11 Popular Checking Accounts That Don't Charge Overdraft Fees

Paying bills is hard enough, so the last thing you need is to be hit with an overdraft fee when you've spent your last cent.

Many banks and other financial institutions charge an overdraft fee if you make a payment without having enough cash in your account to cover it.

Fortunately, not all financial institutions levy these charges. If you're looking for a way to keep more cash in your wallet, consider a checking account from one of these 11 companies that eliminate overdraft fees altogether.

SoFi® offers FDIC-insured¹ <p><b style="font-family: Rubik, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Arial, sans-serif;">SoFi Bank is a member FDIC and does not provide more than $250,000 of FDIC insurance per depositor per legal category of account ownership, as described in the FDIC’s regulations.&nbsp;Any additional FDIC insurance is provided by the SoFi Insured Deposit Program. Deposits may be insured up to $3M through participation in the program. See full terms at&nbsp;<a href="http://sofi.com/banking/fdic/sidpterms">SoFi.com/banking/fdic/sidpterms</a>. See list of participating banks at <a href="http://sofi.com/banking/fdic/participatingbanks">SoFi.com/banking/fdic/participatingbanks</a>.</b></p> online banking that offers high-yield checking and savings accounts. A SoFi checking account helps to boost your bank account by waiving overdraft fees.

A few conditions apply. For instance, overdrafts are only fee-free if you overdraw your account by $50 or less. You also need to directly deposit at least $1,000 a month to qualify for the waived fee.

Chime is a fintech (financial technology) company² <p class="">Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services and debit card provided by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A.; Members FDIC.&nbsp;<br></p> that offers checking accounts with no monthly fees.³ <p>There’s no fee for the Chime Savings Account. Cash withdrawal and Third-party fees may apply to Chime Checking Accounts. You must have a Chime Checking Account to open a Chime Savings Account.</p>

With Chime's SpotMe® service, you can overdraw your account by up to $200 on debit card purchases and cash withdrawals without penalty as long as you're signed up for automatic direct deposit.⁴ <p>SpotMe® for Credit Builder is an optional, no interest/no fee overdraft line of credit tied to the Secured Deposit Account; SpotMe on Debit is an optional, no fee service attached to your Chime Checking Account (individually or collectively, “SpotMe”). Eligibility for SpotMe requires $200 or more in qualifying direct deposits to your Chime Checking Account each month. Qualifying members will be allowed to overdraw their Chime Checking Account and/or their Secured Deposit Account up to $20 in total, but may be later eligible for a higher combined limit of up to $200 or more based on member’s Chime account history, direct deposit frequency and amount, spending activity and other risk-based factors. Your SpotMe Limit will be displayed to you within the Chime mobile app. You will receive notice of any changes to your SpotMe Limit. Your SpotMe Limit may change at any time, at Chime or its banking partners’ discretion. Although there are no overdraft fees, there may be out-of-network or third party fees associated with ATM transactions or OTC cash withdrawal fees at retailers. SpotMe won't cover non card transactions, including ACH transfers, Pay Anyone transfers, or Chime Checkbook transactions. <a href="https://www.chime.com/policies/">SpotMe on Credit Builder Terms and Conditions</a>.</p>

You must add at least $200 a month to your Chime® Checking Account to qualify.

Capital One sets up several safeguards in its 360 Checking account that keep its customers from dealing with overdrawn accounts and overdraft fees.

For one thing, Capital One typically declines purchases that would overdraw your checking account balance. Capital One also lets you set up an automatic fee-free transfer from a money market or savings account to cover you if you accidentally overdraw your checking account.

Finally, if all other safeguards fail, Capital One still won't charge you an overdraft fee — period. Customers can also choose their overdraft options, such as declining purchases or setting up automatic transfers.

Ally is an online FDIC-insured bank. Its high-yield checking and savings accounts ensure you generate interest on your balance. And if your checking account balance accidentally drops below zero, you won't be penalized.

On top of eliminating overdraft fees a couple of years ago, Ally now gives customers several options for dealing with overdrawn accounts. 

For instance, if you link a money market or savings account to your Ally checking account, Ally will move cash for you automatically — rounded up to the nearest $100 — to cover the transaction.

A Chase Secure checking account comes with a monthly maintenance fee of $4.95, so it isn't exactly a fee-free financial solution. Still, Chase helps you avoid overdraft fees by declining purchases that exceed your checking account balance.

You can still end up with a negative account balance. For instance, this might happen if tips or service fees push your purchase higher than you intended after you were approved for the original transaction. 

Chase still won't charge an overdraft fee in such a situation.

Truist One Checking doesn't charge any overdraft fees, and its $100 Negative Balance Buffer⁶ <p>The $100 Negative Balance Buffer is only available with Truist One Checking and allows eligible clients to overdraw their account up to $100.</p> <p>All eligibility requirements below must be met to initially qualify for the $100 Negative Balance Buffer:</p> <ul> <li>Account must be opened for a minimum of 35 calendar days</li> <li>Account must be funded and have a positive balance</li> <li>A single direct deposit of at least $100 per month must be made for 2 consecutive months</li> </ul> <p>To remain qualified for the $100 Negative Balance Buffer, the requirement below must be met:</p> <ul> <li>A recurring direct deposit of at least $100 per month</li> </ul> <p>For accounts that qualify for the $100 Negative Balance Buffer and also have Overdraft Protection, Truist will use the $100 Negative Balance Buffer first. If the account has neither, transactions that exceed the account balance will typically be declined or returned.</p> can give your account an extra cushion of up to $100 for unexpected charges.

The Truist One Checking account isn't fee-free, but there are six ways to waive the $12 monthly maintenance fee.⁷ <p>The Monthly Maintenance Fee (MMF) can be waived for the Truist One Checking account for each statement cycle by:</p> <p><b>Option 1: Making $500 or more in total qualifying Direct Deposits per statement cycle.</b> A qualifying direct deposit is an electronic credit via ACH deposited to your account during the current statement cycle. Pre-authorized transfers made from one account to another or deposits made via a branch, ATM, online transfer, mobile device, debit card/prepaid card number or the mail are not eligible to meet this requirement.</p> <p><b>Option 2: Maintaining a total combined ledger balance of $500 or more in any Truist related accounts across personal deposits and all investments as reflected on the business day before your statement cycle end date.&nbsp;</b>A Ledger Balance is actual balance in your account on a specific day and does not reflect any holds or pending transactions. Your Total Combined Balance is the sum of all balances within the Truist personal deposit accounts (checking, savings, money market or CDs), IRAs or brokerage accounts introduced through Truist Investment Services, Inc. Related Accounts automatically includes all applicable accounts associated with primary and secondary account holders.</p> <p><b>Option 3: Having a personal Truist credit card, mortgage or consumer loan, excluding LightStream®. </b></p> <p><b>Option 4: Having a linked Small Business Checking Account.</b> Eligible Small Business account types include: Truist Dynamic Checking, Business Interest Checking, Simple Business Checking and Business Value 200.</p> <p><b>Option 5: Primary client is a student.</b>&nbsp;The waiver for a student requires they are listed as the primary account owner and they provide their anticipated graduation date. The waiver expires on the provided graduation date. On this date, the account is subject to the Monthly Maintenance Fee unless at least one waiver criterion is satisfied.</p> <p><b>Option 6: Primary client is under the age of 25 or age 62 and older.</b></p> <p>Truist Bank, Member FDIC. ©2024, Truist Financial Corporation. Truist, Truist Purple and the Truist Logo are service marks of Truist Financial Corporation.</p>

Discover's fee-free online checking account lets you earn up to 1% back on up to $3,000 worth of debit card purchases each month.

Discover does not impose maintenance fees or any charges for insufficient funds. It also offers an overdraft protection service that allows you to link two of your accounts so money is automatically transferred to your checking account to cover the overdrawn amount.

Citi checking accounts do not have overdraft fees or returned-item fees.

While the basic checking account does have a maintenance fee of $5 a month, you can get it waived by depositing at least $250 a month via automatic direct deposit.

Axos Bank's Essential Checking account is a fee-free, basic checking account that does not charge overdraft, insufficient funds, or monthly maintenance fees.

The account doesn't have a monthly balance requirement either, and Axos doesn't limit its ATM fee reimbursements for ATMs within the U.S.

Online banks, fintechs, and traditional banks don't have a monopoly on fee-free checking: Alliant Credit Union also has opted out of charging overdraft fees.

Customers can choose Alliant's overdraft protection service, which will automatically transfer funds from a linked account to cover negative account balances.

Plus, a Courtesy Pay feature is available to customers that will cover checks, electronic payments and transfers that won't clear because you don't have enough funds in your account. 

Betterment is an online financial service that offers an app-based checking account and linked Visa debit card access. The company doesn't charge a fee for overdrawn accounts, and it will reimburse you for foreign transaction fees and ATM fees as well.

However, it's worth noting that Betterment doesn't charge overdraft fees because it doesn't allow overdrawn purchases to go through. 

While this means you don't have the same account cushion you can qualify for at other banks, it also means you aren't at risk of accidentally making a purchase you can't afford. And that can help you stop wasting money unnecessarily.

Opening a checking account at a financial institution that doesn't charge overdraft fees helps you to keep as much of your hard-earned cash as possible.

Finding such a checking account is a great way to lower your financial stress and avoid unnecessary damage to your bank account and long-term financial security.