Chase Bank Review

By Jeffrey Steele

JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., a national bank headquartered in Chicago, is best known to the public simply as “Chase.” Here we'll review their more popular banking products and services.

Rates and opening perks

In an overt departure from online banks, whose rates tend to be higher, Chase Bank instead touts its introductory offers and backs them with heavy ad spending.

Chase gives new checking customers a generous $150 when they open a Chase Total Checking Account and set up direct deposit. On the other hand, if the customer opens a Premier Plus Checking Account and implements direct deposit, that bonus swells to a sweet $300.

When opening Chase Savings Accounts, new customers can receive $100, as long as they deposit a total of $10,000 or more in new money within 10 business days, and then maintain that balance for 90 days.

When they open both — new checking and new savings accounts — new customers can help themselves to an extra $250.

More advantages

  • Deposit-by-photo capability: Chase QuickDeposit lets checking account holders deposit checks on the fly by taking a photo of the check.
  • Pay anyone without checks or cash: Another great feature, Chase QuickPay lets account holders pay anyone with an email address or mobile number at any time without using checks or cash.

Related >> Finding the Best High-Yield Savings Account

Avoiding service fees

You can eliminate Chase service fees on various checking and savings accounts through an array of actions or combinations of actions.

For instance, with Chase Total Checking, you can jettison the $12-a-month service fee if you do at least one of the following per statement period:

  • Deposit $500 or more in direct deposits
  • Keep a minimum daily balance of at least $1,500, or
  • Keep an average daily balance of at least $5,000 in any combination of qualifying Chase checking, savings and other accounts.

You can eliminate the service fee of $5 monthly on savings accounts if you keep a minimum daily balance of $300 in your savings account, have at least one repeating automatic transfer of $25 or more from your Chase checking account, available only through Chase Online Banking, or keep a linked Chase Premier Plus Checking, Chase Premier Platinum Checking or Chase Private Client Checking Account.

Growing branch network

Unlike the online banks, Chase Bank customers can still benefit from its massive branch network. Currently, the bank has more than 5,400 bank branches. In addition, customers can count on the convenience of accessing more than 18,000 Chase Bank ATMs.

Is it worth it?

Whether Chase Bank makes sense for you will depend greatly on what type of bank customer you are. First, to qualify for the introductory offer, you must not be a current Chase checking customer, a fiduciary account customer, or one who has closed an account within 90 days or with a negative balance. And you must weigh whether gaining these one-time-only introductory cash infusions is worth the offsetting reality that you will find higher interest rates for sure with online-only banks.

Chase's interesting history

In 1799, Aaron Burr launched the Manhattan Company to take on his rival Alexander Hamilton's Bank of New York. With a strategic business tactic that probably wouldn't fly among competing financial services firm founders these days, Burr managed to succeed in ensuring that Hamilton would relinquish the reins.

Today, Chase is the consumer and commercial subsidiary of the multinational banking corporation called JPMorgan Chase. Until 2000, when it merged with J.P. Morgan & Company, it was known as Chase Manhattan Bank.

In turn, that name resulted from a 1955 merger between Chase National Bank and the Bank of The Manhattan Company. A subsequent merger in 2004 with Chicago-based Bank One Corporation brought the headquarters to the Windy City from New York City.

More about...Banking

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