Best Banks and Credit Unions for 2024 (2024)

You might not think too often about your bank. Yet you interact with it each time you buy a cup of coffee, pay the electric bill or earn a few bucks of interest. For that reason, having the right checking and savings account can have a big impact on your wallet. It’s often the difference between earning a decent return on your hard-earned money and getting dinged with all sorts of annoying fees.

There are nearly 10,000 banks and credit unions in the U.S., from single-storefront community institutions to Wall Street megabanks. So whether you want a bank that has convenient branches—or a feature-filled mobile app or the most generous interest rates —there’s an institution out there for you.

We’ve sifted through dozens of bank and credit-union accounts to find the ones that offer the best combination of low fees, convenience and transparency. We also considered account flexibility, simplicity and user-friendliness, both for in-person as well as online banking.

Best Bank

Why we picked it

Capital One offers the convenience of a big, national bank with the low fees and attractive interest rates that rival those of many newer, online-only financial institutions.

Customers can bank online or in person at one of nearly 300 branches, and a network of more than 70,000 ATMs make it easy to avoid out-of-network fees when you just want to grab cash. Account terms are simple and transparent—with no “gotcha” fees, no gimmicks or hoops to jump through. Unlike a lot of big national banks, Capital One doesn’t charge monthly maintenance fees on its checking or savings accounts, and it offers overdraft options to help you avoid fees there, as well.

• Key Stats
• •360 Performance Savings APY: 4.35%
• •360 Checking APY: 0.1%
• •No minimum opening balance
• •No monthly maintenance fee for checking or savings
• •Open and manage your account in a branch, or via mobile app or web
• •Digital tools help you set and track savings goals

Capital One’s savings account—which is Buy Side’s top overall pick for Best Savings Account—consistently offers a generous APY that’s similar to what many all-digital banks offer. While its checking interest rate is set much lower, you do earn interest on every dollar of your balance—its flagship checking account was also Buy Side’s top pick in the Best Checking Account category. (Separate versions of Capital One’s savings and checking accounts, designed for kids and teens are also great.)

With Capital One, you’ll also be able to take advantage of online and app-based tools that can help you budget, track your spending and work towards savings goals. Its iOS and Android apps score high marks with users, earning scores of 4.8 and 4.6 (out of 5), respectively, among users.

Caveats

Capital One’s savings account APY beats most national banks and is competitive among online banks. But if merely getting the highest possible rate is your goal, you can usually find a smattering of online banks with better offers. Also, Capital One doesn’t allow you to make savings account withdrawals directly from an ATM; you would need to transfer funds to a linked account first.

Other banks we considered

American Express’s online checking and savings accounts both have user-friendly terms and generous APYs, but there’s no in-person banking, and you have to have an American Express card to be eligible to open an account.

If you’re looking for a different national bank, you can earn a competitive APY with TD Bank’s Signature Savings, but you need to have a balance of at least $100,000—and link it to another TD account—to earn the most attractive rate.

Best online bank

Why we picked it

Ally offers simple, easy-to-use accounts with few fees and generous interest-earning potential. The Ally Online Savings and Ally Spending accounts (the latter is the bank’s flagship checking account) were our top picks for digital banks in Buy Side’s Best Checking and Best Savings rankings.

Ally’s savings account APY consistently ranks among the highest, and you can earn that rate on every dollar of your balance without having to jump through any hoops or maintain a minimum balance. On the checking side, Ally offers one of the highest rates that lets you earn interest on your entire balance.

Key stats

• Savings APY: 4.25%
• Checking APY: 0.25%
• No minimum deposit to open checking or savings
• No minimum balance requirement for checking or savings
• No monthly maintenance fee for checking or savings
• No overdraft fees

Customers are by and large happy banking with Ally. Its iOS app has a 4.7 (out of 5) ranking, and both its checking and savings accounts rank in the top three in the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Direct Banking Satisfaction Study.

Caveats

If you’re not comfortable using your computer and phone to handle your everyday banking, this probably won’t be the best pick for you. As with Capital One, yield-chasers might find higher APYs on savings by checking out Buy Side’s monthly roundup of banks with top savings rates.

Other banks we considered

Synchrony Bank has a decent APY on its savings account, but if you want to bank in one place, its lack of a checking account could be a deal breaker.

Likewise, BMO’s online-only Alto brand offers a generous savings APY, but you don’t have the option of a checking account.

Best online bank for yield

Why we picked it

An the online-only division of Massachusetts-based Cambridge Savings Bank, Ivy Bank offers a savings account that lets you earn a healthy return—with an unusual guarantee, which could protect you if interest rates drop in 2024, as many market watchers think they will.

Ivy Bank’s savings account does have a $2,500 minimum, although this is still considerably lower than minimums for many “jumbo” savings accounts at other banks where you can also score a top yield. What’s more, Ivy doesn’t employ gimmicks that limit the amount you can earn, such as applying a minimum or maximum threshold to the balance eligible for the advertised rate. The only threshold you’ll hit is a $1 million maximum. (Note that this is considerably higher than FDIC coverage limits for a single account, and not recommended.)

Key stats

• APY: 5.3%
• Minimum balance to earn advertised APY: $2,500
• No monthly maintenance fee
• No checking account available

Ivy’s account also comes with a rare perk: One drawback of high-yield savings accounts compared with other savings vehicles like CDs is that savings account rates are variable—which means when prevailing market interest rates start to drop, you can expect your account’s APY to drop as well. Ivy Bank’s High-Yield Savings Account has a feature that reduces the uncertainty: The bank guarantees the rate its offering today through June 2024.

Caveats

If you want to do all your banking with a single institution, Ivy Bank’s lack of a checking account might make this a less-than-ideal fit.

Other banks we considered

The jumbo savings account offered by Bank5 Connect—an online brand of Massachusetts-based BankFive—has a high APY but a considerably higher $25,000 minimum.

The high-yield savings account offered by CIT Bank, an online brand of First Citizens, only requires $100 to open the account, but the APY is tiered, and you need a balance of at least $5,000 to earn the advertised rate.

Best credit union

Why we picked it

Credit unions operate differently than banks in that they are nonprofit organizations, which advocates say leads to better terms and higher interest rates for customers. In Buy Side’s roundups, Alliant took the top spot among credit unions in our Best Checking and Best Savings rankings.

While traditionally, credit unions limit their membership to people who live, work, go to school or worship within a particular geographic footprint, anyone can join Alliant. It’s one of a new breed of credit unions that operates digitally and opens its membership to all. You just need to become a member of the affiliated nonprofit Foster Care to Success. Alliant even pays the $5 required membership fee.

Key stats

• APY for High-Rate Savings: 3.1%
• APY for High-Rate Checking: 0.25%
• $5 minimum to open a checking or savings account
• No minimum balance requirement for checking
• $5 minimum balance for savings ($100 minimum balance to earn interest on savings)
• No monthly maintenance fee for checking or savings
• Join by becoming a member of Foster Care to Success—Alliant pays the $5 fee

Even without branches, Alliant aims to make banking easy. Its account structures are simple and transparent, and you won’t get socked with fees that erode the interest you can earn. (About the only fee you might have to pay is a $1 monthly fee if you want paper statements.) A network of more than 80,000 ATMs can help you avoid out-of-network fees—and if you can’t, Alliant will even refund you up to $20 a month in other operators’ ATM fees.

Alliant has a decent APY for its savings account—which is good for every dollar of your balance. Its checking account has one of the most generous APYs we’ve come across.

Caveats

There’s a $100 minimum to earn the advertised savings APY. As is the case with other online institutions, people who prefer to bank in person might not be comfortable with Alliant’s lack of bricks-and-mortar branches.

Other options we considered

For California residents, Golden 1 Credit Union offers free checking—plus a big branch network. But you have to live or work in the Golden State to bank at Golden 1.

Lake Michigan Credit Union’s checking account has an eye-catching APY, but you only earn the top rate on the first $15,000 of your balance. You also have to jump through a number of hoops each month—such as conducting a certain number of transactions—in order to earn the top rate.

How we picked

To pick Buy Side from WSJ’s Best Banks, we evaluated dozens of banks and credit unions, looking for institutions that offered the best combination of high interest, low fees and flexible account options for savings, checking and CDs. We gave priority to accounts that charged low or no monthly maintenance fees, as well as minimal service charges and penalty fees. We evaluated accessibility in terms of low (or no) minimum balance requirements, availability of customer service options, customer feedback and user reviews.

For our credit union picks, we looked for institutions that don’t place restrictions on membership, as many credit unions require customers to live, work, study or worship in a specific area.

All of our Best Bank picks are FDIC members, and all of our Best Credit Union picks are National Credit Union Administration members. These agencies protect account holders’ deposits.

The account terms in this story are current as of December 2023 except interest rates which are updated periodically and are as of the dateline. Because interest rates change so frequently, we looked for banks that offer competitive rates along with other user-friendly attributes.

Got a money question? Let Buy Side find the answer.Emailmoney@buysidewsj.com.

Include your full name and location, and we may publish your response.