12 Best Online Checking Accounts of 2021

Chime is a mobile-only financial service that has no overdraft fees, plus a feature that lets certain customers overdraw as much as negative $200 without a fee.

Monthly fee: None.

Special features: In addition to its consumer-friendly overdraft program, Chime has two automatic savings programs. One lets you round up every debit card transaction to the nearest dollar and automatically transfer the difference to your Chime Savings account. The other allows you to choose a percentage of your paycheck that automatically gets transferred into savings. Chime says: "Round Ups automatically round up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and transfers the round up from your Chime Spending Account to into your savings account. Save When I Get Paid automatically transfers 10% of your direct deposits of $500 or more from your Spending Account into your savings account."

Other pros: Chime doesn’t charge overdraft fees or require a minimum balance. Customers can use over 38,000 free ATMs through two networks, MoneyPass and Visa Plus Alliance, and can receive their direct deposit up to two days early (early access to direct deposit funds depends on payer). If you need to write a check, Chime has a free online feature that creates and mails one on your behalf.

LendingClub offers a Rewards Checking account that combines a competitive interest rate and cash-back rewards. It also has unlimited ATM fee reimbursements, a rare perk, and up to two-day early direct deposit.

Monthly fee: None.

Special features: You get an unlimited 1% cash back on spending with your debit card. And the interest rate has two tiers, 0.10% and 0.15% annual percentage yield, depending on your account balance.

Other pros: LendingClub belongs to the surcharge-free NYCE and MoneyPass ATM networks, and it doesn’t charge out-of-network ATM fees.

Quontic Bank has three checking account options, each with an enticing benefit: high interest, cash rewards and bitcoin rewards.

Monthly fee: None

Special features: The high-interest checking account has a rate of 1.10% APY for customers who make 15 debit card purchases monthly and have balances under $1 million. With cash rewards checking, customers can earn 1.50% cash back on debit card purchases. The bitcoin rewards option earns 1.50% on qualifying debit card purchases, with rewards you can convert to bitcoin.

Other pros: Quontic gives customers free access to more than 90,000 ATMs in the U.S.

Like some other Axos Bank checking accounts, the Rewards Checking has great perks: no overdraft fees and no monthly fees, plus domestic ATM fee reimbursements.

Monthly fee: None.

Special features: With Rewards Checking, you also can earn up to 3.30% APY, but you'll have to jump through a couple of hoops.

Other pros: Axos also has a CashBack Checking rewards program that gives you 1% cash back on debit card transactions that require your signature, if you keep at least $1,500 as the average daily balance. If your account falls below that, you earn 0.50% cash back instead.

Discover Bank’s checking account lets you earn cash back on certain purchases, and you’ll also have access to 60,000 free ATMs.

Monthly fee: None.

Special features: With Discover’s Cashback Debit account, you’ll get 1% cash back on qualifying debit card purchases of up to $3,000 a month.

Other pros: Discover also has a top-rated high-yield online savings account.

What you should know: There is only one physical branch location, in Greenwood, Delaware, so national customers have to be OK with not having face-to-face customer service.

The company says: “ATM transactions, the purchase of money orders or other cash equivalents, cash over portions of point-of-sale transactions, peer-to-peer (P2P) payments (such as Apple Pay Cash), and loan payments or account funding made with your debit card are not eligible for cash back rewards. In addition, purchases made using third-party payment accounts (services such as Venmo® and PayPal™, which also provide P2P payments) may not be eligible for cash back rewards. Apple, the Apple logo and Apple Pay are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries."

Ally is an online-only bank with a no-fee checking account with a notable rate and a high-yield savings account. And Ally reimburses up to $10 in out-of-network ATM fees monthly.

Monthly fee: None.

Special features: Ally’s Interest Checking has a rate of 0.10% APY for balances below $15,000; 0.25% APY for balances of $15,000 and above.

Other pros: Ally has more than 43,000 surcharge-free Allpoint ATMs, highly rated mobile apps and exceptional customer service. You can contact Ally via phone, real-time chat, messaging and Twitter. You can pair your Ally checking with its savings account, which is among the accounts with the highest yields.

The checking account at Bank5 Connect, online branch of Massachusetts-based Bank Five, has a high rate and ATM fee reimbursements of up to $15 per month.

Monthly fee: None.

Special features: The rate for High-Interest Checking is 2.00% APY and the minimum to earn interest is $100.

Other pros: Account perks include free checks and no ATM fees by the bank. Bank5 Connect also has a highly rated savings account.