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
$50 caps what a stolen debit card can cost you, but only if you report it within two days
Anyone who loses a debit card or has one stolen faces a sharp, time-sensitive choice: report it fast and cap personal losses at $50, or...
Most banks waive a checking account’s monthly fee if you just ask
Checking account holders across the United States pay monthly maintenance fees that, in most cases, their banks are willing to drop. Four of the largest...
Your bank deposits are insured up to $250,000 per depositor, and you can cover more by using several banks
Anyone with more than $250,000 in a single bank account faces a straightforward risk: if that institution fails, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation covers only...
You can opt out of overdraft coverage, and your bank then has to decline the charge instead of charging a fee
Consumers who carry a debit card linked to a checking account can stop their bank from charging overdraft fees on everyday purchases and ATM withdrawals...
The best online savings accounts still pay about 4% — roughly ten times the national average
Savers who keep cash in a typical bank account earn a fraction of a penny on every dollar, while a smaller group of depositors at...
Naming a payable-on-death beneficiary on a bank account lets it skip probate and pay out within days
Families who lose a loved one often face weeks or months of probate court proceedings before they can access a single dollar in the deceased’s...
Report an unauthorized debit charge and your bank usually has 10 business days to put the money back
Anyone who spots a charge they did not authorize on a debit card or bank account faces an immediate problem: the money is already gone....
Federal rules make the first $225 of a check deposit available the next day
Anyone who has deposited a paycheck and needed the money right away knows the frustration: the bank says the funds are “pending,” and bills are...
Report a lost debit card within two days and federal law caps your loss at $50 — wait longer and it can climb to $500
Consumers who lose a debit card face a ticking clock that directly determines how much money they can be held responsible for. Federal rules tie...
The highest savings account rate available nationwide is now 4.1%
Savers shopping for the best return on their cash can now find a top advertised yield of 4.1 percent APY on a savings account open...
Banks must refund unauthorized debit-card charges reported within 60 days under federal law
Anyone who has spotted a charge they did not make on a debit-card statement faces a hard deadline: report it within 60 days of the...
Bonus checking accounts at Chase, Truist, and U.S. Bank pay $300 to $700 for setting up direct deposit — but the bonus is taxable, reported on a 1099 next January
Switch your direct deposit to a new checking account at Chase, Truist, or U.S. Bank and the bank will pay you a cash bonus, typically...
A bank can shut your account without warning over a single “suspicious” deposit — but a written reversal request inside 30 days often gets the account reopened
In 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered USAA Federal Savings Bank to pay roughly $15.6 million after the bank reopened consumer deposit accounts without...
Big banks still pay about 0.4% on savings while online banks pay near 4% — leaving the same $10,000 earning $360 less every year
Big banks still pay about 0.4% on savings while online banks pay near 4% — leaving the same $10,000 earning $360 less every year Put...
You can switch off overdraft coverage so a too-big charge is simply declined — sparing you the $35 fee banks still collect billions on each year
A $7 coffee costs $42 when your checking account is $3 short and your bank decides to cover the difference. That “courtesy” comes with an...
Your bank deposits are insured only up to $250,000 — yet a record amount of Americans’ savings now sits above that line, uninsured if the bank fails
In March 2023, Silicon Valley Bank collapsed so fast that customers tried to yank $42 billion in just two days. Roughly 94% of the bank’s...
A Trump-era rule rollback just freed banks to bring back the $35 overdraft fee — the one regulators had capped at $5 last year
The next time your checking account dips a few dollars below zero, your bank is legally free to charge you $35 for the privilege. A...
Top high-yield savings accounts still pay up to 5% APY — but the national average just dropped to 0.38%, so most savers are leaving 13x their interest on the table
When the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation published its national rate benchmark for April 2026, the average savings account yield had slipped to 0.38%, according to...
The best high-yield savings account still pays 4.10% APY — and the new Fed chair taking over today hasn’t signaled a single rate cut
Kevin Warsh walked into the Federal Reserve’s Eccles Building on May 14, 2026, as the most hawkish new chair the central bank has had in...
The best high-yield savings account pays 4.10% APY today — and zero rate cuts are priced in for 2026, so that number isn’t going anywhere
A savings account paying 0.39% earns you about $39 a year on a $10,000 deposit. Move that same cash to a high-yield savings account paying...