Save Money on Bank Fees with These Online-Only Banks

It’s no secret that many Americans have a complicated relationship with banks. In many ways, they may just seem like a necessary evil people put up with for convenience sake. As a result, consumers tend to grin and bare it with the various fees they’re charged on a monthly basis. However, when we talk about fees and frustrations, we’re mostly talking about brick and mortar banks. Meanwhile, online-only institutions may not only offer lower fees but may even pay you to keep your money with them.

Online-only banks may not be quite as convenient as banks with branch locations, but technology is quickly closing the gap. Plus, while some might worry about turning over their cash to unproven startups, all of these accounts below are FDIC insured. So if you’re looking to save money by ditching your too-big-too-fail bank, these eight online-banks — four of which I personally use myself — are some smart alternatives.

4 Online-Only Banks I Personally Use

Discover Bank

Not only was Discover Bank the first online-only bank I joined but it also is the one I use most. Admittedly, I was initially drawn to them mostly just because I already had a Discover credit card. However, I quickly learned Discover offers a number of perks without many of the fees that big banks charge.

There are many things I enjoy about my Discover accounts, starting with the current 2.10% APY on savings. I also use the checking account frequently, using the free checks that came with my account to pay rent each month. Of course, speaking of rent, there was that one time when I learned a hard lesson about postdated checks and ended up accidentally overdrafting my account. It was then that I was thankful for Discover’s First Fee Forgiveness program that reversed the penalty I incurred. That said, there are other banks on this list that wouldn’t charge an overdraft fee at all, so it’s hard to give Discover too much credit for this one.

Overall, I think Discover Bank is a good option for those looking for a solid online-only bank option but are still looking for a name brand that’s been around a while. I should also note that their checking account comes with a debit card that earns 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in purchases per month. So, while it may not have the absolute highest APY on the market, Discover can still help consumers save and earn money versus a traditional bank.

Aspiration

Aspiration is unlike any other bank on this list. That’s because they not only put an emphasis on doing well with your finances but also on doing good in the world. To help with that goal, the company allows customers to voluntary select how much they pay per month (even if that fee is $0) and donates 10% of those fees to charity. Also interesting is their cash back debit card that pays users 1% back on purchases from companies with high positive impact scores while still paying 0.5% back on all other purchases.

As I wrote about back when it happened, Aspiration recently made some sizeable changes to their accounts. For one, instead of operating a single account they called Aspiration Summit, there are now Aspiration Spend and Aspiration Save accounts. Perhaps the most notable change was that the APY doubled from 1% from the Summit days to a current 2%. However, this 2% is only paid on balances in your Aspiration Save account. Additionally, you need to deposit at least $1 into either Aspiration account or have a balance of at least $10,000 to earn your 2% APY for the month. Otherwise, you get nothing (good day, sir!).

Beyond the APY, another perk that caught my attention was the ability to use any ATM in the world for free. This is achieved by reimbursing users for any ATM fees they may incur. I actually had the chance to try out this feature on recent trips to Hong Kong to Paris and, in both cases, it worked like a charm. Prior to this, I had to pay $5 each time I wanted to pull out cash from my Wells Fargo account overseas, so this was quite the upgrade.

In my full review of Aspiration, I noted that transfers to the bank did seem to take a bit longer than normal and that the lack of line by line balance data was a tad annoying. Nevertheless, between the cash back checking, high-yield savings, and free ATM access, this is a solid all-around option.

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

While a Marcus by Goldman Sachs account can be opened on their website as you’d expect, that’s actually not how I was brought to them. Instead, my Marcus account came about after their bank purchased one of my favorite personal finance apps, Clarity Money. Sometime after the purchase, Clarity rolled out the option for users to upgrade their automated savings account to Marcus accounts. With a current APY of 2.25%, I think you can guess why I opted into that offer.

Since I use my Marcus account exclusively through Clarity Money and only make automated transfers, there’s not much else to say. Then again, it doesn’t seem that Marcus has a checking component, so this one isn’t so much about saving money on fees as it is about making money on interest. If that still sounds good to you, it may be worth a shot.

SoFi Money

Finally, my newest online-only bank account comes from SoFi Money. Incidentally, they’re also pretty new themselves. Although they started as a loan company, SoFi has expanded their offerings in recent months — including, of course, the introduction of SoFi Money.

Like Aspiration, one of the biggest perks of SoFi Money is the ability to use any ATM in the world for free. What’s also cool is the account is hybrid checking and savings accounts, providing account holders with a snazzy debit card. Plus, said debit card can be used overseas without any foreign transaction fees. Add in a 2.25% APY and I think you can see what attracted me to SoFi Money in the first place.

With only a couple of months of using SoFi under my belt, there’s still a lot I need to explore about the account before I can give it my official endorsement. Still, from what I’ve seen so far, I’ve been really impressed with this product.

4 More Online-Only Banks to Consider

Ally

Before I ultimately landed on a Discover Bank account, I considered Ally merely because it was one of the few online-only banks I had heard of before. With no maintenance fees, minimum balance fees, or the like, Ally did make a compelling case for itself. Oh, and it also carries one of the best APYs, currently paying 2.20% on savings.

In terms of checking, Ally also has an interesting set-up as it pays 0.1% APY on checking balances under $15,000 and 0.6% on balances over $15,000 (of course I don’t know why you’d keep $15k in a checking account if the savings has 2.20%). Checking accounts also come with a debit card you can use at more than 43,000 in-network ATMs for free or get reimbursed up to $10 in ATM fees per statement cycle. So, while I ultimately choose Discover over Ally because of my previous ties to the former, there’s good reason why Ally remains a popular choice for many.

Synchrony Bank

If you’ve ever looked at lists of high-yield savings accounts, you’ve probably seen Synchrony near the top. That’s because the bank regularly pays one the highest APYs in the space. For example, they’re currently offering 2.25% APY with no minimum balance. The only problem is, that’s about all they have.

I was somewhat surprised to find that Synchrony doesn’t offer any kind of checking account (although they do have money markets if that’s something you’re interested in). It should also be noted that, while Synchrony’s APY is impressive, it’s no longer unheard of as competition increases. For those reasons, while Synchrony still gets strong reviews, those looking for a more of an all-around banking solution instead of just high-yield savings might want to look elsewhere.

T-Mobile Money

Just as SoFi Money is a relatively new entry, so is the similarly named T-Mobile Money. In case you’re wondering, yes, this comes from T-Mobile ,as in the telecom service provider T-Mobile. That said, you don’t need to be a T-Mobile customer to open one of these accounts.

First the good news: like many others on this list, T-Mobile Money doesn’t charge any fees. As for the bad news, T-Mobile Money’s standard APY is lower than most (although much higher than most regular banks), sitting at 1%. But wait — if you’re a T-Mobile customer, that APY could skyrocket thanks to a unique perk. Currently, T-Mobile post-paid customers who deposit at least $250 a month to their T-Mobile Money accounts can earn a whopping 4% APY on balances up to $3,000. For balances over that amount, you’ll still earn 4% on the first $3k but get 1% on everything else.

Having just switched to T-Mobile a few months back, if I were to open yet another online-only bank account, this would probably be it. However, given the limited amount of time this offering has been available, in-depth reviews aren’t very plentiful. Because of that, I’d say that T-Mobile users willing to take a chance should give this one a shot, while others might want to give it some time.

Chime

Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of commercials for Chime, so I figured I should include them on this list. Looking into them more, I was a bit surprised by one thing: they only pay 0.01% APY on savings. While that’s disappointing, the good news is that the bank doesn’t charge many of the fees traditional institutions do, such as maintenance fees, service fees, or minimum balance fees.

Perhaps Chime’s biggest claim to fame (at least if their advertisements are any indication) is the ability to get direct deposit payroll funds up to two days early. Although the bank isn’t the only one to offer such a perk, there’s no doubt that it could be a nice feature for some. Is it cool enough to forgo much interest on savings, though? I’m inclined to say “no,” but that’s really up to you.

With their various fees and low APYs, chances are your brick and mortar bank account isn’t treating you right. If that’s the case, it may be time you looked online instead. Whether you’re just looking for respite from maintenance and monthly fees, want to earn cash back on debit card purchases, or want to help your savings grow even better thanks to high interest rates, these online-banks and many others may just offer the perfect solution.

Originally published at Money@30.