple Pay app is 3d touch enhanced for extra security.
Simple works with Paypal, Square Cash, and Venmo, which simplifies person-to-person transactions. Writing checks is a hassle, and thankfully it’s pretty rare to have to do it these days.
But if you do end up in a situation where you have to write and mail a check, Simple will do it for you. Customers receive fee-free ATM transactions at over 40,000 Allpoint ATMs.
You can find Allpoint ATMs at Walmart, Costco, Dunkin Donuts, Target, Walgreens, CVS, Safeway, Sunoco and more.
Simple won’t charge you for out-of-network ATM usage, but the owners of the ATM you use may still charge a fee.
Simple manages your account to minimize the chances of an overdraft happening, and will decline transactions that would overdraft your account.
However, in the rare case an overdraft does happen, Simple won’t charge you a fee.
- APY: 0.00%
- Overdraft Protection: Exceptional
- ATM Forgiveness, Reimbursement, or Coverage: Moderate
- Miscellaneous Features: 5
#8. Charles Schwab Checking
Rating: 9
The online checking account offered by Charles Schwab is designed to be linked to a brokerage account, simplifying your finances.
Checking accounts linked to a brokerage account or savings account that can cover the occasional overdraft won’t incur an overdraft fee.
Charles Schwab is also one of only two checking accounts in this ranking that offers unlimited ATM reimbursement worldwide. There are no foreign transaction fees, and there’s no minimum balance if linked to a Schwab One brokerage account.
- APY: 0.03%
- Overdraft Protection: Moderate
- ATM Forgiveness, Reimbursement, or Coverage: Exceptional.
- Miscellaneous Features: 3
#9. Fidelity Bank Relationship Checking
Rating: 9
Fidelity’s Cash Management account is similar to Schwab’s in that it’s also designed to go hand in hand with a brokerage account.
Fidelity fully reimburses all ATM fees incurred in the United States. $6 in other bank’s ATM fees is reimbursed per statement cycle. Customers who plan to maintain a large balance might want to consider that Fidelity is FDIC insured up to $2.5 million.
There is a minimum opening deposit of $100. And to avoid a $15 monthly service charge you need to have a minimum combined balance of $10,000 or $2500 direct monthly deposit or 15 POS transactions along with opting for e-statements.
- APY: 0.03%
- Overdraft Protection: Moderate
- ATM Forgiveness, Reimbursement, or Coverage: Exceptional
- Miscellaneous Features: 3
#10. Discover CashBack Checking
Rating: 8
Discover’s Cashback Checking offers a different take on interest. Instead of earning on your deposit, you can earn up to 1% cashback (up to $3000) in debit card purchases every month.
The caveat is that you have to use your debit card many times per month in order to maximize your cash-back, but under the right circumstances, Discover’s system can be of great benefit to their customers.
Discover’s does not charge for an overdraft but the transaction gets declined. Customers get free withdrawals from Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs, which have over 60,000 total ATMs combined.
- APY: N/A
- Overdraft Protection: Exceptional
- ATM Forgiveness, Reimbursement, or Coverage: Moderate,
- Miscellaneous Features: 3
Online vs. Traditional Banks
Many of the major banks have, in recent years, betrayed the trust of their customers. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and J.P. Morgan Chase have had numerous massive scandals.
During the recession, many banks relied on hidden fees to make money instead of doing so through handling their customers’ money responsibly. This left many in a frustrated catch-22.
Big banks are nationwide, convenient, and have good ATM coverage. But in recent years, they’ve also proven to care less and less about their customers, and staying with them seems an ever riskier proposition.
But what do you do?
In our interconnected world, keeping your money under the mattress isn’t a great solution. Local credit unions can be a great alternative, but they aren’t available in every location.
Enter the online bank–particularly the online checking account. Lower fees, vast ATM networks, innovative solutions, competitive interest rates, and best of all, a renewed focus on customer service make these an attractive alternative to the traditional big bank.
The online banking market is a mixture of established finance companies and innovative newcomers. There are firms that cater to the average working and middle class customer, and those whose services are geared toward wealthier clients.
The bottom line is that chances are, there’s a great online banking alternative that meets your needs.
How Online Checking Solves the ATM Problem
Believe it or not, many of the online banking companies have ATM networks that compete with and dwarf the networks of larger banks.
Partnerships with companies like SUM, Allpoint, and Moneypass mean customers will have many surcharge-free ATMs available to them.
Even better though is that many of the online checking accounts offer either limited ATM fee reimbursement or unlimited reimbursement.
A couple even offer unlimited international ATM fee reimbursement. This benefit can really add up and makes getting your cash even more convenient.
Overdrafting and You. How Online Checking Can Ease Your Mind
Overdrafting is a big issue for a large portion of the country. Traditional banks were revealed to be making much of their income during the recession on overdraft fees.
Many online checking companies have taken note of the unreasonable fees often charged by traditional banks. Ever experienced the feeling of overdrafting on a $4 coffee and paying a $35 fee? Nobody is happy about $39 coffees.
Dealing with the overdrafting problem is where many companies in our ranking have done great innovation.
The most noteable is Capital One’s overdraft line of credit which simply charges monthly interest on the negative balance until the account is positive again.
There are other methods, like allowing linked accounts to cover excess charges with no fees attached.
Or the way Discover deals with overdrafting, which is to decline transactions when there are insufficient funds, and in the rare instance of an overdraft, Discover doesn’t charge any fees.
How Online Checking Companies Benefit Customers Across Socioeconomic Classes
While many of the features of online banking are geared toward the needs of the average person, companies like Fidelity and Schwab offer solutions geared towards people looking for an all-inclusive finance management system.
Fidelity and Schwab checking accounts are designed to tie into and complement their brokerage accounts. Many of the other online checking companies offer high-interest rates to people who can maintain higher balances of $5,000 or $15,000 or more.
Methodology for Ranking the Top 10 Checking Accounts Online
Our ranking methodology evaluated each bank based on essential features. Interest rate, overdraft protections, ATM forgiveness and coverage, and miscellaneous features.
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
While most interest rates offered by online checking accounts aren’t high, earning some money on your balance rather than none is great.
So we awarded points to the companies that offered the best interest rates. Points were awarded based on the maximum interest rate available from the company.
0%=0 Points
0.01% to 0.05% =1 Point
0.06% to 0.10% =2 Points
0.11% to 0.50% =3 Points
0.51% to 1% =4 Points
Over 1% = 5 Points
Overdraft Protection
Overdraft fee policies are an area of banking sorely in need of innovation, and online checking companies have delivered.
The overdraft policies were rated based on the level of protection the policy offers the customer. This takes the form of charging lower fees, handling overdrafts in an innovative manner, or preventing overdrafts from happening in the first place.
None= 0 Point
Minimal=1 Point
Moderate=2 Points
Exceptional=3 Points
ATM Forgiveness or No-fee ATM Coverage
ATM fees have become ridiculous, with many ATMs charging $2 or $3 for out-of-network withdrawals. This is a 10%-15% surcharge if you’re just taking out $20.
We rewarded online banking companies for having large, surcharge-free nationwide ATM networks, and for policies that reimburse the use of out-of-network ATMs.
None= 0
Minimal= 1
Moderate= 2
Exceptional= 3
Miscellaneous Features: This category was included so we could give companies credit for non-standard special features offered to customers.
