The best bank or credit union for you depends on what you’re in the market for: a savings account, a checking account, or both.
NerdWallet spent more than 200 hours comparing and rating dozens of financial institutions to identify those with the best deposit accounts.
Top Overall Banks: Seven financial institutions earned excellent marks in both our checking and savings categories. If you want to keep your checking and savings accounts at the same bank, go with one of these options. (This year, Discover earned our nod for having the best overall checking and savings accounts.)
Our list includes a credit union. Generally speaking, credit unions emphasize customer service more than banks do and pay higher interest rates — although online accounts, like the ones on this list, tend to pay great rates, too. Read our article for more on credit unions vs. banks.
Top Savings Accounts: If you’d like to split your accounts between different banks, consider one of these savings accounts. They have annual percentage yields above 1.50% — much higher than the national average of 0.05%. This is important because people typically use savings accounts to set money aside for goals, such as a trip or a down payment on a house. Your savings will grow faster with one of these accounts. Read more in our article about savings accounts.
Top Checking Accounts: If you’re more interested in checking accounts, these banks offer perks, such as interest or ATM fee reimbursements. And, crucially, they have large ATM networks and don’t charge monthly fees. Since checking accounts hold most people’s daily spending money, they should be easy to access and cheap to maintain. Read more in our article about checking accounts.
Best banks and credit unions:
- Best overall, best for customer service: Ally Bank
- Best overall, best for cash-back rewards: Discover Bank
- Best overall, best for ATM availability: Alliant Credit Union
- Best overall, best for overdraft options: Capital One 360
- Best overall, best for rates: Varo Bank
- Best overall, best for tools: Simple
- Best overall, best for interest checking: Bank5 Connect
- Best for savings, 0.50% APY: HSBC
- Best for savings, 0.60% APY (annual percentage yield) as of 9/9/2020: Marcus by Goldman Sachs
- Best for savings, 0.60% APY: Barclays
- Best for checking, excellent APY: Connexus Credit Union
- Best for checking, interest, worldwide ATM reimbursements: Charles Schwab Bank
- Best for checking, interest, 24/7 phone support: Axos Bank
Some of Our Top Overall Banks
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Some of Our Top Savings Accounts
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» Looking for more excellent savings options? Browse our best savings accounts
Some of Our Top Checking Accounts
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» For more checking options, take a look at our best checking accounts
Banks and Credit Unions
Checking Accounts
Savings and Money Market Accounts
Best Banks and Credit Unions of 2020
| Financial institution | Best for ... |
|---|---|
| Ally Bank | Overall, customer service |
| Discover Bank | Overall, cash-back rewards |
| Alliant Credit Union | Overall, ATM availability |
| Capital One 360 | Overall, flexible overdraft options |
| Varo Bank | Overall, high rates |
| Simple | Overall, budgeting tools |
| Bank5 Connect | Overall, interest for checking |
| HSBC | Savings, 0.50% APY |
| Marcus by Goldman Sachs | Savings, 0.60% APY (annual percentage yield) as of 9/9/2020 |
| Barclays | Savings, 0.60% APY |
| Charles Schwab Bank | Checking, worldwide ATM reimbursements, 0.03% APY |
| Connexus Credit Union | Checking, excellent APY |
| Axos Bank | Checking, 24/7 phone support |
