Best Free Checking Accounts of April 2023

Discover Cashback Debit Checking account will not only save you money on banking – it’ll also reward you for using your checking account.

Earn 1% cashback on up to $3,000 spent every month – as much as $30 a month just for using your debit card! That could add up to $360 a year – which you could use to start investing in some of the best passive income ideas.

Note that there are some exceptions for receiving cashback. For example, you won’t get cashback on ATM transactions, purchase of money orders, P2P payments, or loan payments (and a few other transactions). Make sure you’re fully aware of them before you spend money on your Discover Cashback Debit card to maximize your rewards.

You can open a Discover Cashback Debit Checking account with no minimum opening deposit – and there are no minimum balance requirements either.

Moreover, Discover allows you to manage your checking account online with a top-rated mobile app (4.8 stars on the App Store, 4.7 on Google Play) – and there are over 60,000 no-fee ATMs in the U.S.

Read more about the best online checking accounts.

Discover Cashback Debit Checking Highlights
APY	N/A, 1% cashback on debit spending
Minimum Deposit	$50
Monthly Fees	$0
Minimum Balance	$0
Fee-Free ATMs	60,000 in U.S.

Learn More:

• Read our full Discover Bank Review

Aspiration Spend & Save™ is an online-only checking account that charges no fees and even pays you cash back on select debit card purchases.

You can earn up to 10% cash back on debit card purchases — earn the most when you shop with socially conscious retailers.

Combine that with the account’s 3-5% APR on your checking account balance, and you’ll notice the savings trickling in, little by little, as you go about making your normal transactions.

Aspiration also pays you back for all ATM fees other banks charge at Allpoint ATMs and does not charge overdraft fees.

How can they make this work? With no branches and a small staff, Aspiration saves a ton on overhead. They can afford to share their savings with you — and still have enough left over to donate 10 percent of its profits to charities.

Their skeletal staff helps you save a little money every day, but this business model has a downside: getting help from customer service will usually take longer compared with a traditional, neighborhood bank.

Aspiration Spend & Save Highlights
APY	up to 5%
Minimum Deposit	$10
Monthly Fees	$0 – $7.99
Minimum Balance	$0
Fee-Free ATMs	55,000+ Allpoint ATMs

Consumers Credit Union is open to the public and offers one of the highest APY checking account opportunities we’ve ever seen – up to 4.00% on balances up to $15,000. That’s 80x the national average!

The Serious Interest Checking account requires no minimum balance and there are no monthly fees. To make things even easier, you only need $5 to open an account.

Enjoy unlimited reimbursement for any and all ATM fees. They offer over 30,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide and refund fees charged by other bank ATMs when you meet your minimum Rewards Checking requirements.

You won’t be charged any fees for any of these actions – and you won’t pay a fee for foreign transactions either.

Online banking and bill-pay, mobile banking, and unlimited check writing are just a few other features offered by this account.

Note: to qualify for the highest APY, you will need to complete qualified activities: eStatements, maintain $1,000 daily balance, complete 12 monthly debit card transactions, and have $1,000 in recurring direct deposit or ach credits.

Consumers Credit Union Checking Highlights
APY	up to 4.00%
Minimum Deposit	$5
Monthly Fees	$0
Minimum Balance	$0
Fee-Free ATMs	∞ (Fee reimbursement)

Lack of fees, solid rates, and domestic ATM reimbursements – Axos Bank Rewards Checking account has it all!

There are no monthly balance requirements nor maintenance fees, and you can reap some excellent rewards (for example, up to 1.25% APY on your balance) – but you will need to qualify as stated below.

To earn the highest APY, you will need to receive at least $1,500 in monthly direct deposits, and use your debit card for at least 10 transactions worth at least $3 (or sign up for Personal Finance Manager (PFM) “Account Aggregation” in Online Banking), maintain an average daily balance of $2,500 per month in an Axos Invest Managed Portfolios Account, maintain an average daily balance of $2,500 per month in an Axos Invest Self Directed Trading Account and use your Rewards Checking account to make your full monthly Axos Bank consumer loan payment (Mortgage, personal, and auto loans are eligible).

If you meet the criteria – Axos Rewards Checking offers one of the best checking account APYs on the market.

The Axos Bank Rewards Checking account requires a $50 minimum balance to open an account.

Axos Bank Rewards Checking Highlights
APY	up to 1.25%
Minimum Deposit	$50
Monthly Fees	$0
Minimum Balance	$0
Fee-Free ATMs	∞ Domestic (Fee reimbursement)

Learn More:

• Read our full Axos Bank Review

Betterment has taken free checking to a new level. Yes, you’ll avoid the monthly fee, but not because you meet certain criteria. You’ll avoid the fee because Betterment doesn’t charge it.

Betterment is the largest independent online investment advisor, and their mission is to help you make the most of your money.

One of my favorite things about Betterment Checking is the ability to transfer money in and out of your Betterment robo-advisor account seamlessly — no more waiting three or four business days for the money to materialize.

Betterment will also reimburse you for other bank’s ATM surcharges no matter whose bank or where in the world you happen to be. Once again, you won’t have to do the legwork to receive this reimbursement; Betterment automatically pays you back.

This new mobile-friendly bank also reimburses Visa’s standard 1-percent fee on international transactions when you use your Betterment Checking debit card.

And here’s the biggest freebie of them all: no overdraft fees. Betterment doesn’t charge them. If you slip into the red by accident you won’t get a $29 or $31 hit to make matters worse. You will need to make a deposit quickly though, or Betterment will automatically pull from your other connected accounts.

Betterment easily syncs with Mint and TurboTax.

Betterment Checking Highlights
APY	1.10%
Minimum Deposit	$0
Monthly Fees	$0
Minimum Balance	$0
Fee-Free ATMs	∞ (Fee reimbursement)

Learn More:

• Read our full Betterment Review

Chase is well-known for its credit cards and frequently offers some of the best bank promotions.

The main reason I couldn’t leave this one off the list is the sweet $200 sign-up bonus after you complete a direct deposit within 90 days. Offer expires 04/19/2023.

Chase Total Checking does have a couple of fees; however, there are ways to avoid them. For example, the $12 monthly fee can be waived with activities like maintaining a minimum balance of $1,500 or $500 in direct deposit each month.

Withdrawing money for free, but only at one of their 16,000 ATMs. Otherwise, you’ll be charged $2.50 per transaction within the U.S., $5 international.

Online banking is standard, but you can also do “text banking” for checking balances and transaction history via messaging.

Chase also offers account alerts to warn you prior to over-drafting and for account security.

Chase is a great choice for customers seeking a big brand with many product lines like: savings, cds, mortgages, lines of credit, etc.

Note: If you have a had trouble with checking accounts in the past, consider the Chase Secure Banking account which is offering a $100 bonus.

Chase Total Checking Highlights
APY	N/A
Minimum Deposit	$0
Monthly Fees	$0, with qualifying activities
Minimum Balance	$0
Fee-Free ATMs	16,000+

Learn More:

• Read our full Chase Bank Review

You may have heard of Chime (one of the best bank accounts for millennials!) – a fast-growing mobile bank that offers low-cost banking. Chime makes it easy to put money aside into a savings account with automatic saving options. When you open your bank account with Chime, you get an optional Savings Account.

Unsurprisingly, Chime also has a free checking account which comes with many attractive features like no foreign transaction fees, Early Direct Deposit, and access to over 60,000 fee-free ATMs.

When you spend money using your Chime Visa Debit Card, Chime will round up your spending to the nearest dollar and transfer the round-up into your automatic savings account.

Another cool feature of Chime is that it allows you to get a jump on payday through the Early Direct Deposit feature.

Early Direct Deposit makes your money available to you when your employer deposits it, and, because traditionally it can take up to two business days to deposit paper checks, that means you could get paid up to two days early.

Chime has a top-rated mobile app (4.7 stars on the App Store, 4.6 on Google Play) and access to 38,000 atms

Chime Deposit Account Highlights
APY	N/A, 1% cashback on debit spending
Minimum Deposit	$0
Monthly Fees	$0
Minimum Balance	$0
Fee-Free ATMs	38,000+

Learn More:

• Read our full Chime Review

nbkc Personal Checking is another excellent free checking account option that will not only save you money by cutting out banking fees – but will also help you earn interest.

This account offers a very generous .75% APY on all balances – while many of its competitors require you to maintain an average minimum amount in your account (which can be anything from a $1,000 to $50,000).

On top of that, nbkc won’t charge you for many of the tasks that other banks charges fees for – such as overdrafts, stop payments, or incoming domestic wires.

However, bear in mind that you will be charged for sending domestic and international wires – and other fees may apply (word of advice – always check the fine print).

You can manage your nbkc Personal Account and perform common banking tasks like pay bills and transfer money easily from the nbkc mobile app – as well as add your nbkc Personal Account card to your digital wallet.

Withdraw money at over 32,000 MoneyPass® ATMs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico for free. And, if you get charged withdrawal fees at any other ATMs anywhere in the world, nbkc offers up to $12 in monthly refunds.

nbkc Personal Checking Highlights
APY	.75%
Minimum Deposit	$5
Monthly Fees	$0
Minimum Balance	$0
Fee-Free ATMs	32,000+ MoneyPass® ATMs

Capital One 360 Checking Account is another excellent no-fee checking account that offers seamless banking on-the-go.

With a top-rated mobile app (4.7 stars on the App Store and Google Play), Capital One makes it easy to transfer money, manage accounts, and deposit checks while you’re out and about.

You won’t be charged any fees for any of these actions – and you won’t pay a fee for foreign transactions either.

Capital One 360 allows you to earn an annual percentage yield of 0.10% on all balances.

Capital One 360 Checking Highlights
APY	0.10%
Minimum Deposit	$0
Monthly Fees	$0
Minimum Balance	$0
Fee-Free ATMs	70,000+

Learn More:

• Read our full Capital One 360 Review

Ally Bank offers a completely free checking account that gives your money a boost with pretty solid APY rates – 0.10% APY on balances of less than $15,000 – and 0.25% APY on balances of at least $15,000.

With Ally Bank Interest Checking Account, you won’t pay a dime for keeping your account open – and there are no minimum balance requirements nor minimum opening deposits.

Withdrawing money for free is easy – use any of Allpoint® ATMs nationwide. Plus, if you do get charged fees at any other ATM in the U.S., Ally Bank will reimburse up to $10 per statement cycle.

Ally bank has a top-rated mobile app (4.8 stars on the App Store, 4.3 on Google Play).

Ally is a popular choice for customers seeking competitive rates and a good customer experience.

Ally Bank Highlights
APY	0.10% – 0.25%
Minimum Deposit	$0
Monthly Fees	$0
Minimum Balance	$0
Fee-Free ATMs	43,000+ Allpoint® ATMs

Learn More:

• Read our full Ally Bank Review