topic Re: The best checking accounts to keep in Personal Finance

The best checking accounts to keep

xenon3030 — Thu, 19 May 2022 21:29:46 GMT

I was opening several checking accounts recently and now need to close several. It took my attention that some banks provide faster external transfer (ACH) e.g. the next day delivery but some banks were doing it after 4 business days.

My parameters for a good checking account in priority: FDIC insured, monthly fee can be waived easily, fast free external ACH transfers, receive DD from employer 2 days early, sufficient check with limited or no fee, no fee for ATM.

Which checking account(s) do you suggest to keep (pls add to the list)? Is it better to use brokerage as checking?

BOA (~3-5$ fee for external transfers, DD>250$/m to avoid monthly fee, may be needed to keep BOA tier).
US Bank (no monthly fee if having CC, external ACH~4 days).
Chase (DD>500$ to avoid monthly fee).
Citi (any DD to avoid monthly fee).
Discover (free, 1% cashbak if using debit).
SoFi (using plaid that might be concern for transfers, good APY for checking, does it provide check?).
KPCU (no fee, external ACH~1 day).
WF (DD>500$ to avoid monthly fee, provides monthly Fico9 score/report).

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

DONZI — Fri, 20 May 2022 02:39:04 GMT

I have a variety of bank and credit union accounts and almost all drag out inbound (and outbound AFAIK) ACH. Further, pending -> posting is also slow with most of them, even if just paying a CC account from a deposit account within the same FI.

The exception to those is Schwab HYCA.

I don't do direct deposit so can't comment on that or what 'x days early' actually boils down to or why scheduling adjustment(s) is considered a marketable benefit. Some of the info I read seems to indicate the FI just fronts the money.. or maybe the FI just doesn't delay the inbound $$ posting like others do?

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

SouthJamaica — Thu, 06 Jul 2023 14:47:14 GMT

@xenon3030 wrote:
I was opening several checking accounts recently and now need to close several. It took my attention that some banks provide faster external transfer (ACH) e.g. the next day delivery but some banks were doing it after 4 business days.

My parameters for a good checking account in priority: FDIC insured, monthly fee can be waived easily, fast free external ACH transfers, receive DD from employer 2 days early, sufficient check with limited or no fee, no fee for ATM.

Which checking account(s) do you suggest to keep (pls add to the list)? Is it better to use brokerage as checking?

BOA (~3-5$ fee for external transfers, DD>250$/m to avoid monthly fee, may be needed to keep BOA tier).
US Bank (no monthly fee if having CC, external ACH~4 days).
Chase (DD>500$ to avoid monthly fee).
Citi (any DD to avoid monthly fee).
Discover (free, 1% cashbak if using debit).
SoFi (using plaid that might be concern for transfers, good APY for checking, does it provide check?).
KPCU (no fee, external ACH~1 day).
WF (DD>500$ to avoid monthly fee, provides monthly Fico9 score/report).

Of those on your list SoFi checks off all your boxes I believe.

Other accounts which fit the bill are Langley FCU, Digital FCU, Affinity FCU (only the cash back checking has the 2 day early direct deposit), and Chartway FCU.

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

xenon3030 — Fri, 20 May 2022 05:21:06 GMT

Thanks. I opened a Schwab brokerage account (there is an ongoing SUB). It has expedite ACH (1 business day, excluding weekends) and free checks. It looks like it can be my primary checking account and they have several branches nearby

I plan to keep BOA (to keep my tier), SoFi (good APY in this year), US Bank/Discover (no fee). I close the rest of the checking accounts. I may occationally open some checking accounts to collect SUB (>300$).

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

DONZI — Fri, 20 May 2022 08:20:10 GMT

The high yield investor checking has suitable banking features for my needs. Transfer is instantaneous between it and the brokerage acct. Nice when wanting to wire money (domestic) using the wire fee waivers. (extra step to enable wire xfer on the HYIC account)

The xfer limit(s) for ACH are reasonable, unlike many online banks.

NOTE: some (most?) physical locations are brokerage only. Thus, deposit(s) there would be made to the brokerage account(s). IMO not an issue since xfer to their checking is quick and easy.

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

SouthJamaica — Fri, 20 May 2022 14:24:49 GMT

@xenon3030 wrote:
Thanks. I opened a Schwab brokerage account (there is an ongoing SUB). It has expedite ACH (1 business day, excluding weekends) and free checks. It looks like it can be my primary checking account and they have several branches nearby

I plan to keep BOA (to keep my tier), SoFi (good APY in this year), US Bank/Discover (no fee). I close the rest of the checking accounts. I may occationally open some checking accounts to collect SUB (>300$).

I thought you wanted 2-day early direct deposit.

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

xenon3030 — Fri, 20 May 2022 15:44:06 GMT

SoFi covers the 2 day early DD. If I need cash urgently, I may use that account. Since it has ~1.25% APY this year, it might be better to park some cash and use it for some monthly payments like mortgate and auto.

I am checking the ACH transfer speeds now between different accounts. KPCU to BOA was super fast~13h (started at 2pm on Thur --> arrived at 3am on Fri). USBank ACH to any bank was taking averagely ~4 days (they say the standard time is ~3 days while delay may happen).

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

xenon3030 — Tue, 24 May 2022 19:43:50 GMT

I did some experiments and Chase checking had the fastest ACH transfer (real time). This feature is only available for transfers from Chase to selected external checking (e.g. BOA/WF but not all). The transfer from external to Chase is still up to 3 business days. Not sure whether it would work outside working hours or weekends.

KPCU/Discover/Citi had the next day transfer (the cut-off time might impact the delivery date).

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

xenon3030 — Fri, 27 May 2022 16:59:17 GMT

My schwab account was closed a few days after opening, due to chexsystems (I wanted to open brokerage/checking). There is no negative info, except recent inquiries there. Is it Chexsystem sensitive? Does it work, if I try to open only brokerage? Does brokerage application require chexsystem?

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

James3 — Sat, 28 May 2022 01:39:17 GMT

SoFi (using plaid that might be concern for transfers, good APY for checking, does it provide check?).

There was a class action lawsuit against Plaid for harvesting more financial info than was necessary from people. That is reason enough to avoid SoFi

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

xenon3030 — Sat, 28 May 2022 01:45:31 GMT

You can use SoFi without using Plaid (to fund your account or move fund from it, simply use the other checking accounts e.g. Chase that use the standard ACH transfer system).

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

TryItAgain — Sat, 28 May 2022 06:12:29 GMT

If something requires plaid or any 3rd party bank authentication I always run away, no matter how bad I want it.

I am getting instant ACH transfers from Chase to BoA, Regions, PNC and Capital One. Next day to Penfed, Nfcu, USAA and GTE CU. Hope that helps.

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

butterpecan — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 03:27:20 GMT

@TryItAgain wrote:
If something requires plaid or any 3rd party bank authentication I always run away, no matter how bad I want it.

I am getting instant ACH transfers from Chase to BoA, Regions, PNC and Capital One. Next day to Penfed, Nfcu, USAA and GTE CU. Hope that helps.

@TryItAgain Which of these FI in your experience has the better overdraft protection?

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

TryItAgain — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 05:46:03 GMT

@butterpecan wrote:
@TryItAgain wrote:
If something requires plaid or any 3rd party bank authentication I always run away, no matter how bad I want it.

I am getting instant ACH transfers from Chase to BoA, Regions, PNC and Capital One. Next day to Penfed, Nfcu, USAA and GTE CU. Hope that helps.

@TryItAgain Which of these FI in your experience has the better overdraft protection?

I never really deal with overdrafts @butterpecan , but do have a $k3 overdraft LOC with Penfed, and NFCU 15k Navcheck, both draw from the line if an overdraft occurs at no fee. So I'd say one of those is best for me, however if you do not have those overdraft lines then I am unsure which is best with the other banks you listed. Generally it's pretty easy to get a 1-3k overdraft line from the credit unions though it will cost a hard pull usually.

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

butterpecan — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 06:00:07 GMT

@TryItAgain

Hi, thank you for the breakdown. I want an overdraft line of credit as a security buffer like what you are describing. I have never really had any more than a $200 buffer through BofA but I am leaving them for another FI so I am wondering about overdraft because back when I got it 12 years ago with BofA it was sort of just automatically available. Now it is different, exactly by what you said with LOC protection vs just a normal courtesy pay product included with the account. A line of credit is maybe what I might add. Thanks!

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

TryItAgain — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 06:05:13 GMT

I'm not sure where most of your banking is, and it's pretty easy to get say a $500-1k min line from PenFed and NFCU, but if I had a choice I'd pick Navy Fed. Only because Penfed's OLOC is just that, only for overdraft, can't pull from it unless you force an overdraft. Where as say a $1-3k NavCheck Navy PLOC works the same on overdrafts, but you can also request free checkls for the line and write a check if you ever want to draw from it.

Either way though, ask for the max, and let them counter so you don't just get the $500 minimums.

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

butterpecan — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 06:10:24 GMT

@TryItAgain I just opened Navy Fed last month, I was acutally planning on asking for a PLOC after I have had the account there for while. My credit card is also brand new through them. Thanks for the explanation. I do want the ability to write a check to myself if needed in a bind vs just the overdraft protection noted with PenFed. Great info, I definitely am bookmarking this for later. Thx.

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

NoMoreE46 — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 21:40:45 GMT

@butterpecan ,

FYI,

Mention to DH Wells Fargo has the option of linking a Wells Fargo credit card to cover overdrafts.

Overdraft Protection – Wells Fargo

Apparently, there might be a transfer fee of $35 and the overdraft coverage is considered a Cash Advance. However, when it had kicked for me, I never got assessed the fee. (I paid the overdraft the next day.)

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

butterpecan — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 03:45:39 GMT

@NoMoreE46 wrote:
@butterpecan ,

FYI,

Mention to DH Wells Fargo has the option of linking a Wells Fargo credit card to cover overdrafts.
Overdraft Protection – Wells Fargo

Apparently, there might be a transfer fee of $35 and the overdraft coverage is considered a Cash Advance. However, when it had kicked for me, I never got assessed the fee. (I paid the overdraft the next day.)

@NoMoreE46

Fantastic, thank you for that. DH just opened the Wells Fargo checking account last week and actually was approved for $10k credit card so that overdraft coverage linking is a huge plus. Thanks so much.

Re: The best checking accounts to keep

NoMoreE46 — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 14:36:02 GMT

Certainly and Congratulations on his approval.