Best National Banks

Best National Banks

National banks offer a wide variety of accounts and services, including wealth and investment management. These large banks have branch networks that stretch across many states, and they offer a full range of accounts and services, including wealth and investment management. One of them has a free, no-strings checking account — an uncommon feature at big banks.

This is part of Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine's 2024 best bank for you rankings. See lower down on this page for more categories. 

BMO Bank

Why it won: BMO scored highly for both its checking accounts and money market account. 
Standout account: BMO’s Smart Advantage Checking account is free. Relationship Checking offers numerous high-value benefits for customers who can meet the minimum balance requirements.
Where it is: More than 1,000 branches across two dozen states, with many locations in the Midwest as well as the western U.S. (Rates and terms are for customers in Chicago.)

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Overview:
BMO completed its acquisition of Bank of the West last year, doubling its branch footprint. Smart Advantage Checking, BMO’s most popular checking account, has a minimum opening deposit of just $25 and no monthly fee. Smart Money Checking also has a minimum opening deposit of $25 but charges a $5 monthly fee. However, the account has no overdraft fees, and the monthly fee is waived if you’re younger than 25. 

Relationship Checking charges a $25 monthly fee, but you can avoid it by maintaining a minimum daily balance of $10,000. With this account, you’ll be placed in one of four relationship packages — Silver, Gold, Platinum or Premier — based on your total balance across eligible BMO deposit and investment accounts. The more you hold in your accounts, the more benefits you’ll earn. Silver tier benefits, which apply to account holders with quarterly combined balances of less than $25,000, include a $25 monthly reimbursement for out-of-network ATM fees. Plus, if you have a BMO credit card, a $10 bonus is deposited into your checking account each quarter that your net credit card purchases are $3,500 or greater. Individuals with balances of $250,000 or more earn Premier tier benefits, which include a rebate of up to $90 per month on wire-transfer fees, one overdraft-fee rebate per month and a $75 quarterly credit card spending bonus. 

For the first year that you have the no-fee Savings Builder account (0.01% yield), you’ll receive an extra $5 each month that you save $200 or more. The Relationship Plus Money Market account yields 1% and charges a $10 monthly fee, which you can bypass by maintaining a minimum daily balance of $5,000. BMO’s CD Specials recently included certificates with rates ranging from 4.3% to 4.9%, depending on the maturity ($1,000 minimum deposit). 

PNC

Why it won: PNC’s Virtual Wallet account packages help customers manage their money wisely.
Standout accounts: Avoiding the monthly fee isn’t too arduous with the basic Virtual Wallet checking package. Promotional CDs boast high yields on some shorter maturities.
Where it is: About 2,300 branches in 28 states — spread mostly through the eastern half of the U.S. and the Sun Belt — and Washington, D.C. (Terms and rates are for customers in Pittsburgh.)

Overview:
PNC’s Virtual Wallet program comes with a Spend checking account for everyday transactions, a Reserve checking account to set aside funds for short-term goals and a Growth savings account for longer-term goals. The basic Virtual Wallet package waives its $7 monthly fee if you have a monthly direct deposit of at least $500 into Spend or a combined $500 minimum balance in Spend and Reserve, or if you’re 62 or older.  

Virtual Wallet With Performance Spend and Virtual Wallet With Performance Select require higher direct deposits or balances to skip the monthly fee, but they have more perks. With Performance Select, for example, you get up to $10 in monthly reimbursement for out-of-network ATM surcharges as well as free standard checks, cashier’s checks and incoming domestic wire transfers. 

Recently, a PNC promotional CD yielded 5.15% with a four-month maturity, or 4.25% with a seven-month maturity ($1,000 minimum deposit). Interest rates on PNC’s other savings options often depend on which account package you have, your balance and whether you meet certain activity requirements. The Premiere Money Market account yields as much as 1% for eligible Performance Select customers.

TD Bank

Why it won: A long-standing honoree in our rankings, TD Bank offers accounts with reasonable requirements to waive the monthly fee and plenty of added features to benefit customers.
Standout account: TD Complete Checking account holders have several options to avoid the monthly fee; one is maintaining a daily balance of $500.
Where it is: More than 1,100 locations in 15 states across the East Coast, as well as Washington, D.C. (Rates and terms are for customers in Delaware.)

Overview:
TD’s Complete Checking is a popular option for everyday banking, offering a few ways to avoid the $15 monthly maintenance fee: Maintain a daily balance of at least $500, have $500 or more in direct deposits within a statement cycle, or have a $5,000 minimum daily combined balance across all of your TD deposit accounts. The account is also free for those between the ages of 17 and 23, and the bank doesn’t charge them a fee if they use out-of-network ATMs. 

Beyond Checking offers more benefits, including refunds of the first two overdraft fees incurred in a year, reimbursement for out-of-network ATM fees if you maintain a daily minimum balance of $2,500, and free money orders and cashier’s checks. You can avoid the account’s $25 monthly fee by having a minimum of $5,000 in direct deposits within a statement cycle, maintaining a minimum daily balance of $2,500, or having a $25,000 minimum daily combined balance across all TD deposit accounts, outstanding home equity loan and home equity line of credit accounts, and mortgages in good standing. 

You won’t pay the $5 monthly fee for a Simple Savings account, which earns a 0.02% yield, if you maintain a minimum balance of $300 or are 18 or younger or 62 or older. The Signature Savings account offers a yield of up to 4% on balances of $100,000. Account holders who maintain a $10,000 minimum daily balance or link an eligible TD checking account can avoid the $15 monthly fee.

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Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.