Last week we talked about bank bonuses, in this article we’ll keep the focus on banks, but this time the emphasis will be a little more digital. What I mean by that is we’ll be discussing online bank accounts. Not to be confused with online banking in the general sense. To be more specific for those who may be confused, these are accounts that are offered exclusively online.
As most are likely aware, many well known banks such as Chase, Bank of America, and Citi offer online banking along with traditional banking. That being said, what would be the point of considering any of these aforementioned online accounts? Glad you asked! The answer is simply; the benefits. Although the specific number varies depending which bank you choose to open an account with, the Annual Percentage Yield according to this chart on rate.savingsaccounts.com can be up to just over six times the national average (0.17%). That’s a statistic that certainly has a major influence when considering opening an online bank account. Now what about when it comes minimum deposits and fees? When looking at the aforementioned chart, you’ll actually notice that a select few of the bank accounts offering a high yield APY, don’t require paying a monthly fee of any kind.
I took a closer look at a few different online banking account options and there are definitely some options worthy of everyone considering. One particular subject I wanted to put an extra emphasis on were each online account’s ATM fees as they would consistently differ depending on the bank of the ATM itself.
The first of these was Synchrony Bank, an online savings account offering an APY of 1.15%. Other key features that make this card even more desirable include the fact that there’s no minimum balance or monthly service fee which is undisputedly a plus. Now when it comes to ATM fees, Synchrony supplies you with a card which they do not charge transaction fees, unfortunately however, not every ATM accepts a Synchrony card. As for those that do, they will charge you a fee for using a different bank’s card in their ATM, which Synchrony actually reimburses you for up to $5 per statement.
The second account I took a look at was the Ally bank savings which offers a pretty similar deal as Synchrony with few sight differences here and there. For starters, with Ally you earn an APY of 1.05%, which is slightly lower than that offered with Synchrony, but still much higher than the national average of 0.17% according to the aforementioned chart on rate.savingsaccount.com. Like Synchrony, Ally also has no monthly maintenance fee or minimum balance requirement, but they do have a 6 transaction per cycle limit which they charge $10 per any transaction if you go over. As for using ATMs with this account, there’s no charge from Ally itself when using other bank’s ATM and they reimburse you up to $10 for fees charged by those other banks.
The last account I looked through was perhaps the most interesting one. Im referring to Aspiration’s Summit Checking Account. Unlike the other accounts I’ve mentioned so far, Aspiration isn’t a bank, it’s actually an investment firm. This account does have an APY of 1.00%, but you must have $2,500 or more in your account. Anything lower than that only earns 0.25% which is still above average! Like the others, there’s no fees or required minimum balance, but you do need to make an initial deposit of at least $10. Now you’re probably wondering about those ATM fees right? With Aspiration, you’ll be reimbursed for all ATM fees, not just a certain amount per cycle. Sounds be great so far, but there are a couple important things to be aware with this account The first being their overdraft fees which start at $25 after the account has been in a negative balance for 5 days, then continues for 30 days everyday the account remains in negative balance. A little word of advice if I may; if you sign up for this account, it’d best to put in the extra effort to absolutely make sure you never overdraft. The second is there’s currently a waiting list to sign up for an account, which is likely due to Aspiration not being an actual bank as was mentioned already.
All in all, when it comes to opening an online savings or checking account, even with the typically above average APY it’s still important to take a closer look at the account to be aware of any benefits or fees they may or may not have. If you’re still on fence about this idea, read through this article on businessinsider.com that talks about why it’s believed that online banks are superior to traditional ones. Also, do not be afraid to check out radiusbank.com, which is a great site for evaluating and comparing different accounts and options.
