The Best High Yield Checking Accounts in 2019
Checking accounts are like a pair of khakis slacks: You should have at least one, but shopping for them is a chore. You know you need a checking account—preferably one without fees—but most people think it’s not going to yield more than a token amount in interest.
These high yield checking accounts break this tired paradigm, featuring sky-high interest rates that can put even the best savings accounts to shame. In this article, we’ll help you make an informed decision about whether one of these high yield checking accounts are right for you and your financial goals.
How we picked the best high yield checking accounts
We followed a strict approach when selecting these accounts. We used the online rate finder for FDIC- or NCUA-insured rewards checking accounts on DepositAccounts.com, another LendingTree.com-owned site, to list the top 10 high yield checking accounts with the highest rates, assuming a deposit amount of $100.
Credit unions were only included if they allow membership to anyone (such as by making a donation to their chosen charity). Finally, we filtered out any high yield checking accounts that are not available nationwide, or that carry a health rating of below a B.
The Best High Yield Checking Accounts in 2019
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Institution |
APY |
Monthly Service Fee |
|---|---|---|
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$0 |
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$8 (avoidable with a $1,000 minimum balance or 20 non-ATM debit card transactions each month) |
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$0 |
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$5 (avoidable if you make at least $500 in direct deposits to the account every month and 8 signature-based debit transactions each month) |
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$0 |
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$0 |
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$0 |
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$0 |
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$0 |
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$0 |
Consumers Credit Union (IL) — Free Rewards Checking
- Minimum amount to open: $0
- Requirements to earn the high APY: You must complete the following four things each month:
- complete at least 12 signature-based debit purchases,
- receive at least one direct deposit, ACH debit, or pay one bill through their free bill payment system,
- log into your online banking account, and
- be signed up for eStatements.
- spend $1,000 or more with a Consumers Credit Union Visa credit card each month.
- Monthly service fee: No monthly service fee.
- ATM fees: If you meet the requirements to earn the high APY, you won’t pay any ATM fees.
- ATM refunds: You are eligible for refunds on all ATM fees as long as you meet the requirements to earn the highest APY.
La Capitol Federal Credit Union — Choice Checking
- Minimum amount to open: $50
- Requirements to earn the high APY: Make at least 20 debit purchases per month.
- Monthly service fee: $8; waived if you either have a balance of at least $1,000 or make 20 non-ATM debit card transactions each month.
- ATM fees: None
- ATM refunds: Up to $25 in out-of-network surcharges (the money the ATM’s owner charges you) per month if you are signed up for eStatements
TAB Bank — Kasasa Cash Checking
- Minimum amount to open: $0
- Requirements to earn the high APY: You must have at least 1 direct deposit, ACH payment, or bill pay transaction posted to the account during each billing cycle and at least 15 debit card purchases of $5 or more.
- Monthly service fee: None
- ATM fees: None
- ATM refunds: Up to $15 every month (if you meet the qualifications to earn the highest APY)
Orion Federal Credit Union — Premium Checking
- Minimum amount to open: $0
- Requirements to earn the high APY: You must make electronic deposits (which can be either a direct deposit, mobile deposit, or an electronic transfer from another financial institution) of at least $500 each month, in addition to making at least eight signature-based debit card transactions each month.
- Monthly service fee: $5, which is waived if you meet the requirements to earn the highest APY.
- ATM fees: None for ATM withdrawals in Orion’s network, $1 for non-Orion ATMs
- ATM refunds: Up to $10 a month for fees charged by non-Orion financial institutions.
T-Mobile — T-Mobile Money Checking Account
- Minimum amount to open: $0
- Requirements to earn the high APY: You must be enrolled in a qualifying T-Mobile wireless plan, be registered for perks with your T-Mobile ID, and have a minimum of $200 in qualifying deposits.
- Monthly service fee: None
- ATM fees: None
- ATM refunds: None
One American Bank — Kasasa Cash
- Minimum amount to open: $50
- Requirements to earn the high APY: You’ll need to do the following three things for each qualification cycle (be aware: their qualification cycles are not the same thing as a calendar month):
- complete at least 12 debit purchases of $5.00 or more,
- be enrolled in eStatements, and
- log into your Online Banking account.
- Monthly service fee: No monthly service charges.
- ATM fees: None
- ATM refunds: Up to $25 per qualification cycle if you meet the requirements to earn the high APY.
Heritage Bank — eCentive Account
- Minimum amount to open: $100
- Requirements to earn the high APY: Each month you’ll need to make 10 or more debit card payments and/or purchases (excluding ATM transactions), have at least one direct deposit or ACH deposit, and receive monthly electronic bank statements.
- Monthly service fee: None
- ATM fees: None listed
- ATM refunds: Up to $25 per qualification cycle if you meet the requirements above.
Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union — Vertical Checking
- Minimum amount to open: $0
- Requirements to earn the high APY: You must complete the following things each month:
- have at least one direct deposit into your account,
- be enrolled in e-statements,
- use your debit card to make at least 15 purchases per month, and
- log on mobile or online banking once.
- Monthly service fee: None.
- ATM fees: None.
- ATM refunds: Up to $15 of out-of-network ATM fees per month.
Dover Federal Credit Union — Kasasa Cash Account
- Minimum amount to open: $100
- Requirements to earn the high APY: You must make at least 12 debit card purchases in each monthly qualification cycle. In addition, you must be enrolled and agree to receive eStatements and enrolled in online banking, which you must log into at least one time per month.
- Monthly service fee: None
- ATM fees: None listed
- ATM refunds: Up to $25 in refunds of third-party ATM fees per monthly qualification cycle.
Market USA Federal Credit Union VIP Checking Platinum Tier
- Minimum amount to open: $0
- Requirements to earn the high APY: 1) Enrollment in e-Statements
2) monthly direct deposit of at least $250 3) 12 Visa Debit Card Purchases per month, minimum purchase $5 4) 3 bill payments per month using Market USA’s Bill Pay service, at least $20 each - Monthly service fee: None
- ATM fees: $1
- ATM refunds: Eight free monthly transactions at STAR and PLUS ATMS, minimum direct deposit of $500 required and ATM surcharges may still apply
How are these banks able to offer such a high APY?
Did you notice that most of the institutions offering high yield checking accounts tend to be smaller names that you’ve probably never heard of? It turns out there’s a good reason for that, and it all has to do with the Dodd-Frank Act, a set of sweeping financial regulations passed by Congress in the wake of the Great Recession.
Back when the Dodd-Frank Act was passed in 2010, a tiny legislative nugget called the Durbin Amendment was included in the text. This amendment limited the swipe fees that big banks can charge merchants for each purchase that one of their customers makes using a debit card.
Suddenly, big banks (defined as institutions with at least $10 billion in assets) could only charge half as much per swipe as they had been doing, and swipe fees became a lot more lucrative for smaller banks and credit unions instead.
That’s why so many smaller institutions have strict rules requiring you to use your debit card each month. According to the Federal Reserve, in 2016 smaller banks earned anywhere from 18 to 65 cents for each debit card swipe, compared to a maximum of just 22 cents plus 0.05% of the purchase price for larger banks.
Say, for example, a smaller bank requires you to make 10 debit transactions per month, and earns 65 cents from each transaction. Your bank would then earn $6.50 from your spending that month.
That is where the high interest rates come from. It’s also why the high interest rates are generally capped to smaller balances, so that you don’t earn too much money and negate all the swipe fees that the bank earns.
Is it worth meeting requirements to go after the high APY?
Some of these high yield checking accounts have a lot of requirements.
If you prefer to use debit cards, chances are you’ll be able to easily meet the minimum debit swiping requirements for most of these accounts. On the other hand, if you’re a cash or credit card junkie, you may find yourself frequently worrying at the end of the month about whether or not you’ve met the minimum debit swiping requirements. In this case, a high yield checking account might not be right for you.
Another thing to consider is that many of these banks require you to make a signature-based debit transaction, rather than a PIN-based debit transaction for it to count. Unfortunately, this is slightly less secure than using the PIN-based payment method.
You’ll also need to avoid making a rush of charges at the end of the month to meet the spending requirements. That’s because banks and credit unions will usually only count a charge that has finished posting to your account towards meeting the monthly swiping requirement. It can take a few days for debit swipes to post to your account, so it’s better to get these charges in early to make sure they post to your account in time to count.
The good news is that checking accounts aren’t designed to hold significant amounts of cash. That’s what a savings account is for, and you can still earn pretty good interest rates with a high yield savings account (although still nowhere close to these high yield checking accounts).
If you’re going to keep a smaller deposit in your checking account anyways, why not earn as much as you can from it—especially if you know you’ll have an easy time meeting the requirements?
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