Best Checking Accounts
In choosing the best free checking accounts, we considered several factors. First and foremost, the accounts had to be truly free, with no hidden fees charged by many of the bigger banks that advertise "free" checking. We looked at quality of service and ease of use, and other features like bill pay, cash-back debit cards, and the like. Finally, we looked for online checking accounts that pay interest on your checking balance.
Tradeoffs
As with other types of online bank accounts, online checking accounts have some tradeoffs between pure-play online banks and traditional banks. In particular, we found that few traditional banks pay interest on checking account balances unless your account balance is very large. Online banks are more likely to offer interest on checking accounts.
On the flip side, traditional banks have big ATM networks, which is a big deal for checking accounts (as opposed to savings, where ATM access isn't all that necessary.) Also, some of the pure-play internet checking accounts don't offer paper checks by default.
Our Picks for Best Checking Accounts
For traditional banks, we chose
Washington Mutual Online Banking
. WaMu has a reputation for fine, friendly customer service, and an enormous network of branches and ATMs, which online checking account holders can use for free. They offer free checks for life, which is a nice perk. Their checking accounts don't draw interest, but they offer a
package deal with a high yield savings account, which works well if you don't mind moving the money back and forth.
For pure-play Internet banks, our pick for the best online checking account is the
Electric Orange
online checking account from ING. It pays a very nice interest rate for a checking account. (More than most
savings accounts at traditional banks.) Plus it has a nice electronic check feature, which lets you send money over email, much like with Paypal.
For more information on each of these accounts, check their respective links on the menu to your left.