Best Student Checking Accounts Of July 2023

Low fees, low minimums and a large ATM network put Axos Bank’s Rewards Checking account on the board as one of the best student accounts. Customers have access to 91,000+ ATMs throughout the U.S., with unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursements for out-of-network ATM use.

There’s a fairly low minimum deposit requirement: $50. And there are no overdraft or non-sufficient funds fees.

Axos offers 24/7 customer service via phone and secure online messaging. The site also has a live chat feature available during regular business hours.

Its mobile banking app, available on the App Store and on Google Play, is highly rated and an excellent tool for the fast-paced lifestyle of a student.

This account even pays interest. With this tiered-rate account, you can earn up to 3.30% APY total. Balances above $50,000 do not earn interest, although students may have trouble meeting the eligibility requirements to earn that rate (see Details).

Read our full Axos Bank review.

The Axos Rewards Checking account has interest tiers that allow an account holder to earn up to 3.30% APY total. Balances above $50,000 do not earn interest. These are the steps required to build the highest APY:

• 0.40% APY: Receive monthly direct deposits totaling $1,500 or more. This must be met in order to be eligible to earn any interest during the statement cycle.
• 0.30% APY: Sign up for Personal Finance Manager (PFM) “Account Aggregation” in Online Banking or use your Axos debit card for a total of 10 transactions per month (minimum $3 per transaction).
• 1.00% APY: Maintain an average daily balance of $2,500 per month in an Axos Invest Managed Portfolios Account.
• 1.00% APY: Maintain an average daily balance of $2,500 per month in an Axos Invest Self Directed Trading Account.
• 0.60% APY: Use your Rewards Checking account to make your full monthly Axos consumer loan payment. Mortgage, personal and auto loans are eligible.

Discover Bank’s Cashback Debit Checking account keeps fees to a minimum. You won’t pay a monthly maintenance fee, non-sufficient funds fee or a fee for using an out-of-network ATM. You’ll also get official bank checks at no charge.

Plus, students can earn a little cash back for their spending. This account offers 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month. See website for details.

Discover maintains a large ATM network, with more than 60,000 surcharge-free ATMs throughout the nation. You can also access your account on the go via Discover’s well-rated mobile app for iOS and Android.

Read our full Discover Bank review.

Discover offers optional overdraft protection, for which there is no fee, by linking a second Discover account to your checking account to fund any overdrafts, other than those caused by an ATM withdrawal or point-of-sale debit transaction. Those will simply be declined if there are insufficient funds. Without this protection, or if you have insufficient funds in your secondary account, the bank will simply decline or return transactions that overdraw your account.

Discover does not charge an out-of-network ATM fee, but you may be subject to a third-party fee, which will not be reimbursed.

For students under the age of 18, the Capital One MONEY Teen Checking account offers some perks. There’s no minimum deposit requirement, few fees and an extensive ATM network. At age 18, you can switch to a regular Capital One 360 checking account and transfer your balance.

Capital One has 24/7 customer service available, along with excellent digital tools for managing your money to achieve your financial goals. You can divide the balance in your account into Spendable and Set Aside categories and set savings goals.

This account even pays a little interest: 0.10% APY. To access the account, a kid can use Capital One’s highly rated mobile app or website. The account’s debit card can be used at more than 70,000 Capital One, MoneyPass and Allpoint ATMs. Capital One also maintains a limited number of branches and Capital One Cafés for those interested in visiting a physical location.

Read our full Capital One 360 Banking review.

Children ages eight and older can open a joint MONEY Checking account with a parent or legal guardian. Once they turn 18, they can continue to use their MONEY account or open a Capital One 360 Checking account and transfer the balance to the new account.

The Ally Bank Interest Checking account has few fees—there’s no monthly maintenance fee, overdraft fee, ACH transfer fee or fee for domestic or international incoming wires. A child can use the account’s debit card at more than 55,000 ATMs, and Ally reimburses up to $10 per statement cycle for fees charged at out-of-network ATMs.

You can deposit checks and manage other daily tasks with Ally Bank’s highly rated mobile app. If you pair this checking account with an Ally savings account, you can use the Round Ups feature, which looks for transactions in your checking account that it can round to the nearest dollar and transfer the extra amount to your savings account.

The account pays 0.10% annual percentage yield (APY) on checking accounts with less than a $15,000 minimum daily balance, and 0.25% APY for accounts with minimum daily balances of $15,000 or more.

Read our full Ally Bank review.

The Chime Checking Account, formerly called the Chime Spending Account, can help students save while they spend. It does this with its Round Up¹ feature—each time you use your debit card, it rounds up to the nearest dollar and transfers the difference to your Chime Savings Account.

Chime keeps fees to a minimum. There’s no monthly fee, and you get access to more than 60,000 surcharge-free ATMs˜. It charges $2.50 per transaction at out-of-network ATMs. Chime’s SpotMe®² feature is an optional, no-fee service that allows you to overdraft your account up to $200 on debit card purchases and cash withdrawals, so long as you make a single deposit of $200 in qualifying direct deposits per month.

You can receive direct deposits up to two days early³, and this account works with Google Pay and Apple Pay.

Customer service is available seven days a week by email or phone.

Read our full Chime review.

Banking services and debit card provided by The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank, N.A.; Members FDIC. 

˜ Out-of-network ATM withdrawal fees may apply except at MoneyPass ATMs in a 7-Eleven location, or any Allpoint or Visa Plus Alliance ATM.

^Early access to direct deposit funds depends on the timing of the submission of the payment file from the payer. We generally make these funds available on the day the payment file is received, which may be up to 2 days earlier than the scheduled payment date.

Alliant Credit Union’s High-Rate Checking account offers superior digital banking tools and pays 0.25% APY. The credit union offers a top-rated website and mobile app. Available for iOS and Android, the app lets you deposit checks, use budgeting tools and manage daily financial transactions.

Students get easy access to cash with a network of more than 80,000 surcharge-free ATMs. They’ll also get a Visa debit card and a box of standard checks with this account. Alliant rebates up to $20 per month in third-party ATM fees.

Credit unions can be a good choice for those starting their first banking relationship. These member-owned institutions typically offer better rates and lower fees than traditional banks.

You can become a member through Alliant’s partner charity, Foster Care to Success (FC2S). A $5 donation is required, but the fee is credited back to your account once it’s set up.

Read our full Alliant Credit Union review.

The yields earned on credit union accounts are referred to as dividends rather than interest. Dividends are compounded monthly and credited monthly. To earn the APY, you must opt in to receive eStatements and have at least one monthly electronic deposit to your account. Allliant does apply standard banking fees, such as for stop payment and check printing.

There are very few fees attached to the Wells Fargo Clear Access Banking account. The monthly fee is waived for customers ages 13 to 24. There are also no overdraft or non-sufficient funds fees. It’s also fairly easy to open—the minimum deposit requirement is a low $25.

This account also comes with digital tools for budgeting, managing cash flow and spending—all beneficial perks for students.

To open this account online, a person must be 18 or older. Younger applicants must visit a branch to open an account. This account is also available to those not able to open standard checking accounts due to their banking histories and can be converted into a standard Wells Fargo checking account after a year. This is referred to as a second chance checking account.

Wells Fargo has an ATM network of more than 12,000 surcharge-free ATMs, significantly lower than other banks on our list. But you can also visit approximately 4,900 branches nationwide.

Read our full Wells Fargo review.

The Wells Fargo app earns high ratings, with 4.8 out of 5 stars on the App Store and 4.8 stars out of 5 on Google Play. Wells Fargo has branches in a majority of states, but the Clear Access Banking account is available for students nationwide.

With a Rewards Checking account from LendingClub Bank, you can earn unlimited 1.00% cash back on qualified purchases made with your debit card. You also get unlimited rebates for ATM fees charged by other banks worldwide. This account even pays a little interest—0.10% APY on balances of $2,500 to $99,999.99 and 0.15% APY on balances of $100,000 or more.

Working students can also get their paychecks early—direct deposit paychecks arrive up to two days early. Customer service is available by chat, phone or email.

Read our full Radius, Now LendingClub, Bank review.

Most online and signature-based transactions are eligible for cash back, but for in-store purchases, merchants must run your card as “credit” instead of “debit.” You must also meet the following requirements to earn cash back:

• Have your Rewards Checking account open for at least 30 days
• Receive at least $2,500 in monthly direct deposits OR maintain a minimum $2,500 account balance

How much interest you earn depends on your Rewards Checking balance. Earn 0.10% APY on balances of $2,500 to $99,999.99 and 0.15% APY on balances of $100,000 or more.

The Bank of America Advantage SafeBalance Banking checking account has a monthly maintenance fee of $4.95, but this fee is waived for students under the age of 25. There are also no overdraft of non-sufficient funds fees with this account. You must be enrolled in high school, college, university or vocational school to be considered a student.

Bank of America maintains approximately 16,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide. To manage your account, you can visit a branch, log into your online account or use the bank’s highly rated mobile app.

If you have a savings account at Bank of America, you can use the Keep the Change feature. Bank of America automatically rounds purchases made with your debit card to the nearest dollar and transfers the difference to savings.

Read our full Bank of America review.

There is a $4.95 monthly maintenance fee that is waived for account holders under the age of 18, students under the age of 25 and members of BofA’s Preferred Rewards program.

Chase Bank’s College Checking account charges no monthly service fee for up to five years while you’re in college. Past five years, the service fee is $6 per month, but you can get that fee waived by meeting certain monthly requirements—making one electronic deposit per statement cycle or by maintaining an average balance of $5,000 or more.

Students ages 18 to 24 can open an account online or at a branch; students who are 17 must open an account at a Chase branch.

Chase offers more than 15,000 surcharge-free ATMs and more than 4,700 branches.

Students can manage money, view accounts, pay bills and transfer or request money with Chase’s highly rated mobile app. The app can also be used to set up account alerts via text or email, useful for knowing when you have a low balance or for tracking account activity.

Read our full Chase Bank review.