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
Naming both a primary and a backup beneficiary keeps an account out of probate if the first dies
A payable-on-death designation is one of the simplest ways to keep a bank account out of probate, but the simplicity depends on naming more than...
FDIC insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, and beneficiaries can raise that limit
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insures up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank, for each account ownership category, a ceiling that has not moved since...
Five U.S. banks have failed in 2026, yet insured deposits moved to new banks intact
Five federally insured banks have failed in the United States so far in 2026, the most recent a 153-year-old Philadelphia savings bank that closed its...
A checking account with no named beneficiary can sit frozen in probate for months
A checking account with no payable-on-death name, no joint owner and no listed beneficiary does not pass to the next of kin the moment its...
Adding a payable-on-death name to a bank account sends the balance straight to a loved one
A payable-on-death designation is one of the few estate-planning tools that costs nothing, takes minutes at a bank branch, and needs no attorney: an account...
Taking more than $10,000 out of your bank triggers a federal report, and splitting it up is itself a crime
Withdraw or deposit more than $10,000 in cash at a bank in a single business day, and the bank does not ask permission first. It...
Pfizer’s $44 million Chantix settlement is paying eligible buyers who file by September 14
Pfizer has agreed to pay $44 million to resolve claims that its smoking-cessation drug Chantix was contaminated with a nitrosamine, a substance regulators classify as...
Banks must send a change-in-terms notice before raising a fee or rate, giving you time to move money
A bank cannot simply raise a checking account’s monthly fee or cut a savings account’s interest rate without warning. Federal rules require a depository institution...
A Missouri credit union failed this month; insured savings moved without loss
The National Credit Union Administration liquidated African Diaspora Federal Credit Union in Saint Ann, Missouri, on August 6, after examiners found the small institution insolvent...
Credit union deposits are federally insured up to $250,000, just like a bank
When a regional bank fails, federal deposit insurance kicks in automatically to make depositors whole up to a set limit. Fewer people realize the same...
Top certificates of deposit pay near 4%, the average savings account 0.38%
Popular Direct is paying 4.50% annual percentage yield on its three-, four- and five-year certificates of deposit this week, and CFG Bank offers a flat...
Opting out of debit-card overdraft coverage stops a roughly $35 fee
A debit-card purchase that a checking account cannot cover has two possible outcomes, and the difference between them is roughly $35. Under federal rules, a...
A brokered CD can pay more than a bank CD but lose value if you sell early
Brokered certificates of deposit routinely advertise yields above what a neighborhood bank pays on its own CDs, and that gap is what draws savers who...
A CD’s early-withdrawal penalty can wipe out months of interest, so match the term to your needs
Certificates of deposit look like the safest corner of a savings plan: a fixed rate, federal insurance, and no exposure to the market. The catch...
A bank must give provisional credit while it investigates an unauthorized charge you reported in time
When an unauthorized charge drains a checking account, the immediate crisis is not who is at fault but how long the money stays gone. Federal...
Credit unions often pay higher savings rates and charge lower fees than big banks
The gap between what a savings account pays and what a bank charges to keep it can quietly cost a saver hundreds of dollars a...
Setting account alerts and a daily-withdrawal limit can blunt the damage from a drained account
When a thief gets into a bank account, the money that leaves in the first hours is rarely the whole story. What determines how much...
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...