- Choosing the right checking account
should be made with some careful consideration.
You'll obviously wanna avoid unnecessary fees,
but also look for a checking account
that comes with an interest rate
so that you can be earning money
on your money in that checking account.
In this video, I'm covering the top 10
high yield checking accounts available to you
so you can make the right choice for your finances.
Hey, it's Justine with The College Investor,
investing and personal finance for millennials.
So today I'm gonna be covering the top 10
high yield checking accounts.
I'm going to be covering the basic features,
the associated interest rates, and some pros and cons.
So let's go ahead and hop into the list.
The first checking account
that you'll wanna take a look at is from OnJuno.
So you can earn up to 2.15% on deposits
and 5% cash back using their checking account,
which I think is so awesome.
You can also connect your checking account
to Apple Pay or Google Pay,
which makes this really user-friendly.
You can just simply whip out your phone
and pay for various transactions.
There's no minimum balance, no hidden fees,
and you can withdraw money at any time.
You can also connect to other money or investing apps
such as Venmo, Robinhood, Acorns, and more,
and also connects with Allpoint and MoneyPass ATM's.
Now, the 5% cash back feature
that they are touting on their website
is up to $500 with a max reward of just $25 per year.
So there is a cap on that,
and I would consider that maybe a little bit of a con,
but an extra $25 a year, maybe it could be worth it to you.
Now, in order to get that 2.15% interest rate,
you have to have a balance of up to $5,000.
After the $5,000 mark, the 2.15% interest no longer applies.
So that could be a little bit of a con
if you are holding balances
more than $5,000 in your checking account.
The next checking account
to take a look at is with GO2bank.
GO2bank is a mobile bank account that you can access,
download it on your phone.
What's great about this one is there is no monthly fees,
but you'll have to have an eligible direct deposit,
otherwise, $5 per month
if you do not have those eligible direct deposits.
Now, some fees that they want to include here,
if you end up doing a lot of cash deposits.
So if you work in a restaurant,
you make lunch tips and you wanna do cash deposits,
you can do that at various participating retailers.
However, there's going to be about a $5 retail fee
associated with those cash deposits,
because GO2bank is a mobile bank
and there's not physical locations
where you can do those cash deposits.
A couple other features of GO2bank
is you can get paid up to two days early
with their ASAP direct deposit,
and then you can also get
up to $200 in overdraft protection.
Another feature that I thought was really interesting
was you can earn up to 7% cash back
when you purchase eGift cards using your GO2bank account,
and it has no monthly fees
so long as you receive direct deposits
via payroll or government benefits.
Otherwise, you're gonna have that $5 per month charge.
Now, GO2bank does come with a savings account,
and this is why we consider it a high yield account,
because that savings account
is going to be 1% on balances up to $5,000.
So a couple things that you wanna know
is that you'll have to use this
as your primary checking account with those direct deposits
in order to waive that $5 monthly fee.
And then a con with this account
is you're only earning 1% up to $5,000.
Any balances outside of that and above that,
you're not going to be earning that high interest rate.
The next checking account to take a look at is with Radius,
which is now part of LendingClub,
so you might see that as you click on this link.
But there is a checking account
where you can earn more than 1% cash back.
You can earn interest, there's ATM fee rebates,
and then no monthly or hidden fees.
Now, this is all with their reward checking account.
And there are some pretty cool features
that you'll wanna take a look at.
So the basic features of rewards checking
is that you can earn 1%
or more cash back on various purchases.
So it kind of operates like a cash back credit card.
You'll earn a percentage
for any transactions when you're dining out,
at a health store, or various retailers,
and that can change throughout the year.
There's also no ATM fees and no minimum account balances,
which makes this a really easy checking account to have.
Plus, you can receive your paychecks
up to two days early with direct deposit.
Now, the interest rate on these accounts with Radius
is 0.15% on balances of $100,000 or more.
But if that's not you,
then you'll be earning 0.1% APY on balances
between 2,500 and up to that $100,000 mark.
Now, what's nice about this is their cashback program
really eliminates the need for a cash back credit card,
but the interest rate really isn't as high
as some of the others on this list.
You'll also need a minimum of $2,500
in order to earn that interest.
Anything below that, you're not going to be earning.
The next thing to consider
is rewards checking with Axos Bank.
So rewards checking has no minimum balances.
You get unlimited ATM fee reimbursements
and no monthly fees, just $50 to open the account.
Now, you can earn up to 1.25% APY
using their rewards checking,
which actually is a pretty high interest rate,
but you wanna take a note here down below.
In order to receive that 1.25%,
there are a few requirements.
First, you'll have to receive
monthly direct deposits of $1,000 or more,
use your debit card for a total
of 10 transactions per month,
and then again, five more times,
so a total of 15 transactions per month.
I'm not sure why they didn't just like lump that together.
But bottom line is you'll need to be using this
as your primary go-to card for everyday purchases.
I mean, 15 transactions per month.
Maybe you can do that, but if you have other accounts,
it might be hard for you to earn that interest rate.
The next one to take a look at
is the advantage checking account with Nationwide.
Now, you can earn .9% APY,
and there's no monthly maintenance fees,
zero minimum balance requirements,
and that interest rate is compounded daily, which is nice.
Some banks compound their interest rates
quarterly or yearly, so this is kind of nice
that they are doing this upfront.
Now, in order to get that .9% interest rate,
you'll need to have direct deposits
coming into this account totaling $1,000 or more.
And you need to have 10 transactions or more
through your advantage checking debit card
and those transactions have to be at least $3.
The next high yield checking account
you'll wanna take a look at is with Varo.
So Varo does not come with any monthly or transfer fees
and there's no minimum balance to open.
Plus, it connects to Allpoint ATM locations,
you can receive your paychecks
two days early with direct deposit,
and then you can do cash deposits at retail stores,
and of course, connect to Apple Pay and Google Pay
among others such as Venmo cash app and PayPal.
Now the interest rate that comes
with the Varo account is 0.4%.
And that actually connects with the savings account.
So when you open your checking account with Varo,
it's also going to open up the savings account,
and then you can actually earn up to 2.8%
in that savings account when you're connected
to the regular checking account.
But there's a lot of requirements
in order to earn up to 2.8% in interest.
You have to have five transactions per month
and receive $1,000 or more in direct deposits.
Plus, in your savings account,
you have to have a balance
of more than zero but less than $10,000.
So really, you're only earning that high interest rate
on balances of less than $10,000.
The next high yield checking account is with Chime.
With Chime's checking account,
you can receive paychecks
up to two days early with direct deposit.
There's no minimum balance required
and it just takes $0 to open, no monthly fees,
and it does connect to MoneyPass
and Visa Plus Alliance ATM's
so that you can withdraw cash from your Chime account.
It also has this really handy
roundup feature to transfer change
from your checking to your savings account.
And you'll wanna pay attention to that,
because with the Chime checking account
and the savings account,
you can earn 0.5% on that savings account.
And with the roundup feature,
you can automatically transfer that money over
so that you're earning interest, hence high yield.
So this one is a no-frills kind of account,
which I really like.
There's no minimum account balances, no monthly fees.
And it has that handy roundup feature, which is a plus,
but you'll need that savings account
connected to the checking account
in order to access the interest rate.
The next one to consider
is the checking account with Wealthfront.
So Wealthfront has really been known
for their investing platform,
but they also have a cash account and that can earn .35%
and it has all the handy features
much like on this list where you can get paid
up to two days early with direct deposit
and there's no account fees.
With Wealthfront, it just takes a dollar
to open your cash account.
And if you're already using Wealthfront
as an investing platform for all of your investing needs,
then you can just simply transfer
the cash from your cash account
into your investing account and vice versa
if you are working on taking money
out of your investing account as well.
So it's a handy feature if you're already using Wealthfront.
So if you're really into sustainability
and helping out the environment,
then you should definitely take a look
at the checking account with Aspiration.
Aspiration has a different type of model
in which you can help the earth, which is so great.
So you can get 5% cash back on socially conscious spending,
which I think is really cool
if you are shopping at socially conscious retailers.
And then also they have this reforestation plan.
So anytime you want to turn on this feature
called Plant Your Change for all of your purchases,
that portion, the roundup portion
can help with reforestation projects.
So you can earn 1% on your Aspiration account.
However, you'll have to sign up
for the Aspiration Plus version,
which is actually $15 per month.
But with that $15 monthly fee, everything else is included.
So if you are wanting something
that's environmentally friendly
and you're wanting to work with a company in a bank
that is sustainable and has that top of mind,
but $15 per month can be kind of steep.
Also, if you just do the regular free Aspiration account,
you won't be earning that high interest rate.
And also, I noticed that they kept saying you can pay
whatever fee you think is fair, even if it's $0.
So they're still kind of pushing you
to pay a monthly fee for the free version,
which I thought was a little off-putting.
The next checking account to consider is with M1 Finance.
Now, M1 Finance is an investing platform
and they have integrated a checking account
into their platform as well.
And you can earn 1% APY
and 1% cash back on qualified purchases.
Now, in order to access this 1% interest rate,
you're going to have to get the M1 Plus membership.
Now, with the M1 Plus membership,
you'll get that 1% APY on the checking account
and the 1% cash back, but you'll have to pay $125 per year,
which really kind of breaks down to around $10 per month.
So if you're willing to pay $10 per month,
then you're going to get that interest rate.
You'll also have your ATM fees covered
up to four times per month,
and there's no minimum monthly balances
and no monthly fees associated with your account
other than the annual fee of $125.
So if you already invest with M1 Finance,
then this is a really easy checking account to add on.
And if you're willing to pay that $10 monthly fee,
then you're going to get access to that 1% interest rate.
So many of these checking accounts
as I was going through them have a lot of things in common.
First, they connect to things like Apple Pay
or Google pay, Venmo, PayPal, and more.
A lot of them come with no fees,
no monthly fees, no monthly maintenance fees.
And a lot of them come with a side-by-side savings account
in which you can earn that high interest,
which is why we detailed this
as a high yield checking account list.
So some of them are just with the checking accounts,
and then some of them partner up with a savings account
in which you can earn that high interest rate.
But whatever decision that you choose,
just keep in mind to how you're going to be
using this account with your lifestyle.
Do you use Apple Pay quite a bit?
Are you looking to use this
as a supplemental checking account
in which you're not going to be doing direct deposits?
If that's the case, you could be slapped with fees
or you might not be able to take advantage
of various interest rates because a lot of these accounts
do have direct deposit requirements.
Take a look at their requirements.
If you want more information
on the best high yield checking accounts and more,
be sure to visit thecollegeinvestor.com.