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.
If you’re over 50, take advantage of massive discounts and financial resources
Over 50? Join AARP today — because if you’re not a member you could be missing out on huge perks. When you start your membership today, you can get discounts on things like travel, meal deliveries, eyeglasses, prescriptions that aren’t covered by insurance and more.
How to become a member today:
- Go here, select your free gift, and click “Join Today”
- Create your account (important!) by answering a few simple questions
- Start enjoying your discounts and perks!
Important: Start your membership by creating an account here and filling in all of the information (Do not skip this step!) Doing so will allow you to take up 25% off your AARP membership, making it just $12 per year with auto-renewal.
SoFi®
SoFi® offers FDIC-insured1 online banking that offers high-yield checking and savings accounts. A SoFi checking account helps to boost your bank account by waiving overdraft fees.2
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®
Chime is a fintech (financial technology) company that offers checking accounts with no monthly fees.
With Chime’s SpotMe® service, you can overdraw your account by up to $200 on debit card purchases3 and cash withdrawals without penalty as long as you’re signed up for automatic direct deposit.4
You must add at least $200 a month to your Chime® Checking Account to qualify.
Capital One
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.
Resolve $10,000 or more of your debt
Credit card debt is suffocating. It constantly weighs on your mind and controls every choice you make. You can end up emotionally and even physically drained from it. And even though you make regular payments, it feels like you can never make any progress because of the interest.
National Debt Relief could help you resolve your credit card debt with an affordable plan that works for you. Just tell them your situation, then find out your debt relief options.5
How to get National Debt Relief to help you resolve your debt: Sign up for a free debt assessment here. (Do not skip this step!) By signing up for a free assessment, National Debt Relief can assist you in settling your debt, but only if you schedule the assessment.
Ally
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.
Chase
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.
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Truist One
Truist One Checking doesn’t charge any overdraft fees, and its $100 Negative Balance Buffer 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 five ways to waive the $12 monthly maintenance fee.
Discover
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
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
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.
Earn cash back on everyday purchases with this rare account
Want to earn cash back on your everyday purchases without using a credit card? With the Discover®️ Cashback Debit Checking account (member FDIC), you can earn 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month!6
With no credit check to apply and no monthly fees to worry about, you can earn nearly passive income on purchases you’re making anyway — up to an extra $360 a year!
This rare checking account has other great perks too, like access to your paycheck up to 2 days early with Early Pay, no minimum deposit or monthly balance requirements, over 60K fee-free ATMs, and the ability to add cash to your account at Walmart stores nationwide.
Don’t leave money on the table — it only takes minutes to apply and it won’t impact your credit score.
Alliant Credit Union
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
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.
Bottom line
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.
Lucrative, Flat-Rate Cash Rewards
FinanceBuzz writers and editors score cards based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.
Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card
Current Offer
$200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months
Annual Fee
$0
Rewards Rate
Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases
Benefits
- Low spend threshold for its welcome offer — $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months
- Cell phone protection benefit (subject to a $25 deductible)
- Can redeem rewards at an ATM for literal cash
Drawbacks
- Foreign transaction fee of 3%
- No bonus categories
- Select “Apply Now” to take advantage of this specific offer and learn more about product features, terms and conditions.
- Earn a $200 cash rewards bonus after spending $500 in purchases in the first 3 months.
- Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.
- 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases and qualifying balance transfers. 19.74%, 24.74%, or 29.74% Variable APR thereafter; balance transfers made within 120 days qualify for the intro rate and fee of 3% then a BT fee of up to 5%, min: $5.
- $0 annual fee.
- No categories to track or remember and cash rewards don’t expire as long as your account remains open.
- Find tickets to top sports and entertainment events, book travel, make dinner reservations and more with your complimentary 24/7 Visa Signature® Concierge.
- Up to $600 of cell phone protection against damage or theft. Subject to a $25 deductible.
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