Bank Accounts & Fees
Checking and savings accounts, bank fee changes, high-yield accounts, CD rates, neobanks, and policy changes that affect your money.
Latest in Bank Accounts & Fees
A CD ladder spreads savings across terms so cash frees up regularly while locking in yields
Certificates of deposit are paying some of their most competitive yields in years, but every dollar locked into one is a dollar a saver cannot...
Adding a joint owner to a bank account can override your will and cut out other heirs
Adding an adult child to a bank account for help with bills is one of the most common financial moves older Americans make, and one...
New FDIC trust rules can insure up to $1.25 million at a single bank
A single depositor can now protect as much as $1.25 million at one insured bank by holding the money in a trust account and naming...
You can turn off debit-card overdraft and dodge fees that average about $27
For many older account holders, an overdraft fee arrives as an ambush: a debit card swiped a few dollars over the balance, and the bank...
A second-chance bank account can reopen the banking system after a ChexSystems black mark
Being turned down for a checking account can feel like a locked door, and for many older Americans it arrives without warning after an overdraft...
High-yield savings accounts still pay far more than the big banks’ near-zero rates
The gap between what an online high-yield savings account pays and what a big national bank offers has rarely been this wide. As of late...
A fifth U.S. bank failed in 2026, and naming beneficiaries can insure far more than the basic $250,000
The list of 2026 bank failures grew to five on August 21, when regulators closed Tioga-Franklin Savings Bank of Philadelphia and handed its roughly $67...
NCUA insurance covers credit-union deposits up to $250,000, just like the FDIC
Retirees who keep savings at a credit union instead of a bank sometimes wonder whether the money is protected the same way. It is. Deposits...
The FDIC insures $250,000 per depositor, and adding beneficiaries can multiply that after four banks failed in 2026
Four U.S. banks have failed so far in 2026, a reminder that the $250,000 federal insurance limit is the line between a fully protected deposit...
An overdraft fee is back near $27, but turning off debit overdraft can save it entirely
The typical overdraft fee is hovering right around $27, close to where it has sat for years, after a federal rule that would have capped...
Most big banks now cap overdraft fees at $5 to $10 or have dropped them, and turning overdraft off stops them entirely
The overdraft fee that once ran more than $30 a transaction has quietly collapsed at the country’s largest banks. Most now cap it somewhere between...
Truist account holders in Georgia can claim up to $1,000 from a $240 million overdraft settlement with no proof before September 14
Georgia bank customers who were charged overdraft fees by SunTrust, the bank now known as Truist, can claim a share of a $240 million settlement,...
Truist customers can file a no-proof claim from a SunTrust overdraft settlement before September 14
A legal fight over overdraft fees that began under the SunTrust name more than a decade ago has ended in a $240 million settlement, now...
KYB Americas data-breach victims can claim a no-proof $75 payment, or up to $5,000 with documentation, by August 26
A class-action settlement over a 2025 data breach at auto-parts maker KYB Americas is paying eligible people a flat $75 with no proof required, or...
Small Business Bank became the fourth U.S. bank to fail in 2026, and the FDIC covered insured deposits
The failure of a small Kansas bank in mid-July delivered a familiar lesson with a reassuring ending: the depositors kept their money. Small Business Bank...
Georgia SunTrust customers charged overdraft fees between 2006 and 2014 can claim a payout by September 14
For more than a decade, customers of SunTrust Bank in Georgia paid overdraft fees on small debit-card and ATM transactions, a practice a class-action lawsuit...
FDIC insurance covers $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category, and trust beneficiaries can raise that limit as two banks have failed in 2026
Two federally insured banks have failed in 2026, according to the FDIC’s current record, giving depositors a fresh reason to understand what the familiar $250,000...
Capital One’s $425 million settlement checks are delayed after an appeal
Capital One 360 Savings customers who expected money from a $425 million settlement now face a substantial wait. The court approved the revised deal, but...
HSBC customers who file by August 20 receive at least $10 from a settlement
A class action settlement over HSBC Direct Savings accounts is paying a guaranteed minimum of $10 to eligible customers who submit a claim, and the...
Most checks require $275 available by the next business day
A bank can hold much of a check while still owing the depositor access to a small first slice. Under the current Regulation CC thresholds,...