The best banks in America, according to Money magazine
Banking is something Get Rich Slowly readers take very seriously.
While it can seem like a 0.85 percent to 0.90 percent APY isn’t anything to get excited over, that’s more than 4x the current national average of 0.18 percent APY (according to the MoneyRates Index, a sampling of 100 banks that includes the top 50 retail banks by total deposits and 50 smaller banks). Also if you’re putting your savings with a large bank in their basic savings account (think Chase, Bank of America or Citibank), chances are you’re earning close to 0.01 percent APY.
And we also know that you’re a proactive bunch and will vote with your feet. So how do you judge your bank?
Earlier this month Money magazine published their annual survey of “The Best Banks in America.” Of note, GE Capital Bank and Barclays tied for the Best Savings Account. Ally Bank took Best Online Bank, for the second year in a row.
In the survey, Money looked at the 40 largest retail banks by deposits and number of branches, the 15 largest online banks, and the three largest credit unions by deposit amount. A bank was considered mid-size if it had fewer than 1,000 branches. Reporters then weighted various aspects of the banks and came up with their ranking. Money concluded that 18 banks rose to the top in 15 categories. What are your thoughts, and did any of your favorites not make the cut?
Here, for your review, are the best banks by category, according to Money:
- Best savings account: GE Capital Bank and Barclays.
- Best online bank: Ally Bank
- Best big bank: TD Bank
- Best customer experience: Citizens Bank
- Best mobile app: Chase
- Best midsize bank: Capital One
- Best military bank: Navy Federal Credit Union
- Best checking account: Ally Bank
- Best teen and college student checking: Citibank and US Bank
- Best checking for established businesses: Capital One
- Best checking for start-ups: PNC
- Best 12-month CD: Synchrony Bank and Ally Bank
GE Capital Bank and Barclays tied for the best savings account because they offered the highest interest rates of all of the banks in the survey and neither has fees or a minimum deposit amount. In this low-interest era, a bank that is paying nearly one percentage point more than brick-and-mortar banks is worth considering.
Ally Bank was judged the top online bank because of its good rates on checking and savings accounts (their checking is truly free of fees). Plus customers can use any ATM without paying a fee. You can also check here for Ally CD rates.
Also many regional banks and credit unions are good options as well, and may offer rates higher than even these national advertisers.
So what are your criteria for the best bank: fees, customer service, rates, convenience? Have you switched banks for better interest rates? Do you use multiple financial institutions for different reasons? Tell us.
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There are 34 comments to "The best banks in America, according to Money magazine".
I’ve used Ally. Loved them. Even got my brother to switch and he’s happy with them too.
I no longer use them after consolidating to a high-interest (1.81%) rewards checking at a small local bank, but if I ever need to open another account, I’ll go right back.
Ally deserves that spot. So many perks (free checking and unlimited checks) and really great service.
We use multiple banks for different purposes:
1 – Wells Fargo is our “big bank” – locations within walking distance of work and home, holds our low-rate mortgage, and has given me great customer service over the last 23 years. (Not bad when you’re only 31!)
2 – PSECU is our credit union. Our account there was opened when Mr PoP was in elementary school and we’ve got a long history of them giving great rates and customer service on car loans, etc. Last year they even sent everyone a rebate distributing profits to the members/customers since the credit union had “earned” too much.
3 – Ally is now where our medium term savings goes. We don’t have quite the history or personal affinity for them as we do for WF or PSECU, it’s been easy enough to use and we get higher rates on money market accounts than we can get at either of our other institutions.
Really, WF? How about asking for 1500 in 100’s and getting 1500 in 1’s? Another time I asked for 1000 in 100’s and another teller in another branch gave me 9 100’s and the tenth was a dollar bill? Neither the managers in the two branches or the executive offices did anything when I called to complain. All were women. I don’t mind that as long as they are nice and competent. Maybe it is the branches here in Fresno-Clovis and not in other places, but the ones in this area leave a lot to be desired…..MHB
The fact that you felt the need to state “All were women” proves that your opinion is biased and now irrelevant.
I’ve enjoyed using Capital One 360 (formerly ING Direct). The ability to add as many accounts as I want makes it a very flexible option.
I still like this bank, but seeing Capital One 360 instead of ING every time I log on makes me cringe and wonder when things will start to go down hill.
I feel the same way! When it changed, my account was still fairly new and I chose ING for their reputation.
I wish smaller banks would have been included. My bank, Flagship Bank Minnesota, is a community leader and pays top rates in the market with a great service, problem resolution.
I have always been less than impressed with Money’s recommendations. There is a fair amount of commonality between their recommendations and their advertising.
I really like my regional bank. Pays 2.5% on checking account balance between $0 and $15,000. Pays 1% after that. Only requirements are that you use the debit card 12 times a month, access it online and have direct deposit. The savings account attached to it pays 1%. Also reimburses up to $20 in ATM fees a month if you don’t use their ATM. I do all my billpay through the bank for free and i’ve never had an issue, always had great customer service.
I currently do my personal banking with the two largest credit unions (by chance) – Navy Federal Credit Union and Boeing Employees Credit Union. Both offer great service, though their interest rates are awful right now (like everyone else’s). I’ve had an account with Navy Federal for at least 35 years (it’s my first bank account my parents opened for me), and with BECU for almost 15.
My main credit card is with NFCU also, though I’ve recently gotten a chip and pin credit card for international travel from USAA that I can’t wait to try out. So far they’re the only ones I’ve found currently offering a true chip and pin credit card (not chip and sign) that I’m hoping to be able to use at self service kiosks in Europe.
We use Barclays for our long term savings, and are pretty happy with them. For customer service, I don’t know how anyone could beat usaa. That’s who we do most of our banking with, and I really have had great customer service from them.
Credit unions are the best hands down. I’ll never touch a national bank like that unless someone literally holds a gun to my head.
I have Capital One 360 (formerly ING) and that is fine for savings. I use Bank of America as my big bank. I can’t say that I love them but I like that they have affiliations with other banks around the world so ATM fees are waived if I use a bank within network. I like that first weekends are free at many museums if I use my BoA card. I also like the Keep The Change program and their online bill pay. If I had to choose again, I probably wouldn’t pick them but they aren’t so bad that I want to switch.
I used to love ING, but we had such a bad experience with Capital One years ago that I just couldn’t face keeping my money with them. I still have some there but now primarily use Ally. Their website isn’t as good but they don’t make me want to vomit either.
We also have a small local bank for those times when you need brick & mortar. They don’t pay interest to speak of, but their customer service is wonderful.
We use Capital One for our savings.
For our checking account, we use Charles Schwab. Not a high interest earner, but the big draw for us was the no-fee (or reimbursed) ATMs, even internationally! Since we travel quite a bit, and look forward to even more, this was a big plus.
I was thinking of depositing with them so that I could use it as a reserve and to trade. How is there customer service, and are they safe for deposits over 250,000?…MHB
I use Ally bank for my “savings” account. Although it’s not really a savings but more of an emergency fund. I generally don’t believe on sitting on cash especially the way our country’s leader is running this economy.
For a big bank that my wife and I use we use Chase. It’s easy to share a multi-user account and we’re always transferring funds to and fro.
Give me my local hole-in-the-wall credit union any day…….way better interest rates there.
USAA
I bank at a local credit union. (Hometown Credit Union). We got a great refi rate (2.75) free checking. Also an affordable business account. No hidden fees, just the usual fees you would expect for returned checks, etc. Hated Wells Fargo after the melt-down in 2008. Their attitude was “sucks to be you. We get paid even when you lost money in your IRA with us. BWaaHaa haa haa!!! “
Have my savings in Ally Bank because of the 24/7 Customer Service. I don’t need a branch for my savings account, but if I have a question, I want an immediate answer.
I love it that a Canadian Bank (TD, which stands for Toronto Dominion and dates back to 1856) makes the list. Right on. You can’t go wrong banking with the Canadians (and yes I am one). There’s something fundamentally scary to me about a bank with 1 or 10 or even 30 branches when it comes to banking a substantial amount of my savings or even a large chequing account. Just don’t feel warm and secure about that, especially in light of what went down in 2008.
I’ve been using Navy Federal for a while and I’m a huge fan. It’s been the only credit union I’ve seen to offer interest on their checking accounts. It was hard to beat that combined with the fact that they are a credit union. I prefer to bank with credit unions since they don’t have to deal with share holders and can pass their benefits on to their members.
Banks—so 1980. I’ve been a credit union person for as long as they have existed—almost. When the banks were bailed out, I couldn’t and still don’t understand why everyone didn’t move their hard earned money to a safer, more member friendly place…I finance my auto, home and home equity loans thru a member owned credit union. If you want good interest rates–seek out a financial planner.
we closed our business accounts with Capital One because they are imposing new fees. We switched to the local credit union we have been using since 1980. One of small local banks (Pioneer) has the best rates for CD’s.
I recommend USAA for the great products and customer service. I users Navy Fed before usaa, and I like Ally for online savings . it’s not a back spot to keep part of your emergency fund and money for big ticket items that you are saving up for.
If you have the ability to use USAA you would be crazy not to.
Their Customer Service deserves the caps.
I used to love Ally for their CD policy – early cancellation was only a charge of 60 days interest. Their new policy more than doubles the fee. Now early termination costs 150 days interest. Personally, I’m going to look around for a bank with smaller fees the next time I need to roll my CDs over.
Personally I couldn’t get past Ally’s past — a significant culprit in the economic crash of 2008. New name can’t whitewash that stain away.
Capitol One wins in two categories – the symbol of all that is wrong with banking in this country? Give me a break. And give me USAA any day – free checking without strings, best credit card rate, free ATM withdrawals from any ATM, deposit at home long before behemoth bank Chase made commercials about their “revolutionary” new service, etc. And no role in our recent economic catastrophe.
Frankly, reviewing the list makes me question how “objective” Money magazine’s picks were.
Although overall a good CU, I don’t know that I would have named Navy Federal the best *military* bank given some of their policies. Deployment, for example, was tough: strictly-to-the-letter policies for SCRA,and when an automatic transfer had problems we only got a letter of notice which didn’t reach us for over a month.
Up until that point, we’d had our assets 75% NFCU, 25% USAA, but after USAA bent over backwards to make the deployment easier, we reversed the ratio.
USAA is my favorite. They have some of the best customer service in the industry, heck arguably across industries. I’ve had enough bad experiences with larger institutions like Chase and Citibank. I refuse to bank with them if I can at all avoid it. I spent time and money correcting my credit after a minor mistake on their part over a small amount of money (less that 50.00) was reported as a significant unpaid debt to the credit unions.
Not to mention policies that make it difficult to pay them, usury and predatory fees. No thanks, I prefer not to give my money to institutions that have been implicated in fraud and prey on the poor. Even if I have enough assets not to be hurt by such policies and they give me a little better interest. I’ll get off my soap box now.
I agree with some of the other posters that USAA is hands-down the best financial institution out there. It sounds almost cheesy, but I really trust them to have my best interest in mind. Their customer service is unparalleled and their web interface is fantastic.
My direct deposit and pay bills account is with TD Bank, I wanted a bank that had at least near almost everywhere and I did not want to pay over $10 for maintenance. I am currently considering switching my checking with Ally to which I have my emergency funds in. In addition to these two accounts I have another emergency fund in a local credit union back home. Is the only way I would not be tempted to touch it and splurge it, plus they pay a good rate and they been there for years even before I was born. Plus, I have an account in which a relative could deposit money into from the credit union emergency fund which is Banco Popular. I know is a lot of banks but seriously I am considering in switching my checking to Ally from TDBank.