Where to Get Free Checking

Free checking is getting harder to come by. Only 59% of the financial institutions surveyed by Moebs Services at the beginning of 2014 offered free checking without conditions, compared with 82% in 2009. At many banks, you may be asked to jump through certain hoops, such as setting up direct deposit.

What to Look for in a Checking Account

Still, we found several attractive, no-strings-attached checking accounts that may even pay you interest. Capital One 360 Checking has no monthly fees or minimum-balance requirements and pays 0.2% to 0.8%, depending on your balance. Plus, you can deposit checks remotely by using a mobile app or your computer to send the bank images of the checks. You pay no fee for withdrawals from ATMs in the Allpoint and Capital One networks.

The free Ally Bank Interest Checking requires no minimum balance, pays 0.6% on balances of $15,000 or more (0.1% on lower balances) and includes remote check deposit. Ally reimburses fees that other institutions charge when you withdraw money from their ATMs. Alliant Credit Union’s Free Checking requires no minimum balance, and you can withdraw money from more than 80,000 ATMs in participating networks without a surcharge. (Make a donation of at least $10 to Foster Care to Success to become an Alliant member.)

From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance

Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just ~~$107.88~~ $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues

CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/y99mlvgqmn1763972420.png

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters

Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.

Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.

Sometimes free checking is a perk with brokerage accounts. For Fidelity customers, the Fidelity Cash Management Account requires no monthly fee or minimum balance, reimburses ATM fees charged worldwide and offers mobile check deposit. Balances recently earned 0.07%. The Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking Account has the same features but pays 0.1%.

Lisa has been the editor of Kiplinger Personal Finance since June 2023. Previously, she spent more than a decade reporting and writing for the magazine on a variety of topics, including credit, banking and retirement. She has shared her expertise as a guest on the Today Show, CNN, Fox, NPR, Cheddar and many other media outlets around the nation. Lisa graduated from Ball State University and received the school’s “Graduate of the Last Decade” award in 2014. A military spouse, she has moved around the U.S. and currently lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband and two sons.