Best online banks of August 2023

As a Discover customer you’ll have access to 24/7 customer service (which typically rates highly in independent analysis), and 60,000 fee-free ATMs.

With only one checking account, Discover makes it a good one. The Discover Cashback Debit account has no service fees and offers several attractive features, including 1% cash back (see website for details), fee-free overdraft protection and early payday, in which you can access your paycheck up to two days early when you set up direct deposit. But there are some limits. The 1% cash back only applies only to the first $3,000 you spend on your debit card each month. See website for details.

Discover’s high-yield Online Savings Account has no monthly fee, no minimum opening deposit and offers 4.30% APY, which is compounded daily.

Yet, if you want an account that you can access like a checking account and earn interest on it rather than cash back, look at Discover’s money market account (MMA). You can earn 4.20% APY on balances under $100,000 (4.25% APY on larger amounts). It has a deposit requirement of $2,500, but you’re not required to maintain a balance after opening.

To earn an even higher yield in a protected account, consider certificates of deposit (CDs). Discover offers CD terms between three months and 10 years. The minimum CD deposit is $2,500 and there are early withdrawal fees, so be sure you can commit to the entire term.

Quontic has three checking accounts and three types of savings accounts. None of them have overdraft fees, monthly service fees or incoming domestic wire transfer fees. And, as a Quontic customer, you have access to over 90,000 surcharge-free ATMs.

Quontic’s accounts are attractive: Bitcoin Rewards Checking account and Cash Rewards Checking are similar. You could earn 1.50% Bitcoin or 1.00% cash back on all eligible debit card purchases, which are defined as purchases made directly with a vendor, not through third-parties like an ATM, Venmo or Apple Pay. (We recommend going with the plain-jane checking account).

The High Interest Checking account rewards you for keeping money in the account rather than spending it by offering up to 1.10% APY on your entire balance. The small print has some caveats though. To earn the yield, you still need to swipe your card. You must make at least ten qualifying debit card transactions of $10 or more per statement cycle. If you don’t, you’ll only earn 0.01% APY.

If you’d like to earn a higher interest rate, without jumping through hoops, and you don’t need to access your cash often, look at Quontic’s savings accounts and CDs.

The High Yield Savings offers 4.50% APY with daily compounding interest and only a $100 minimum opening deposit. But, the better deal is the Money Market Account (MMA), which features a competitive 5.00% APY and also only requires $100 to open.

While you can access this account via debit card, checks and more (like most MMAs), Quontic limits you to only six monthly transactions (a stipulation that typically applies only to traditional savings accounts). For each “extra” transaction, you’ll pay a $10 fee. If you treat it like a savings account though, you’ll be earning a great rate and still have the option to swipe a debit card once in a while.

Regarding CDs, Quontic has five terms: six months and then one, two, three and five years. You need a minimum of $500 to open one, which is reasonable, and the highest yield available is 5.15% APY on the one-year term. Early withdrawals are subject to penalties.

TIAA’s checking, savings and money market accounts all have a “yield pledge,” which promises that the account interest rates will remain in the top 5% of APYs offered by similar accounts at the ten largest banks in the U.S.

Both TIAA’s MMA and savings account offer a one-year intro APY of 4.50%. This yield is reserved for new TIAA Bank savers only, but it guarantees that rate on balances up to $250,000, which is unusually good. If rates go up during the one-year period, this rate will rise to match. If they go down, this rate still won’t dip below 4.50%. Most accounts make no such promises.

There is, however, a catch or two. If you don’t qualify for the intro APY on the MMA, you’ll earn 2.05% to 4.00%, depending on your balance. And, even if you qualify, you may be looking for another high-yield account in 12 months when the intro rate runs out.

The Yield Pledge Checking account, however, offers more than a high yield. While the 0.25% APY is much lower (as is typical with checking accounts) and it requires $100 to open, you receive purchase benefits on the debit card that are typically found only on credit cards, such as price protection, return protection and extended warranty protection.

For all three high-yield accounts, there’s no: monthly account fee, overdraft fee, non-sufficient fund fee or online bill pay fee. TIAA Bank doesn’t charge ATM fees itself and automatically reimburses you up to $15 a month for out-of-network ATM fees. (If you have an average daily balance of at least $5,000, you receive unlimited ATM fee reimbursements). You’ll also have access to more than 80,000 ATMs nationwide.

If you have some extra savings that you want to put away, TIAA offers CD terms ranging between three months and to five years with a $1,000 minimum deposit. Its highest yield CD is the nine-month term with 5.00% APY. All of its CD yields are at least 4.00% APY, except for the five-year term, which is 3.95% APY.

Ally is one of the most established online banks in the nation with over 43,000 no-fee ATMs and 24/7 live customer support.

Its account names tell the story: Spending Account offers a 0.25% APY, while Savings Account yields 4.00%. Neither requires a minimum deposit to open an account or charges a monthly account fee.

The checking account specifically has early direct deposit (you can receive your paycheck up to two days early), overdraft protection and up to $10 monthly ATM reimbursements. The savings account, besides having a high yield, has automatic savings tools to help you ferret away money.

In both, you can use a special tool called “buckets,” which aims to replace any budgeting apps you may already use. The bank can track your finances and do math for you, letting you see your spending habits. With some simple instructions, Ally will divide your money into different categories, like rent, utilities, vacation fund and holiday gifts.

If you don’t need all of your cash to stay liquid, consider an Ally Money Market Account (MMA) or CD. Its MMA offers 4.15% APY, but you’re limited to six transactions a month (otherwise you may be charged $10).

CDs can offer even higher rates, but don’t allow any transactions during their terms (unless you withdraw only the interest or pay an early withdrawal fee). You’ll find terms between three months and five years, with the highest yield being 5.00% on its 18-month term. Bump-up and no-penalty CDs are also available, but with lower yields.

Sallie Mae rates highly on our list because it charges little in the way of fees and offers competitive yield on a variety of savings products. However, there is no checking account available, hence no debit card, not even for its MMAs.

Ultimately that’s not a dealbreaker for us because, well, you shouldn’t be in the business of accessing your savings at ATMs. Your savings account, ideally, is for emergency funds that you can transfer to a checking account in the rare instances when it’s needed. Still, if this lack of convenience is a dealbreaker for you, that’s understandable.

Originally only a student loan organization, Sallie Mae now can help you to grow your money with four types of savings accounts. There’s no minimum balances, no monthly fees and high yields. The SmartyPig Account offers 4.00% APY; the high-yield savings account, 4.25% APY and the Money Market Account (MMA), 4.50% APY.

The SmartyPig Account is designed as a tiered system so that the more you save, the higher the yield; however, currently, you’ll earn 4.00% APY no matter your balance. If you choose one account here, the clear winner is the MMA as it has the highest yield and allows you to access your funds with checks.

However, if you’re not concerned about accessing your funds and, in fact, you don’t mind sitting back and letting your funds earn interest, Sallie Mae CD rates may catch your eye.

The bank offers CD terms ranging from six to 60 months with competitive rates, including an 18-month term with 5.15% APY, and allows you to take interest payments each month without penalty. You’ll have to meet a minimum balance of $2,500 though and there are industry-standard early withdrawal penalties if you cash out the principal before the maturity date.

Different winners shine in different areas, and First Internet Bank’s most appealing products are its CDs. There are eight CD term options with maturity dates running between three months and five years. The highest rate is 5.35% APY on a 12-month term, and even its six month option offers a yield of 5.22%. Those are outstanding rates that will help savers meet financial needs.

We like its two checking account options, as well. Our favorite is the Interest Checking account, which requires an average daily balance of $500 but will earn 0.50% APY. There’s no account maintenance fee and you’ll receive up to $10 a month in ATM fee rebates. (If you dip below that required balance, you’ll pay a monthly service fee of $10). If money is tight, you need only $25 to open the Free Checking account, but it doesn’t pay interest.

Twin sister to the Free Checking account, the Free Savings account also only requires a $25 deposit but it does pay some interest: 0.80% APY. That is not especially appealing for an online bank, though. For a higher yield look at its MMA, which offers 3.76% APY (5.46% APY for balances over $1 million). You’ll need only $100 to open it but without a $4,000 average daily balance, however, the monthly service fee for the account is $5.

CIT Bank offers a well-rounded suite of checking and savings products that charge little in the way of fees, though fall short of the top of the market when it comes to yields.

CIT Bank features a free eChecking account with no monthly fees, overdraft fees, online transfer fees and up to $30 a month in ATM free reimbursements. You’ll only qualify for the 0.25% APY however if your balance is $25,000 or more.

To get a larger yield for a smaller balance requirement, check out its four savings accounts. You’ll need a $100 opening deposit for each of them. The Platinum Savings account offers 5.05% APY on balances of at least $5,000 (0.25% APY on smaller balances). And the Savings Connect account offers 4.65% APY no matter your balance.

The Money Market account (MMA) and Savings Builder account aren’t as attractive. None of these accounts charge monthly service fees, but you’ll earn only 1.55% APY on the MMA and you’ll need to jump through a hoop to get the 1.00% APY in Savings Builder by having monthly deposits of at least $100 or maintaining a daily balance of at least $25,000 (you earn 0.40% APY if you don’t meet one of these requirements).

CIT Bank’s CD terms range from six to 60 months, but only three of its yields are competitive: 5.00% APY on a six-month CD, 4.65% on its 13-month option and 4.60% on its 18-month term. The rest of its interest rates are depressingly low, running between 0.30% and 0.50%.

The accounts that shine at nbkc Bank are its checking/savings hybrid account and its CDs.

The nbkc Everything Account requires no minimum balance and offers 1.50% APY, which is almost crazy high for a checking account (though less good for a savings account). You have fee-free access to about 40,000 ATMs and customizable savings goals to help you budget (if you want to).

The only pure savings-type of account available is the Personal Money Market account, which isn’t bad. It comes with a 2.50% APY and a $0 minimum balance as well. Other money market accounts on this list, however, offer better yields.

For higher deposit rates, check out the CDs. You can find 5.25% APY on nbkc’s seven-month, 11-month and 15-month CDs.

With a bunch of interesting savings options and a dearth of checking accounts, consider Synchrony for your emergency fund needs rather than day-to-day financial management.

Its High Yield Savings account offers 4.50% APY, and you aren’t required to make a minimum deposit, maintain a certain balance or pay any type of monthly service fee.

If you’d like for your funds to be slightly more liquid (and we mean slightly), consider Synchrony’s Money Market Account. The account also doesn’t come with a debit card, though you can request checks. And while it doesn’t have a minimum balance or service fee, its APY of 2.25% doesn’t turn our heads. You’re probably better off with the savings account and doing your checking elsewhere.

The CD yields, however, are eye-catching. There are 14 term options ranging between three and 60 months, all with no minimum balance. The highest interest rate is 5.05% APY on the nine-month deposit. If you’re afraid of commitment in today’s topsy-turvy financial environment, there is an 11-month no penalty CD and a 24-month bump up CD available too.

The LendingClub doesn’t provide only loans, but also a great checking and savings account.
Rewards Checking has no monthly maintenance, overdraft or non-sufficient fund fees, plus boasts an unlimited 1.00% cash back on qualified debit card purchases (which count when you swipe your debit card as credit and sign the receipt).

The High-Yield Savings account has 4.50% APY, no monthly service fees and no overdraft fees, which could matter because you can access your funds here with a free ATM card. There’s a $100 minimum opening deposit requirement (and a $25 opening deposit requirement for Rewards Checking), but, once the account is open, you’re not obligated to keep any daily balance.

Both accounts have unlimited ATM fee rebates (and you don’t have to jump through hoops to qualify for this) and integrated management tools so you can track spending, make a budget and even figure out your net worth. Plus LendingClub offers access to nearly 40,000 ATMs that don’t charge fees at all.

If you want to open a CD here, however, you’ll need to allot a chunk of change to the charge. The minimum amount to open one is $2,500, but you’ll find a competitive 5.00% and 5.30% APY on the six-month and one-year terms, respectively.