10 Best Free Checking Accounts In January 2023

Today we're checking out the best free checking accounts for consumers.

Depending on where you bank, what you do, or what you're comfortable with, there is likely a free checking account that will work for you. 

Too many people fall for the myth that banking is expensive and that the only options for a checking account involve fees, or maintaining outrageously high balances to keep the fees waived.

But today, we're fighting this myth.

We're going to show you our favorite options depending on your situation, as well as a full round-up of free checking account options that might work for you.

Note: Most of these banks require a credit score of 600 or higher to open a free checking account online. If you don't have a great score, or don't have a solid banking history, check out this list of second-chance checking accounts.

Best No-Fee Checking Accounts

Want to skip right to the answer of where you're going to find the best no-monthly fee checking accounts? Here you go:

• Best Overall: Current
• Best For High Interest: Varo
• Best Sign-Up Bonus For Checking: U.S. Bank Smartly™ Checking (Up to a $600 Bonus)
• Best Mobile App: GO2bank

Promo: U.S. Bank Smartly™ Checking. Right now, you can earn up to $600 when you open a new U.S. Bank Smartly^™ checking account and a Standard savings account and complete qualifying activities. Open an account here >>

Our Selections Of The Checking Account Options

We break down the best free bank account and checking account options below. This list includes mostly online checking options, but you may also find banks near you with free checking (or even credit unions). However, we find that most people prefer the convenience of solid online banking.

Note: The checking offers that appear on this site are from companies from which The College Investor receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). The College Investor does not include all banking companies or all checking offers available in the marketplace.

3. Chime Free Checking

Chime was one of the original free mobile banking apps that revolutionized mobile banking. They started with a mobile-first mindset, and also wanted to keep fees as low as possible.

As such, they have a top notching free checking account if you're okay with a mobile only platform. Chime has no physical locations, and all of their banking is done online - in the app. 

Check out our Chime Review here. 

Why I Like It: Free mobile banking.

Learn more about Chime Free Checking here. 

5. U.S. Bank Smartly™ Checking 

The Bank Smartly™ Checking account is a solid basic checking account with all the features you need in a bank.

This account includes a U.S. Bank Visa Debit Card, mobile and online banking, mobile check deposit, online bill pay, and more! You also get access to fast payments with Zelle, and access to U.S. Bank Smart Rewards™ to reap additional benefits.

U.S. Bank Smartly™ Checking has a $6.95 per month maintenance fee that's easily waived if you simply do ONE of the following:

• Are age 24 and under, 65 and over, or a member of the military, OR
• Have combined monthly direct deposits totaling $1,000 or more, OR
• Average account balance of $1,500 ore more, OR
• Hold an eligible U.S. Bank credit card, OR
• Qualify for one of the four Smart Rewards™ tiers (Primary, Plus, Premium, or Pinnacle).

And right now, they have an amazing bonus offer! Earn up to $600 when you open a new U.S. Bank Smartly^™ checking account and a Standard savings account and complete qualifying activities. Subject to certain terms and limitations. Offer valid through February 7, 2023. Member FDIC. 

Complete these steps within 90 days of opening your new Bank Smartly (TM) checking account online:

• Enroll in online banking or the U.S. Bank Mobile App
• Complete two or more direct deposits of $3,000 to $5,999.99 to earn $200 or $6,000 or more to earn $400.
• Earn an additional $200 when you open a new Standard Savings account, complete deposit(s) of $25,000 or more February 28, 2023 and maintain a total account balance of $25,000 until May 31, 2023.

Applicant must reside in AZ, AR, CA, CO, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NC, ND, OH, OR, SD, TN, UT, WA, WI, WY to be eligible.

Read our full U.S. Bank review here.

Why I Like It: A solid basic checking account at a great major bank.

Learn more about U.S. Bank Smartly™ Checking account here.

Earn Up To A $600 Bonus! At U.S. Bank National Association Member FDIC.

6. Varo

Varo is a modern app and online bank that is delivering awesome free checking with interest.

Varo has no minimum balance requirements, no monthly fees, and earns interest!

It includes a debit card and a solid mobile app experience!

Read our full Varo review here. 

Why I Like It: A free checking account that can be combined that earns interest.

Learn more about Varo.

7. Axos Rewards Checking

Axos Bank calls themselves America's most experienced digital bank. And their Rewards checking account hits every feature you'd expect from a top notch online bank.

Rewards Checking has no minimum balance requirements, no monthly fees, and no overdraft or insufficient fund fees. Plus, they offer unlimited domestic ATM reimbursements! 

Axos Bank does require that you have good banking history to get approved.

What's great about this account is that it's monthly fee-free, but also pays interest. You can earn up to 1.25% APY right now! However, it's tiered, so here's what you need to know:

• Baseline: 0.40% APY when you receive monthly direct deposits totaling $1,500 or more. This is required to unlock the remaining tiers.
• Debit Card Spending or Personal Finance Manager: 0.30% APY when you use your Axos Visa Debit Card for a total of 10 transactions per month (min $3 transactions) or sign up for Personal Finance Manager in Online Banking.
• Managed Portfolios: 0.20% APY when you maintain an average daily balance of $2,500 in an Axos Invest Managed Portfolios Account.
• Self Directed Trading: 0.20% APY when you maintain an average daily balance of $2,500 in an Axos Invest Self Directed Trading Account.
• Loan Payment: 0.15% APY when you used your Rewards Checking account to make your full monthly Axos Bank consumer loan payment (mortgage, auto, and personal loans are eligible).

Plus, right now you can earn a $100 bonus offer when you open an account using the promo code RC100 by March 31, 2023.

Read our full Axos Bank review here. 

Why I Like It: A great free checking account with the ability to earn a high APY. 

Learn more about Axos Rewards Checking here.

Earn a $100 bonus!

10. Juno

Juno is a crypto-friendly mobile bank that offers an incredibly compelling annual percentage yield (APY) so we wanted to include it here. While Juno is technically a checking account, it offers an amazing interest rate that will make savers want to take notice. According to Juno, you can earn 30x the national average for checking account APY. 

Right now, you can earn up to 5.00% APY on balances up to $10,000. 

They offer two different accounts:

• Basic Checking: Up to 5% APY on balances up to $5,000 and 3% on cash deposits from $10,001 up to $250,000.
• Metal Checking: Up to 5.00% APY on balances up to $10,000, but you need a minimum of $250 direct deposit to get started.

Their account has just a $0 minimum to open, and no monthly maintenance fees!

Read our full Juno Bank Review here.

Why I Like It: High interest rate on a checking account.

Open an Juno Account here >>

Earn a $50 bonus!

Other Great Banks That Offer Free Checking

These accounts are solid free checking account options that you may want to consider in your search!

Wealthfront Cash Account

Wealthfront (the popular robo-advisor) recently launched a high-interest checking account, the Wealthfront Cash Account. This account is a great way to earn interest on all of your money and get your paycheck up to two days early.

What's great about the account is that it provides no account fee banking for all of your spending needs and also earns interest.  It currently pays 3.80% APY and you can get started with just $1.

They are very mobile friendly, with 19,000 fee-free ATMs, mobile check deposits, and BillPay. 

Read our full Wealthfront review here.

Why I Like It: Interest-bearing checking connected to a solid robo-advisor.

Open a Wealthfront Cash Account here.

Quontic High Interest Checking

Quontic Bank recently launched a High Interest Checking Account. This account is a great way to earn interest on your money, especially with the balance limits they offer. And even if you don't meet the criteria, this is still a great free checking account!

This account currently has three tiers of interest:

• $0 to $150,000: 1.10% APY
• $150,001 to $1,000,000: 1.10% APY
• $1,000,001+: 1.10% APY

You do have to have a minimum balance of $100, and you must make 10 qualifying debit card point-of-sale transactions of $10.00 or more per statement cycle. If you fail to meet these minimums, you'll get just 0.01% APY.

Read our full Quontic bank review here.

Why I Like It: You can earn the highest rate on a lot of your balance.

Open a Quontic Bank High Interest Checking Account here.

Aspiration Spend & Save

Aspiration Spend & Save is Aspiration's cash management account. The great thing about this account is that they offer a variety of features for free. Furthermore, if you do upgrade to Aspiration Plus, you can get up to 3.00% APY on your money!

This account has only a $10 minimum to open, but after that you can pay what you want for a monthly fee (including $0), no minimum balance requirements, and no overdraft fees.

Earning the 3.00% APY does have some restrictions. To earn 3.00% APY interest on Aspiration Save Account balances up to and including $10,000.00 in any calendar month, customer must be enrolled in Aspiration Plus and spend $1,000 or more, monthly, with their Aspiration debit card. Balances over $10,000.00 will earn 0.10% APY. If the requirements are not met each month, the APY will be 0.25% on Save Account balances up to and including $10,000.00. Balances over $10,000.00 will earn 0.10% APY.

Check out our Aspiration Review here. 

Why I Like It: Eco-friendly banking with potential to earn a solid APY.

Learn more about Aspiration here. 

Ally Bank Checking

Ally Bank is one of the most well-known internet only banks around, and they have a great free checking account that matches their brand. 

They are known for solid customer service and great banking products. They have no monthly fee free checking, and a great mobile app that allows mobile check deposit.

Read out full Ally Bank review here.

Why I Like It: Well known free checking brand.

Learn more about Ally Bank Checking here.

USAA Classic Checking

USAA Classic Checking is a great choice for free checking if you qualify to have a USAA Account. USAA limits membership to servicemembers and DOD employees and their families, so that could be a bar to entry for some.

If you do qualify for USAA, then their USAA Classic Checking is a great product, with no fee checking, free checks, online BillPay, and ATM free reimbursements.

Read our full USAA Bank review here. Also check out these great options for military checking accounts.

Why I Like It: Free checking, free checks, great mobile app for those that qualify for USAA.

Learn more about USAA Classic Checking here.

nbkc Bank Everything Account

nbkc Bank Everything Account is a great free checking account if you're looking for a checking account that earns interest, has no minimum, and an easy to use mobile app.

They offer truly free checking, and even offer free checks and a network of free ATMs. They also have mobile check deposit, which they offer for free.

Check out our nbkc Bank review here.

Why I Like It: Free checking, free checks, and free mobile check deposit.

Open an nbkc Bank Everything Account here.

Fighting The Myth Of Free Checking

We talked about it slightly above, but there is a long standing myth in America that checking accounts are expensive. As a result, too many people go without this tool, and end up using expensive tools like check cashing, money orders, and more.

According to a CFPB report, the average checking account charge $10-12 in monthly maintenance fees. That's crazy! There is no reason than anyone should pay these fees when opening a checking account.

Furthermore, to waive these fees, many "big banks" require you to open other products with them (such as a savings account), or maintain a monthly minimum (say $5,000 at all times, or pay the fee), or they require you to have direct deposit setup.

Some banks even have a transaction requirement to waive the fee - for example, you must have 25 debit cards transactions per month, or you get charged a fee. All of these fees and requirements are wrong.

What You Need In A Checking Account

Students (and other people) typically maintain lower balances than older Americans. They also might not have a job yet (for direct deposit), or have other accounts at the bank.

As such, they have unique requirements that we wanted to share, so that you can see how we based our criteria for the best free checking account options.

In order to be one of the best free checking accounts, we put the following criteria in place:

How Do You Open A New Checking Account?

When you're ready, it's extremely easy to open a new checking account. While the process will vary, if you're opening an account online, you simply click the link above and follow the directions. You simply need to fill out the personal information, including Name, Address, and SSN, and you're set.

Some banks may need you to upload copies of your identification or other items. You can typically do this online.

When it comes time to fund your account, you can simply setup a transfer into the account.

If you're opening an account at a brick and mortar bank, the same steps will apply, except you will need cash or a check to fund the account.

Common Checking Account Questions

Still on the fence about what type of checking account to open? We break down the most common checking account questions below:

Methodology

The College Investor is dedicated to helping you make informed decisions around complex financial topics like finding the best checking account. We do this by providing unbiased reviews of the top banks and checking accounts for our readers, and then we aggregate those choices into this list.

We have picked checking accounts based on our opinions of how easy they are to use, their costs and fees, any interest rates and bonuses provided, and a variety of other factors. We believe that our list accurately reflects the best free checking accounts in the marketplace for consumers.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully you can see that there are good options for free checking. 

Here's a recap of our picks for the top checking accounts:

1. Current
2. Upgrade Rewards Checking
   
3. Chime
4. Chase Total Checking
5. U.S. Bank Smartly Checking
6. Varo
7. Axos Rewards Checking
8. GO2bank
9. Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking
10. Juno

You don't have to pay fees to have a checking account - you just need to open your account at a good bank. 

DISCLAIMERS

Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank, N.A.; Members FDIC

¹ 2.50% APY as of 10/7/2022 and may change anytime. Interest is paid quarterly on the average daily balance up to a $5,000 balance.

² Active GO2bank account required to receive an eGift Card. eGift Card merchants subject to change.

³ Opt-in required. $15 fee may apply to each eligible purchase transaction that brings your account negative. Balance must be brought to at least $0 within 24 hours of authorization of the first transaction that overdraws your account to avoid the fee. Overdrafts paid at our discretion, and we do not guarantee that we will authorize and pay any transaction. See Deposit Account Agreement at GO2bank.com for more details.

⁴ The Annual Percentage Yield (“APY”) for the Chime Savings Account is variable and may change at any time. The disclosed APY is accurate as of November 17, 2022. No minimum balance required. Must have $0.01 in savings to earn interest.