With so many banks that are looking to earn your business today, it can be extremely difficult to decide where you want to store your money. Even with all of the different options that are at your discretion, every bank is going to come with its pros and cons, making it that much harder to decide where you want to do your business. Below are some of the best nationwide banks for both traditional brick and mortar banks and online banks alike.
Best National banks
1. Chase Bank
Chase Bank right now is the largest bank in the United States. With this title, you would expect Chase to have a lot to offer, which it does. The credit cards that Chase offers have some of the best perks on the market that you’ll find anywhere, and they also have an extremely impressive range of options for both personal and business checking accounts.
One of the things that’s been known to attract people to Chase is the fantastic sign on bonus that the company offers. On top of the incredibly lucrative sign up bonuses for the credit cards that they’ve been known to offer, Chase also regularly offers sizable cash bonuses for their checking and saving accounts. This has historically set Chase bank apart from their competitors and has kept them on top as the largest bank in the US.
Like many other banks, Chase does have an entirely online presence if you prefer to do everything from the comfort of your couch. However, if you prefer physical branches, Chase also has physical locations across the United States, with almost 5,000 branches and 16,000 Chase ATMs.
The biggest drawback against Chase is that they don’t offer any type of high yield checking or saving accounts, which is an account that has become extremely desirable in recent years. The checking account that Chase offers is a basic checking account that doesn’t earn you any extra interest, and the savings account only offers an APY of 0.01%.
Obviously, there are still plenty of things to say about Chase bank, as the Chase Credit Cards have fantastic benefits that you might not find elsewhere. However, if you’re looking to earn a little bit more cash with a high yield checking or savings account, it might be best to look elsewhere.
2. CIT Bank
CIT Bank offers multiple different accounts like most banks, ranging from checking and savings, to CDs and money market accounts. CIT Bank also has excellent savings rates in a few different situations. The best account that they offer for savings rates is their Savings Builder savings account, which does exactly what it sounds like it would do. The Savings Builder savings account offers higher interest rates than most institutions, but in order to take advantage of these higher interest rates you would need to maintain a minimum balance of $25,000 or set up automatic deposits of at least $100 every month. For most people, the $100 every month option is probably the easier and much more realistic way to go. Not only that, but if you have $25,000 to leave in a savings account, you can use it to make you so much more money for you in other accounts compared to this one. Regardless, if you would prefer to have $25,000 sit in this account, that is an option for you as well if you prefer it and can afford it.
CIT Bank also has higher interest rates on the money market account that it offers. The APY that the money market account offers is 0.85%. This might not sound like much, but it is much higher than the national average when you compare it to money market accounts offered by other banking institutions. Not only that, but there are no service fees associated with this account, and you can get started for as little as $100.
The CDs that CIT Bank offer also have higher interest rates compared to other CDs offered. They also have a wider selection of CDs to choose from that vary in time span. So if you don’t want to lock money up for years, you don’t have to. CIT Bank also offered home loans and mortgages as well if you’re looking to go through them when you purchase your home.
3. Discover
Most people seem to think that Discover is primarily credit cards and nothing else, but this isn’t true anymore. Discover today has a full suite of banking products much like the other banks that have made this list.
With Discover, you’ll have access to online banking, such as checking, money-market, CDs, etc. You’ll also have access to personal loans, and even student loans. Having access to student loans through a banking institution like this is a differentiation point from many other banks, since most student loan providers are government based or specialize in student loans only. Discover also offers home equity lines of credit (HELOC), which is another rarity for entirely online banking institutions.
Discover also has extremely competitive rates for all of their savings accounts, with their high yield savings account currently offering a variable APY of 0.95%. Keep in mind, however, that these rates are subject to change, and will go up and down over time.
Discover also gives you access to over 60,000 ATMs when you open a checking account with them, and none of these ATMs charge you a fee to use. As you can see, Discover is an online one stop shop for pretty much all of your banking needs which makes it one of the best choices you can go with, especially if you’re looking for an online institution.
The biggest thing that is still missing from Discovers wide ranging options is that they don’t offer business banking. Despite this, their online accounts cover you for practically all of your personal banking needs. With all of the different accounts offered plus their great interest rates in their savings account and CDs, they are certainly worth a look.
4. BBVA
BBVA doesn’t have physical locations across the nation, but they do have a great online presence, which is why they earned a spot on this list. For brick and mortar locations, they only exist in seven states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, and Texas. So if you’re looking for a physical location, you might be out of luck with BBVA and want to look elsewhere.
If you aren’t opposed to the entirely online only option, BBVA does have an online checking account that can be used entirely online. The downside to this is that you won’t have access to the branches themselves, of course.
If you’re looking to use BBVA potentially for business banking, you have to live in one the states mentioned above to be eligible to apply through BBVA. However, anyone can apply for an online business checking account with Azlo, which is a subsidiary and owned by BBVA. So if you’re looking to keep everything under the same company roof, this could be a viable option for you.
BBVA also has competitive interest rates for their money market accounts and CDs. One thing to note about these is that these interest rates will vary based on where you’re currently living, so check to make sure that the rates in your area are the best offered to you.
Overall, BBVA offers some great perks, but they do have their limitations for physical locations and their online business presence.
5. Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo, in contrast to banks like Discover and BBVA, is a large national bank that has plenty of physical locations across the country. As of 2018, they had over 8,000 branches nationwide, and over 13,000 ATMs. With over 8,000 branches, Wells Fargo definitely has the one of the biggest physical presences with banks on this list.
All of the Wells Fargo checking accounts have monthly fees, ranging anywhere from $10-$30. With this being said, it should be noted that most of these fees can be avoided (within reason, course). For example, with the lowest-tier account that is their standard checking and savings accounts, you can avoid these fees one of two ways. The first is to have ten or more debit card transactions every month, which is pretty easy to do. The second is to set up a direct deposit of at least $500 or more every month. If this is your primary banking account, then this is also pretty easy to achieve.
Because Wells Fargo is such a large banking institution, you’ll have access to all of the other standard banking products that tend to come with larger and more established banks such as credit cards, loans, and investing options. Overall, Wells Fargo has plenty to offer their customers, especially if you have a physical location near you.
The biggest downside to Wells Fargo is that their customer service has been known to be sub-par, meaning that if you have a complaint, chances are it’s going to take a lot of time and hassle to get it taken care of. Also, in more recent years Wells Fargo has been caught in a couple of different scandals, including creating fraudulent accounts of already existing customers without their knowledge or consent. So if you’re thinking about banking with Wells Fargo, you should be extremely mindful of your accounts to make sure this doesn’t affect you.
6. Ally
Ally is an online-based bank that has become increasing popular in the past couple of years. Much like Discover, you’ll have access to all of the standard banking products that Ally has to offer, including checking, savings, auto, home loans, and investing accounts.
What really has caught the attention of customers that draws people to use Ally is the high-interest rates that the company offers on its savings accounts, which has been floating around 2%. This rate is much higher than almost any other banking institutions online or physical.
Interest on other Ally accounts such as their checking accounts isn’t as high, but is still higher that interest rates of other banks. Another big selling point with Ally is that there are no monthly fees and no minimum balance to keep an account open. Although the bank is entirely online, you do also have access to over 43,000 ATMs across the United States, making it super easy and convenient to withdraw cash.
7. Barclays
The biggest difference with Barclays compared to other banks on this list is that Barclays is a global bank that is based out of London, England. Even though it’s not a US based bank, Barclays still is pretty popular in the UK and the US alike.
Barclays doesn’t offer quite the same range of banking products like other banks, but what they do offer is enough to make anyone happy if it’s what they need. Their credit cards are arguably their most attractive offer to customers since they have some extremely lucrative sign up bonuses. On top of this, their online savings accounts offer some of the best interest rates in the industry which is something that can make anyone happy.
The biggest downside to Barclays is that if you’re in the United States, Barclays is going to be pretty much entirely online for you. So, if you’re looking for a more in person banking experience, then you’ll probably want to look elsewhere. They also have a more limited range of products as we already mentioned. For example, they don’t have a checking account, which can be a big deterrent for many people since a checking account is a staple for most people and their banking experience.
8. Citibank
Citibank has many different products that offer plenty to the perks – though not everyone is able to take advantage of everything. For example, Citibank offers some sign up bonuses for some of the checking accounts they have, but all of them have monthly fees. It can be possible to avoid these fees, but only at certain monthly balances, the lowest of which is $1,500.
To go along with this, their checking account interest rates are far lower than others on the list, coming in under 0.05%. Knowing this, chances are you aren’t going to want to keep that much cash in your checking account anyway.
Where Citibank really shines is in their credit cards and other products. A notable credit card through Citibank is the Citi Double Cash card, which offers a sizable amount of cashback on your usage of the card. You’ll also find other good products in their CDs, IRAs, and other investment products too.
9. Bank of America
Bank of America was once the largest banking chain in the US but has shrunk down considerably mainly due to their new mobile banking push. Despite this, there are still over 4,000 brick and mortar locations across the nation. So chances are there’s a branch near you.
Bank of America has plenty of products to offer, including checking, savings, credit cards, investment accounts, and loan accounts. Bank of America also has great customer support, something that is typically lacking in major companies. You can call anytime for 8am to 9pm, 7 days a week. You can also message them on Facebook or Twitter 24/7.
The biggest drawback to Bank of America accounts is that their interest rates on their checking and savings accounts are much lower than others on this list. They also have a monthly fee on their checking accounts that can only be avoided if you have at least $10,000 in the account.
10. NBKC Bank
The National Bank of Kansas City (NBKC) is a national bank that is almost entirely online, which only four branches in the Kansas City area if you happen to live there. The main products that NBKC offers are standard products that you would want from any back. Things like personal and business checking, home loans, and business or personal credit cards.
Something notable that NBKC offers is their high interest rates with their checking account and their money market accounts. Their personal checking accounts require a $5 minimum deposit to open, but there is no minimum balance once the accounts open. Right now, you can use over 32,000 ATMs across the US fee-free, and they don’t charge an overdraft fee which is a great perk.
NBKC is a solid bank for anyone who is will to do their banking pretty much entirely online, even if you might not have heard of them before reading this.
What Is The Number 1 Bank In America?
It’s difficult to pick a top bank, since every bank is going to offer you something a little bit different than the next. Not only this but depending on what you’re looking to get out of your bank, you might have a different opinion than what we would call the #1 bank on this list. Overall, the bank that is the closest to having a bit of everything is the NBKC bank. With low minimums and lots to offer, they definitely provide a lot of value for their customers. Just keep in mind that NBKC does their business almost entirely online, so if this isn’t appealing to you then you might want to consider another one on this list.
Who Is The Best Nationwide Bank?
In terms of having a great nationwide presences, the best bank has to be Chase. With over 5,000 branches and over 16,000 ATMs, Chase has a massive presence across the US. On top of this, Chase’s credit cards have some of the best sign up bonuses in the industry. Even their checking accounts typically offer some pretty nice sign-up bonuses.
However, the biggest thing that Chase is still missing is checking/savings accounts with high interest rates. But if this isn’t a big deal to you, then Chase is definitely worth the look.
Which Banks Are All Across The United States of America
Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo easily have the largest US presence of any of the best banks that are on this list. Between these three banks alone, they have over 17,000 physical locations and more than 45,000 ATMs to use. If you’re looking for a bank where you can physically go in to conduct your banking, then any of these choices listed here are likely to be near you.
