Today we're checking out the best free checking accounts for college students (or anyone really). If you're looking at banking products, you MUST use a free checking account. Don't fall for gimmicks like starter checking, student checking, etc. Typically, these accounts all start you on a free program, but after a certain period of time, they transition you to a paid checking account product.
Too many people fall for the myth that banking is expensive and that your 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 three options for students (and anyone really) that offer truly free checking accounts. No fees. No minimums. No strings attached.
Fighting The Myth Of Free Checking Accounts
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 NerdWallet study, 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 Students 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:
- No Monthly Maintenance Fees: This is a big one. All of the accounts we consider must not charge a monthly maintenance fee, today, or ever. We hate gimmicks, and some banks waive the fee for a certain amount of time, and that's still not okay with us.
- No Or Low Monthly Balance Required: You shouldn't have to have huge amounts of money to waive fees or qualify for a free checking account. We only look for banks that don't have a monthly minimum balance requirement or if they do, it's incredibly low.
- No Direct Deposit Requirement: Many students don't have jobs yet, so it can be hard or impossible to get direct deposit. As such, we don't want banks to require direct deposit for free checking.
- Awesome Online Access: The best free checking accounts will also have awesome online access, a great app or mobile site, and be accessible anywhere.
- No ATM Fees: College students are on the move. They should be able to access their money for free, where ever they are.
The Best Free Checking Account Options
Based on that criteria above, here are our choices for the best free checking accounts available.
Aspiration Summit Checking Account
- No Minimum Monthly Deposit
- No Monthly Maintenance Or Service Fees
- No Minimum Balance Requirement
- Earn Interest On Your Checking Account Balance
- Free ATM Withdraw With ATM Fee Reimbursement
BBVA ClearChoice Checking Account
- $25 Minimum To Open A Checking Account
- No Monthly Maintenance Or Service Fees
- No Minimum Balance Requirement
- Free ATM Fees With ATM Fee Reimbursement
- Free Checks (but who uses checks anymore?)
USAA Classic Checking
- $25 Minimum To Open A Checking Account
- No Monthly Maintenance Or Service Fees
- No Minimum Balance Requirement
- Free ATM Fees With ATM Fee Reimbursement
- Awesome App With Mobile Check Deposit
Final Thoughts
Hopefully you can see that there are good options for free checking. You don't have to pay fees to have a checking account - you just need to open your account at a good bank.
Mao says
No monthly fees or account minimums are a key for college checking accounts. A lot of times the school would have relationships with banks that can help students too. Definitely look into those.
Robert Farrington says
I’ve seen those before, but many times they are promotional (like, only for 2 years no fees/minimums). That’s why we recommend the banks above.
Avi says
You didn’t put capital one 360 it’s free for everything it’s one of the original free checking accounts
Robert Farrington says
Capital One 360 is good, and offers a lot of options for free. It doesn’t quite make our best list because they don’t offer ATM Reimbursement (you must you one of their ATMs), and they charge for checks. Also, they don’t offer other features like courtesy overdraft to a linked account and a bit more.
The three above edge them out slightly. Capital One 360 would be a solid 4th on our list.
Gary Fowler says
I’ve always had free checking going back as long as I can remember, and I’m nearly 55. Ohio’s Huntington Bank, Bank of Kentucky (now BB&T), Chase, US Bank, Twin Cities’ TCF Bank in Minnesota, and some I can’t remember from my youth in Alaska. All have had completely and totally free checking when I was banking with each of them. I wouldn’t accept anything else :o)
Robert Farrington says
Sadly, many of the major national options you mentioned don’t actually offer free checking.
Chase only offers free checking if you maintain a $1,500 minimum balance or linked accounts with a $5,000 minimum balance. That can be tough for a college student or young adult.
US Bank requires an average $1,500 daily balance or direct deposits into the account of at least $1,000 each month.
I’m not familiar with the other banks you mentioned, as they’re regional, but a quick Google search reveals that some may offer basic free checking (which is great), but do they offer all the free services as our recommended choices?
Joan Fogel says
Have banked with a credit union for many years. Free checking accounts and no long waiting lines. Also,Low interest rates
Robert Farrington says
Sadly, even many credit unions are moving away from truly free checking. But it never hurts to look!