The 10 Best Online Banks of 2024 | Marketwatch Guides (2024)

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Here’s a breakdown of how we reviewed and rated top banks and credit unions

Discover Bank

Discover Bank’s savings and checking accounts have no monthly fees and no minimum opening deposit requirements. Its Cashback Debit checking account pays up to 1% cash back on up to $3,000 of debit card purchases each month.

You’ll also have the use of more than 60,000 free ATMs across the country and can access your cash up to two days early with direct deposits. You can also opt to enroll in free overdraft protection by connecting your checking account to another deposit account.

The high-yield savings account from Discover Bank earns a much higher APY. Most types of withdrawals are limited to six per month, and the bank may not approve transactions beyond that limit.

SoFi Bank

SoFi Bank packages its online checking and savings accounts together, so you get both. The checking function of the account comes with perks that are usually reserved for savings accounts and credit cards. Your SoFi checking balance earns interest, unlike with many other checking accounts. You can also earn up to 15% cash back on purchases from qualifying local retailers when you pay with your Sofi debit card.

All of these benefits come with no monthly service fee or minimum balance requirement. You may also be able to get your paycheck up to two days early when you enroll in direct deposit with your SoFi account.

SoFi’s savings account has a competitive rate — but only if you sign up for direct deposits or have at least $5,000 in qualifying deposits each month. Otherwise, you’ll get an APY that’s significantly lower than what many online banks pay.

You can also boost your savings by enabling the account’s Roundup feature, which rounds every debit card purchase you make to the next dollar and deposits the extra amount in your savings account. You can also save for specific goals by creating individual savings buckets, or SoFi Vaults, for items such as an emergency fund, a vacation and a down payment.

Ally Bank

Ally Bank offers fee-free checking with its Spending Account. You don’t pay anything for monthly maintenance fees, overdrafts or low daily balances. You’ll earn 0.10% APY on deposited funds, getting a higher rate if your balance is $15,000 or more.

Early direct deposits are available, putting your paycheck in your account up to two days faster than with traditional deposits. You also have access to a fee-free ATM network. Ally reimburses up to $10 per statement cycle if you use other ATMs.

The Ally Bank savings account offers acompetitive APY on any balance. You also have ways to boost your savings if you have a Spending account: Ally’s Round Ups feature, which rounds your checking transactions to the nearest dollar to add the difference to your savings, and Surprise Savings, where Ally analyzes your checking account and transfers extra money to savings.

For more help budgeting your money, Ally’s banking platform has tools to organize your savings goals into different categories, or buckets. Create up to 30 spending buckets and up to 10 savings buckets to track goals such as saving for a home, vacation or emergency fund.

To open an account with Ally, you’ll need your Social Security number, birth date, address and occupation, plus your external bank account’s details for when you initiate your opening deposit. Click “Open Account” or “Open New Account” on Ally’s website to start the application.

From there, you can choose which banking products you need. There’s no minimum opening deposit, but you can’t access the bank’s benefits until you fund your account.

Varo Bank

Varo Bank is another option that comes with no monthly fees, overdraft fees or minimum balance requirements. And like some other banks, it allows you to access your paycheck up to two days earlier when you sign up for direct deposit with its checking account than with traditional deposits.

Varo Bank’s savings account earns 5.00% APY on the first $5,000 of your balance if you meet two eligibility requirements: getting qualifying direct deposits of at least $1,000 a month and ending the month with a positive balance in your Varo savings and checking accounts. If you don’t meet these requirements, you’ll receive 3.00% APY – which is still significantly higher than what traditional banks tend to offer.

While Varo doesn’t have physical branches for account holders to make cash deposits, it partners with Green Dot Network locations such as Walmart to accept cash. There’s no fee from Varo, but a Green Dot retailer may charge up to $5.95.

LendingClub Bank

LendingClub’s Rewards Checking account earns 1% cash back on qualified debit card purchases. There’s no limit on how much you can earn in cash back each month, but to qualify, you need to either keep a monthly account balance of at least $2,500 or receive $2,500 or more in direct deposits. The checking account also earns interest on balances of at least $2,500. To get started, you need to make at least a $25 deposit.

You won’t have to worry about monthly maintenance fees, wire transfer fees or insufficient fund fees with a rewards checking account. You’ll also get monthly reimbursem*nts of fees from out-of-network ATMs.

The high-yield savings account from LendingClub has a competitive interest rate on all balances. This savings account also doesn’t have a monthly maintenance fee. However, you’ll need to deposit at least $100 to open the account.

LendingClub’s CDs come with terms of six months to five years, with APYs from 4.00% to 5.15%.

Upgrade

Upgrade offers digital checking and savings accounts. You must deposit funds through electronic transfer, and cash can only be withdrawn from ATMs with a checking account. But there are many perks for people who prefer a digital banking experience.

You’ll get all of the Rewards Checking Plus account’s benefits if you set up eligible monthly direct deposits of at least $1,000. This lets you access your paycheck up to two days before payday and earn up to 2% cash back on debit purchases depending on the category.

Adding an eligible direct deposit to your checking account will also get you a much higher APY on any Premier Savings account balance of $1,000 or more. There are no monthly fees, so you can enjoy that high yield without extra costs.

Alliant Credit Union Bank

Alliant Credit Union’s online high-yield checking account doesn’t have a monthly fee or a minimum balance requirement. You can also earn interest on your balance if you opt to receive e-statements and have at least one monthly electronic deposit. Alliant provides free access to over 80,000 ATMs around the country.

Alliant’s high-yield savings account comes with a mid-range APY if you keep a minimum balance of just $100. You can also open as many as 19 supplemental savings accounts to organize your savings by specific goals. These additional accounts earn the same APY, so you can save just as aggressively no matter where you keep your funds.

You’ll need a $5 deposit to open a savings account, and there’s $1 charge for a paper account statement.

Alliant offers several types of certificates, which are similar to bank CDs, such as fixed-rate, IRA and jumbo certificates.

APYs are generally above 4.00% or 5.00% depending on the term length and the type of certificate. The minimum opening deposit is $75,000 for jumbo certificates and $1,000 for all others.

There are also deposit accounts tailored to minors. Kids’ savings and teen checking are joint accounts with a parent, and each one can earn interest if certain requirements are met.

To open an online account with Alliant Credit Union, you must become a member. You can be an employee or retiree of an eligible company, live or work near the credit union’s Chicago headquarters or become a member ofFoster Care to Success.

Click “Open Now” or “Become a Member” on Alliant’s website to apply for membership and an account. After choosing the type of account you want, you’ll have to then provide personal information to fill out the application.

FNBO Direct Bank

FNBO Direct is an online division of FNBO, a Nebraska-based bank. There are no physical branches, and anyone throughout the U.S. can apply for a checking or savings account.

The free online checking account pays interest and has no monthly fee. It’s a completely digital account, so paper checks aren’t available. You can, however, access ATMs across the world without any fees from FNBO Direct (other banks’ fees may apply).

The high-yield online savings account from FNBO Direct comes with a competitive APY. Like the bank’s checking account, it doesn’t have a monthly fee. For both checking and savings, the minimum opening deposit is $1, and the minimum amount needed to earn interest is 1 cent.

Zynlo Bank

All of Zynlo Bank’s high-yield online accounts require just a $10 opening deposit. The checking account is called More Spending, and the savings account is called Tomorrow Savings.

A More Spending account earns about four times theaverage interest on a savings account. Zynlo rounds each debit card purchase up to the next dollar and deposits the difference in your Tomorrow Savings account, which the bank matches within the first 100 days. After that, you can keep earning a 100% match if you maintain a $5,000 average daily balance or a 25% match if your balance is lower.

You’ll also have a high APY with a Zynlo savings account. Plus, it allows you to divide your savings into folders meant for different purposes.

Quorum Federal Credit Union Bank

Quorum Federal Credit Union offers several checking and savings accounts.

For starters, the QClassic checking account has no monthly fee and lets you access your direct deposit funds up to two days before payday.

QChoice comes with a few extra perks, including earning a small amount of interest and having up to $15 in ATM fees reimbursed each month. To avoid a $10 monthly fee for this account, you must receive e-statements and have either at least $1,000 in monthly direct deposits or a minimum average daily balance of $5,000.

A HighQ savings account, meanwhile, has no minimum balance requirements and earns a competitive APY. However, there’s a $10 monthly fee with this account unless you opt for e-statements.

Quorum Federal Credit Union also offers six term accounts, which are similar to CDs. Each one requires a deposit of at least $1,000. APYs range from 2.75% to 5.25% and deposits over $100,000 earn an additional 0.10% APY.

The credit union’s basic savings, additional savings and Holiday Club accounts earn only 0.01% APY – similar to what you’d get from many traditional brick-and-mortar banks.

You must become a member of Quorum Federal Credit Union to apply for these accounts. To join, you must either work for one of the dozens of employers Quorum partners with or become a member of theAmerican Consumer CouncilorSelect Savers Club.

Click “Join” on Quorum’s website to apply for membership and an account. The credit union says its application takes about five minutes to complete.