What are the best checking accounts? Any cool features? I am fed up with bank of America. I know m1 let's you send a check but doesn't have zelle I know Schwab has unlimited ATM rebates and no foreign transaction fees What else is there?

ally has I think 5 free ATM fees and has zelle

so schwab investor checking also has zelle so i think that would be in the lead then

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I'm happy with Citibank, combined with my savings accounts. They have brokerage, too. You can mail checks, use Zelle, and once you're citigold, no ATM fees for any ATM and free checks. There's more citigold benefits too (wire transfers, etc) that I don't know much about

I'm happy with Capital One 360 Checking

I'm a diehard ally fan I had Schwab back in the day. I found them to be clunky. Can't remember the details, but remember being much happier with ally Also used to have ING direct way back (before ally existed), which then converted to Capital One 360. Initially I was happy, but then they changed something and I dropped them. Sorry, don't remember the details. Ally has from the highest interest rates on accounts, highest mobile deposit limits (by far, last I checked), a nice app, and... I'll post if I think of anything else.

This is an affiliate link, but I'm extremely pleased with Wealthfront's cash account: https://www.wealthfront.com/c/affiliates/invited/AFFA-6UQ2-WA8P-CR9U

@fresh-pilot-83865 are you sure that is a checkings? it looks like a savings

you can get a debit card and send checks from it as long as you keep a minimum balance in the account

Does it have a limit of 6 withdrawals per month (which is a federal restriction on savings accounts) and any others get charged fees?

I don't think so. there are definitely unlimited fee-free transfers

from their fine print: Cash Account is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC (“Wealthfront Brokerage”), a Member of FINRA / SIPC. Neither Wealthfront Brokerage nor any of its affiliates are a bank, and Cash Account is not a checking or savings account. We convey funds to partner banks who accept and maintain deposits, provide the interest rate, and provide FDIC insurance. Investment management and advisory services--which are not FDIC insured--are provided by Wealthfront Advisers LLC (“Wealthfront Advisers”), an SEC-registered investment adviser, and financial planning tools are provided by Wealthfront Software LLC (“Wealthfront Software”). We’ve partnered with Green Dot Bank. The checking features offered on your Wealthfront Cash account are provided by and the Wealthfront Visa® Debit Card is issued by Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. Visa is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association. Checking features for the Cash Account are subject to identity verification by Green Dot Bank and the Wealthfront Visa® Debit Card is optional and must be requested. Wealthfront products and services are not provided by Green Dot Bank. Green Dot Bank operates under the following registered trade names: GO2bank, GoBank and Bonneville Bank. All of these registered trade names are used by, and refer to, a single FDIC-insured bank, Green Dot Bank. Deposits under any of these trade names are deposits with Green Dot Bank and are aggregated for deposit insurance coverage.

so its their own concept. neat!

for my purposes at least it acts as a checking account that I get savings-account level interest on

i wonder how the fdic nature of it is enforced. LIke they are putting it only in partner bank fdic accounts, but who enforces that? or is that just going to be scouts honor?

As in are they using a single account so really it isn't insured since it only goes up to $250k?

no they are using multiple accounts to get 5M insured

per person? or overall?

per “cash account”

lol ❤️

So whats your question then? Who is ensuring that they are doing what they say they are and actually putting it in FDIC insured account?

yeah

They have been sued by the SEC before about 5 years ago, but it was for a totally different product... just bringing it up because I imagine that the law is what holds them accountable

Why can't the money go directly into the FDIC insured accounts?

it can, but who enforces that? normally I put it into the account myself, but here I am trusting them to

@mysterious-tomato-10057 there are a bunch of atms in pikesville with no fees: https://www.wealthfront.com/find-atm

but the schwab card has no fees on any ATM in the world

Discover Bank is my personal favorite. The customer service is INCREDIBLE.

Shwab is 1/10th the APY of wealthfront, but it is a name brand with easy accessibility

i don’t keep money in my checking account. its for spending money haha. but i hear you

I had a Discover CD that I wanted to close, but it couldn't be closed online. Instead I transferred out all but 1 cent that I am considering the annoyance fee for not dealing with a phone call.

The only comparison that I have is Wells Fargo that I switched from, but I like the Ally UI and mobile app, and have had great experiences with customer service. And the daily mobile deposit limit was 10x the Wells Fargo monthly limit. Not that I'm depositing tens of thousands of dollars in checks every day.

I would like to extend this very same conversation, but for Business accounts. (continuation in new thread)

Anyone who needs to use the daily mobile deposit limit of tens of thousand of dollars, let me know so I can tell your frum.finance’s EIN for donations. Thanks! 😉

But, the WF limit was actually lower than what I needed - it was 5k / month, and I sometimes hit the limit.

Just as an aside, vanguard just started offering a savings account with 4.5% interest. I’m not sure if this is just for current vanguard customers or if this is open to everyone. Comparing that to bank of americas .01% interest I’m not sure why anyone would keep their savings in BOA.

M1 just opened their 5 percent savings today

My father has Citi, and last time I checked, he couldn't mobile deposit his tenant's rent check because the daily limit was $1k 🙄 I opened an ally account for him just to deposit checks and he then transfers it to Citi Oh yeah, ally also has very high ach limits

@nutritious-raincoat-28876 I've got 5k daily limit, but maybe because I've been there for a while?

Could be they changed it, or maybe because you have citigold?

I'm pretty sure it increased before I was citigold, but maybe I'm mistaken

I use ally as my primary and I have a local 0 minimum 0 fee account for the rare times I need a local bank

I opened a Schwab account before I went to sem and saved so much on the free ATM withdrawals! I like it alot -- the only issue I have is that they only have zelle on their mobile app, not on their website

Is Fidelity out of the picture? I know they waive all ATM fees and they're sending free checks automatically when your check book is close to end...

nope i actually just found fidelity as a valid option last night with seems to have all the benefits to be tied in 1st place.

Not sure about zelle though

that would kill it in my mind

If I'm not mistaken, you can use Zelle via their app if your bank doesn't offer it

Confirmed. they don’t have Zelle