Best banks of July 2024
Updated 9:57 a.m. UTC July 3, 2024
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With more than 4,000 banks operating in the U.S., it can be tough to know which is the best for you. To help you narrow down your options, we researched more than 170 top institutions, analyzing thousands of data points to find the five best banks that go easy on fees, compete with great yields and have plenty of account options under one roof.
Account details and annual percentage yields (APYs) are accurate as of July 3, 2024.
Best Banks of July 2024
Why trust our banking experts
Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of banking products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.
- More than 170 financial institutions reviewed.
- 4 levels of fact checking.
- 70+ data points per institution analyzed.
M1 High Yield Savings Account
Summary of best banks
BANK | STAR RATING | FEES | PRODUCTS | APY FOR HIGH-YIELD SAVINGS |
---|---|---|---|---|
EverBank
| 5 | Wire fees, stop payment fees; no EverBank ATM fees, monthly maintenance or overdraft fees on most accounts
| Checking, savings, MMAs, CDs, investments and rewards credit card
| 5.05%
|
Ally
| 4.93 | Wire fees, return deposited item fees, stop payment fee; no monthly service, overdraft or ATM fees
| Checking, savings, MMAs, CDs, credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, personal loans and investments
| 4.20% APY on all balances
|
nbkc
| 4.66 | Wire fees; no monthly maintenance, ATM or overdraft fees
| Checking, savings, MMAs, CDs, home loans, auto loans, personal loans and credit cards
| 1.75% (Everything Account)
|
CIT Bank
| 4.58 | Wire fees, stop payment fee, debit card replacement fee; no monthly service or overdraft fees
| Checking, savings, MMAs, CDs and home loans
| 5.00% APY with a balance of $5,000 or more and 0.25% APY on balances less than $5,000
|
American Express
| 4.53 | Wire fees; no monthly account fees, no monthly maintenance fee, overdraft or ATM fees
| Checking, savings, CDs, personal loans, IRAs and credit cards
| 4.25%
|
Methodology
We sifted through thousands of data points on more than 170 financial institutions to find the best banks for 2023. We scored each institution out of 100 based on the following criteria.
- Yields 30%: Getting the most bang for your buck doesn’t just apply to buying things. The better the yields offered by a bank, the higher the bank scored.
- Products 22%: Having the accounts that you access the most often under one roof can make life easier. We considered whether a bank offered all of the following deposit accounts: checking, savings, CDs and money market accounts.
- Fees 20%: As you work to build your finances, parasitic bank fees shouldn’t drag you down. The fewer fees a bank charges, the better.
- Customer satisfaction 13%: We considered how well banks scored on industry review sites, including the Better Business Bureau and Trustpilot, as well as its app ratings on iOs and Android platforms.
- Minimum deposit requirements 10%: High balance requirements can limit account access — not everyone can afford to deposit hundreds of dollars. The lower the deposit requirements banks had, the higher they scored.
- ATM network 5%: Banks with larger ATM networks scored well.
Any bank with a perfect score of 100 then earned a five-star rating; a bank with a score of 80 earned a four-star rating and so on.
Services offered by banks
There are many different types of accounts offered by banks; each serves a unique purpose.
Checking
A checking account is geared toward paying everyday expenses like rent, utilities and groceries. It typically comes with a debit card for easy access. Some institutions offer perks, like debit card rewards or a yield.
Savings
A savings account is designed for setting aside money. It can serve as an emergency fund or a place to store cash that’s earmarked for longer-term financial goals, such as saving for holiday gifts or a summer vacation.
Many banks limit savings account transactions to a total of six per month, so saving accounts are not replacements for checking accounts in most cases, but they often offer much higher yields.
Certificates of deposit
Certificates of deposit (CDs) allow you to potentially earn a very high interest rate in exchange for keeping your money deposited and not accessing it for a set period of time, such as six months or three years. If you withdraw funds before the period ends, you might be penalized.
Money market accounts
A money market account (MMA) offers a blend of savings and checking account capabilities: You can typically earn yields similar to savings accounts, but still access your funds via a debit card or even checks. A common disadvantage, however, is that you’re often limited to a set amount of transactions each month. Exceeding that can incur “excess transaction fees.”
Credit cards
A credit card provides a line of credit, up to a certain dollar amount, allowing you to make purchases, take out a cash advance or do a balance transfer from another card.
Unless you pay off the entire balance each month, the issuer normally charges a variable interest rate on the amount you still owe. As of November 2023, the average APR (annual percentage rate) for an interest-charging credit card was 22.75%, according to the Federal Reserve.
Other products and loans
Other products and loans that a bank might offer include:
- Mortgages.
- Auto loans.
- Personal loans.
- Home equity loans.
- Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs).
- Cashier’s checks.
- Money orders.
- Safe deposit boxes.
- Investments such as individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
How to choose the best bank
Choosing the best bank involves figuring out what matters most to you. Consider whether you’ll want easy access to ATMs or branches, or if you’ll prioritize yields. Sorting by the most important elements to you can help you quickly narrow down your options.
And don’t think that you necessarily have to settle.
Digital banks that offer high yields, but don’t have an ATM network may instead reimburse ATM fees. “It’s a small perk, but one that can be awesome…. This way, you can use any ATM in the country for free,” said Christopher Naghib, executive vice president and chief operating officer at First Foundation Bank.
How your money is protected in a bank
Your deposits are protected up to at least $250,000 per depositor, per account ownership category (think joint vs. individual), per insured institution.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) protects bank deposits while deposits at most credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).
How to open a bank account
To open a bank account, you’ll need to first choose where you’d like to start banking. Factors that influence this decision include fees, interest rates and customer service.
Requirements for opening a bank account vary from one bank to another, but you generally can open an account online or at a branch. When you’re filling out an application to open a bank account, you can expect to be asked for:
- Your home address, email address and phone number.
- A government-issued ID such as a driver’s license.
- Your Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number.
- A minimum initial deposit of roughly $25 to $100. Some banks don’t require an opening deposit, though.
Keep in mind that you may need to be at least 18 years old to open a bank account that’s only in your name.
It can be a good idea to use an online bank, depending on how you want to do your banking. Digital banks tend to have more competitive yields and lower fees since they don’t maintain physical branches.
Normally, the key documents you’ll need to open a brand-new bank account or switch to another bank are a bill with your name and address on it as well as two forms of government-issued photo ID. These might include
- Driver’s license.
- Social Security card.
- Passport or passport card.
- Birth certificate.
- REAL ID card.
- U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) ID card.
Among the factors to consider when choosing a bank are:
- What kinds of account fees does the bank charge?
- How do the bank’s interest rates compare with competitors’ rates?
- What level of ATM access does the bank provide?
- Does the bank operate branches or is it online-only?
- What is the bank’s reputation for customer service?
- Does the bank offer more than just deposit accounts, such as credit cards, mortgages, auto loans and investment products?
Aside from online-only banks like Ally and EverBank, alternatives to traditional banks include credit unions as well as financial technology companies like Chime®* and Oportun.
*Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.
Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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