With so many bank account options available, it can be hard to pick out the right institution for your money. The best bank for you might vary based on whether you are looking for a checking account, a savings account, a credit card, a certificate of deposit, the best interest rates or just good overall customer service.
The editors at GOBankingRates have identified the best banks across 10 different categories based on excellence over competitors. Take a look at the editors’ selections of best bank accounts and services and see which banks led the pack:
PNC Bank gets the GOBankingRates’ editors’ pick for overall excellence of products because of high performance across all five evaluation categories: best national bank, best online bank, best CD account, best checking account and best savings account. On top of being an industry leader in these popular categories — and offering high interest rates — PNC Bank offers numerous additional specialized banking services, including student banking, military banking, university banking, workplace banking and internet banking.
Best Bank, Credit Card Rewards: Bank of America
The Cash Rewards credit card earned Bank of America the editors’ pick for the best credit card rewards. The card allows cardholders to earn 3 percent cash back on gas purchases, 2 percent cash back on spending at grocery stores and wholesale clubs, and 1 percent cash back on all other purchases. The card’s current offer includes an introductory 0% APR for the first 12 billing cycles for purchases and for balance transfers made within the first 60 days of opening the account. Plus, you can earn an extra $150 in cash rewards after you spend $500 or more in purchases in the first 90 days of opening your account. All of these benefits come at no charge as there’s no annual fee for this card.
The card is even more valuable for Bank of America account holders, who get a 10 percent bonus every time they redeem cash back into their Bank of America checking or savings account. And Preferred Rewards clients could earn a bonus of 25 to 75 percent.
Customer service, when it comes to banking, is sort of like insurance — you might never need it, but if there’s ever an emergency, you’ll be glad you have the best. The editors at GOBankingRates ranked KeyBank highly for customer service, primarily because of its 24/7 customer service phone line. Some banks only offer customer service during limited business hours, so having 24/7 access by phone is a plus. Additionally, KeyBank offers email and live chat customer service, rounding out its options for various types of customers.
Best Bank, No Fees or Minimums — Savings Account: Ally Bank
When it comes to no-fee savings accounts, Ally Bank is the GOBankingRates editors’ pick. As with the Bank of Internet USA Rewards Checking account, the Ally Bank Online Savings account has no monthly maintenance or service fees, no minimum opening deposit, and no minimum balance to maintain. The account also offered an interest rate of 1.20% APY at the time the ranking was conducted, but that rate has since increased to 1.25% APY as of Jan. 4, 2018, among the best savings rates.
Best Bank, No Fees or Minimums — Checking Account: Bank of Internet USA
Bank of Internet USA offers almost anything a customer could ask for when it comes to a checking account: a $0 minimum opening deposit, a $0 monthly service fee, and a $0 ongoing minimum balance requirement. Even with no fees, the bank is able to pay up to 1.25% APY, as long as you receive direct deposits of at least $1,000 and use your debit card 15 times per month. Even if you can’t meet these criteria, you can still earn interest on this no-fee Rewards Checking account, another reason why it’s the GOBankingRates editors’ pick.
Best Bank, No Minimums — CD Account: Barclays Bank Delaware
Barclays Bank Delaware has the GOBankingRates editors’ pick for the best no-minimum CD account. In addition to having no monthly fees or account minimums, Barclays pays a 1.65% APY for its 12-month online CDs and a 2.40% APY as of Jan. 4, 2018, for its 60-month online CDs. The bank offers a range of maturities on its CDs, from three to 60 months, and all of them compound interest daily.
Best Bank, High-Yield Savings: CIT Bank
CIT Bank is the GOBankingRates editors’ pick for high-yield savings based, in part, on the strength of its APY. At the time of ranking, the bank’s payout of 1.35% APY on its Premier High Yield Savings Account was the highest of the savings account rates surveyed by the GOBankingRates editors. As of Jan. 4, 2018, that rate has since increased to 1.55% APY. The account has a low minimum deposit of $100, along with no account opening or maintenance fees, daily compounding and free online banking.
Best Bank, High-Yield Checking: Nationwide Bank
The GOBankingRates editors’ pick for high-yield checking is Nationwide Bank’s Member Checking account. The account, with a low minimum opening deposit of $25, pays a 1.00% APY on balances up to $10,000, with that yield increasing to 1.15% APY for balances of $10,000 or more. There are no monthly maintenance fees on the Nationwide Bank account, which also offers unlimited free Nationwide bank ATM withdrawals — at more than 77,000 ATMs — and up to eight free non-Nationwide ATM transactions per billing cycle.
Best Bank, Checking Account Rewards: Bank of Internet USA
Bank of Internet USA garners top marks from GOBankingRates editors when it comes to checking account rewards. For starters, the bank’s Rewards Checking account has no monthly maintenance or service fees, and it requires no minimum balance. On top of that, the Rewards Checking account can earn you up to 1.25% APY and get you unlimited domestic ATM reimbursements. The account also comes with a rewards purchase program, which offers cash back when you shop at certain vendors with your debit card.
A bonus offer is a short-term or promotional enticement to use a bank’s services. When it comes to the best of the bunch, the GOBankingRates editors selected EverBank’s Yield Pledge Money Market account as the top bonus offer. The EverBank account currently offers a 1.31% APY on balances of up to $250,000, with no monthly fee plus ATM fee reimbursement for balances of $5,000 or more. EverBank seems poised to keep this title, as the account promises to always offer a yield in the top 5 percent of competitive accounts.
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See Finalists Across All Best Banks Categories: 2018 Best Banks
Methodology: GOBankingRates selected Editors’ Picks categories for honoring Best Banks of 2018 finalists in product and service areas beyond the Best Banks main ranking categories (Best National Banks, Best Online Banks, Best Savings Accounts, Best Checking Accounts and Best CD Accounts). These Editors’ Picks categories reflect offerings of interest to consumers: Excellence of Products, Credit Card Rewards, Customer Service, No-Fee Savings Accounts, High-Yield Savings Accounts, Checking Account Rewards, High-Yield Checking Accounts, No-Fee Checking Accounts, Bonus Offers and No-Minimum CD Accounts.
Editors’ Picks were chosen by the GOBankingRates editorial board on Oct. 23, 2017. Votes were cast from the list of Best Banks of 2018 finalists in one or more of the five main Best Banks of 2018 rankings categories. Winner status in any of the main Best Banks rankings categories was not known by the editorial board at the time of Editors’ Picks category voting and was not taken into account in the voting process. Votes were cast based on standout features of the finalists, and an Editors’ Pick symbolizes that the financial institution excelled in a certain area over the other finalists.
To compile its list of the top 110 banks, GOBankingRates surveyed the FDIC’s list of banks sorted by asset size, excluding non-active institutions, investment banks and any institutions that require customers to use investment services to access commercial bank accounts. This list of 110 banks includes 82 brick-and-mortar banks and 28 online-only banks according to the GOBankingRates database. For brick-and-mortar financial institutions, the asset threshold was a minimum of $10 billion. No asset threshold was consulted for online-only banks.
Data for the Best Banks of 2018was compiled from and verified against the individual institutions’ websites between Sept. 12 and Sept. 21, 2017. Rates, terms and conditions are subject to change at the discretion of the individual financial institutions.APY was based on the minimum deposit required to open the account. Some interest rates might be short-term or promotional offers only, and it is possible additional terms and conditions must be met in order to obtain the interest rates listed. Rates and availability might vary by region. Please verify terms and conditions before opening an account.
GOBankingRatesis a personal finance and consumer interest rate website owned byConsumerTrack, Inc.,an online marketing company serving top-tier banks, credit unions, and other financial services organizations. Some banks mentioned in the Best Banks of 2018 are clients of ConsumerTrack, Inc., which serves more than 100 national, local and online financial institutions. Rankings are completely objective, and no institution, client or otherwise, paid for inclusion or specific placement.
