- Best National Banks
- Best Credit Unions
- Best Banks for High-Net-Worth Clients
- Best Banks for Retirees
- Best Banks for Families With Kids
Axos Bank
Why it won: From specialized accounts for teens and seniors to a high-yield option, Axos offers a free checking account to fit almost any need.
Standout account: Rewards Checking yields up to 3.3% for those who meet certain requirements.
The menu of free checking accounts from Axos includes the basic Essential Checking as well as Rewards Checking, which pieces together a total yield based on which of several requirements the account holder meets. Having monthly direct deposits of $1,500 or more provides 0.4% in interest, and using your debit card for 10 transactions monthly or signing up for Axos’s online Personal Finance Manager tool provides another 0.3%. Those who use certain investment accounts from Axos or who make payments for Axos consumer loans from Rewards Checking are eligible for additional interest totaling up to 2.6%, for a maximum 3.3% yield on the account. CashBack Checking offers 1% back (with an earnings limit of $2,000 per month) on debit-card transactions if you verify them with a signature rather than enter a PIN and keep at least $1,500 in the account. All three accounts provide unlimited reimbursement of domestic out-of-network ATM fees.
Axos rounds out its checking accounts with First Checking, which is for customers age 13 to 17 and reimburses up to $12 in ATM fees monthly, and Golden Checking, which is for customers 55 or older and offers free personal checks and up to $8 in monthly ATM-fee reimbursement.
Yields on Axos’s savings accounts and CDs are less impressive than those of many other internet banks. Recently, the savings account yielded 0.61%, the money market account paid 0.25% and CDs paid 0.2% on all maturities ($1,000 minimum deposit).
Quontic Bank
Why it won: None of Quontic’s deposit accounts charge monthly fees or overdraft fees, and many of them have sizable yields, too.
Standout accounts: High Interest Checking yields 1.1% with an activity requirement that isn’t too strenuous, and the Money Market account yields a noteworthy 4.75%.
High Interest Checking offers a 1.1% yield to those who make at least 10 debit card purchases of $10 or more each month, and Cash Rewards Checking provides 1% back on debit card purchases ($50 earnings limit per month). For the crypto crowd, Quontic even offers Bitcoin Rewards Checking, which provides 1.5% back in bitcoin on debit card purchases (the account is unavailable to customers in Hawaii and North Carolina). Quontic account holders can use more than 90,000 in-network ATMs without fees.
Besides the Money Market account, Quontic also offers High Yield Savings, with a 4.25% yield, and CDs that recently yielded 5.15% for a one-year term, 5.05% for a six-month term and 4.5% for a two-year term ($500 minimum deposit).
TIAA Bank
Why it won: TIAA Bank scored highly for most of the facets we reviewed, offering a group of accounts that promise competitive rates and low fees.
Standout accounts: The free Yield Pledge Checking account reimburses out-of-network ATM fees and yields 0.25%. The nine-month Basic CD ($1,000 minimum deposit) recently offered a 5% rate.
The Yield Pledge accounts from TIAA Bank guarantee that their rates are in the top 5% among competitive accounts from the 10 largest banks and thrifts in 10 large U.S. banking markets. Yield Pledge Checking reimburses up to $15 per month in out-of-network ATM fees for those who have balances of less than $5,000 and provides unlimited reimbursement for those with higher balances.
Yield Pledge Online Savings recently yielded 4.25% on balances of up to $250,000 for the first year and 4.05% thereafter. The Yield Pledge Money Market also yields 4.25% on up to $250,000 for the first year. After that, rates vary depending on the balance and go as high as 3.85% on balances of $100,000 or more. Besides the outstanding 5% rate on a nine-month Basic CD, you could recently get 4.75% on a one-year CD or 4.6% on an 18-month CD, among other options.
Investment and advisory firm TIAA announced last fall that it is selling TIAA Bank to new investors and will retain a non-controlling ownership stake in the bank. The deal is expected to close sometime in 2023, after which the bank will be called EverBank.
