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Today, opening a bank account online is easier than ever. Many financial institutions allow you to open an account without an opening deposit and don’t require you to maintain a certain balance amount. Some don’t even need to look at your credit and banking history before letting you open an account.
The financial institutions we recommend all offer bank accounts that are simple and quick to open online.
Featured Checking Account
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Truist One Checking Benefits
- New checking clients can earn a $400 bonus with qualifying activities1
- No overdraft fee to worry about
- Minimum opening deposit is just $50
- $100 Negative Balance Buffer2 for eligible clients
- Ways to waive the monthly maintenance fee3
- Member FDIC
The bank accounts we chose for our list are all easy to open online. When evaluating these accounts, we considered factors such as the application process, monthly fees, minimum opening deposit, and more. Our list incorporates a variety of banks including online only options, as well as brick and mortar options, to give you choices that fit your personal preferences. Some banks on the list may be FinanceBuzz partners, but those relationships do not impact which ones we've chosen to include. We did not evaluate all banks when compiling this list.
How we evaluate products
Important considerations when choosing a bank account
- Does the bank require a minimum deposit? Most of the banks on our list don’t require one, giving you flexibility.
- How long does it take to open an account? We especially like the ease and speed of opening a Discover® Cashback Debit Account online. The application process typically takes a few minutes, and a physical debit card arrives in the mail within 10 business days.
- Do they charge a monthly fee? Our list favors banks that don't charge a monthly fee or give you the ability to waive the monthly fee if you meet specific criteria.
What are the easiest bank accounts to open online?
- Discover Cashback Debit
- U.S. Bank Smartly Checking
- Truist One Checking
- Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking®
- Chime Checking
- Chase Total Checking
- Current Checking
Compare easy-to-open checking accounts
| Account | Best for | Length of time to open | Monthly fees | Minimum opening deposit |
| Discover Cashback Debit | Cash back on purchases | About 5 minutes | $0 | $0 |
| U.S. Bank Smartly Checking | Easy-to-use mobile app | About 5 minutes | $0 or $6.95 | $25 |
| Truist One Checking | No overdraft fees | About 10 minutes | $12 (can be waived)3 | $50 |
| Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking® | Flexible banking | About 10 minutes | $0 or $12 | $1004 |
| Chime Checking5 | Fair or bad credit | Under 5 minutes | $06 | $0 |
| Chase Total Checking | Higher balances | About 10-15 minutes | $0 or $127 | $0 |
| Current | Building credit | About 5 minutes | $0 in monthly fees | $0 |
Discover Cashback Debit Account
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- Minimum deposit: $0
- Fees: No monthly fees or fees for insufficient funds or overdrafts
- ATM Access: Over 60,000 fee-free ATMs
- FDIC Insured: Yes
The Discover® Cashback Debit Account stands out from other checking accounts because you can earn 1% cash back on debit card purchases up to $3,000 each month.9 This is an unusual (and valuable) perk for a checking account. Another outstanding feature is the ability to get your paycheck deposit up to two days early when you set up direct deposit.
You won't find a lot of Discover brick and mortar locations, but you can make cash deposits into your Discover account at any Walmart location (minimum of $20). This eliminates one of the major headaches of online banking.
Opening a Cashback Debit account is easy to do online. There’s no initial deposit required to open the account, and your application won’t impact your credit score. However, you must deposit money into the account within 45 days of opening it, or else it will be closed.
- No initial deposit required
- No minimum balance requirement
- No monthly fees
- 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month
- Application doesn’t impact your credit score
- You can only have one Cashback Debit account
- Minimum amount of cash you can add is $20
- There are daily limits on how much cash you can add
Visit Discover or Read our review to learn more
U.S. Bank Smartly Checking
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- Minimum deposit: $25
- Fees: $6.95 monthly fee (can be waived)10
- ATM Access: 40,000+ ATMs
- FDIC Insured: Yes
U.S. Bank’s Bank Smartly Checking account can be set up quickly online — we found the account opening process only took five minutes to complete. Their mobile app is a stand out feature. We found it user-friendly and it has some useful features like the ability to track your spending. If you're looking for a basic budgeting app, you could just use this app versus paying for a separate subscription for a budget tracking app.
There is a monthly fee for this account, but it can be waived a variety of ways including having monthly direct deposits totaling $1,000 or maintaining a minimum balance of $1,500.10 The monthly maintenance fee is also waived for customers aged 24 and under or 65 and over.
- Frequent bonus offers for opening an account
- Quick application process
- 2,000+ branches in 26 states11
- Overdraft protection available
- Monthly maintenance fee
- Charges overdraft fees in certain circumstances
- Only available in 26 states
What our team has to say
"It only took me a few minutes to open a U.S. Bank checking account. I was also able to add a joint account holder easily. I've been impressed with the account overall and the mobile app in particular." —Melinda Sineriz, Lead EditorVisit U.S. Bank or read our U.S. Bank Smartly Checking review
Truist One Checking
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- Minimum deposit: $50
- Fees: $12 monthly maintenance fee (can be waived)3
- ATM Access: Fee-free access to over 3,000 Truist ATMs
- FDIC Insured: Yes
If your financial management is a little shaky, this could be the account for you. 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.2 As you get more secure and your average monthly balance increase, you can start to see more benefits like free paper checks and unlimited no-fee ATM transactions from non-Truist ATMs.
There is a $12 monthly maintenance fee unless you meet one of five requirements to waive the fee. That includes maintaining a combined monthly average balance of $500 or more across eligible Truist accounts or making $500 or more in total qualifying direct deposits per statement cycle.
- Multiple ways to waive monthly fee
- Over 2,000 Truist branch locations in the U.S.
- Highly-rated mobile app
- Bank branches only in 17 states
- Monthly maintenance fee
What our team has to say
"I found it very easy to open a checking account. I like Truist's multi-factor authentication for security and clean interface so it's easy to look at my banking history and make transfers." —Jenna Kapes, Editorial AssistantVisit Truist Bank or read our Truist Bank review
Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking® account
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- Minimum deposit: $100
- Fees: $12 monthly maintenance fee (can be waived)
- ATM Access: No fees at Bank of America ATMs
- Member FDIC
If it's important to you to be able to bank in person, Bank of America has a large national footprint with thousands of branches in the U.S. But, their mobile banking options are strong too, giving you the best of both worlds. You can do basic banking in their mobile app, as well as interact with their virtual financial assistant, lock and unlock your debit card, and set up mobile app alerts.
The Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking® account does come in with a $12 monthly maintenance fee, but you can avoid it if you meet certain requirements:
- You’re a Bank of America Preferred Rewards® member
- You have at least one qualifying direct deposit of $250 or more
- You maintain a minimum daily account balance of $1,500 or more
- Peace of mind with a $0 Liability Guarantee12
- 24/7 Total Security Protection®️ and fraud monitoring
- Offers multiple ways to pay, including a debit card and digital wallet
- $12 monthly maintenance fee if you don’t meet certain requirements
- Does not earn interest
- Overdraft fees
Chime® Checking
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- Minimum deposit: $0
- Fees: No monthly maintenance fee6
- ATM Access: Over 60,000 fee-free ATMs14
- FDIC Insured: Yes, through Chime’s partner banks, The Bancorp Bank and Stride Bank
Chime isn’t a bank but a fintech company with the motto, “We want to profit with our members, not from them.”5In line with that motto, Chime doesn’t charge overdraft fees, monthly service fees, foreign transaction fees, or have minimum balance requirements.6
Despite its online origins, you still have an option for depositing cash into your account with Chime. You can deposit cash for free at over 8,000+ Walgreens locations or for a fee at 75,000 retail locations like Walmart, CVS, and 7-Eleven.1514 You can use the Chime app for mobile check deposits.16
Chime also offers an optional high-yield savings account with a 2.00% (as of Sept. 9, 2024) APY17 that you can open along with your Chime Checking account.18
- No overdraft fees
- No monthly service fees
- No minimum balance requirements
- No credit check
- No branches or in-person service
- $2.50 fee on out-of-network ATMs14 or over-the-counter cash withdrawals
Visit Chime or read our Chime review
Chase Total Checking
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- Minimum deposit: $0
- Fees: $12 (can be waived)7
- ATM Access: No fees at Chase Bank ATMs
- FDIC Insured: Yes
Chase is another good option if in-person banking is important to you. Chase Total Checking is the bank’s most popular account. This account has a monthly service fee of $12, but this fee is waived if you have electronic deposits totaling $500 each monthly statement period, a daily balance of $1,500, or an average beginning-day balance of $5,000 on all your Chase checking and savings accounts.20
Chase does charge overdraft fees, but this account includes Overdraft Assist, which means if you’re overdrawn by $50 or less at the end of the business day OR if you’re overdrawn by more than $50 and you bring your account balance to overdrawn by $50 or less at the end of the next business day, you can avoid the hefty $34 overdraft fee.21 No overdraft fees would be better, but at least you have a chance to fix your mistake with this service.
- No minimum deposit to open
- Overdraft assistance
- Online banking and bill pay
- Mobile banking
- Monthly service fee
- No early direct deposit
- Overdraft fees
Visit Chase or read our Chase Total Checking review
Current
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- Minimum deposit: $0
- Fees: No monthly fees2324
- ATM Access: No fees at 40,000 in-network ATMs
- FDIC Insured: Current is not an FDIC-insured bank, but customer funds are protected by FDIC insurance through Choice Financial Group and Cross River Bank.
Current22 offers you the ability to build credit while you bank making it a good "second chance" banking option. It's also a good option if you don't have credit yet or are still building credit. There are no credit checks required to apply, and you can use your everyday spending to build credit. It's a good alternative to a secured credit card, which often comes with fees or deposit requirements.
It has a few other unique features that could benefit someone who might be on a tight budget. It removes gas station holds on your debit card, so your money isn't tied up when you fill up your tank. It also offers the option to get paid up to two days earlier when you set up direct deposit.25
- Overdraft protection26
- Earn up to 7X points on certain debit card purchases
- No monthly balance fees or minimums
- Account options for parents and teens27
- No in-person branches
Visit Current or read our full Current review
How to choose a bank account to open online
Many bank accounts are easy to open these days, taking just minutes to apply for and set up your account. But there are other features the best banks offer that make them strong contenders. When choosing a financial institution, look for one that offers:
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FAQs
What bank can I open online without a deposit?
You can open an account online without a deposit at Discover, Chime, Chase, and Current. However, when opening an account online with no initial deposit, some banks will require you to deposit money into the account within a certain number of days, or the account will be closed.
For example, Discover requires the deposit to be made within 45 days.
What is the best bank to open online?
The best banks to open an account online depends on your personal situation and priorities. Discover is an excellent choice because there's no minimum deposit, no monthly fees, and it's easy to open an account.
If in-person banking is important to you, Chase, Bank of America, Truist, or U.S. Bank are good options to consider. If you're new to banking or don't have great credit, Current or Chime can be good options for a second chance.
What is the easiest bank account to open online?
In our opinion, Discover® Cashback Debit stands out as the easiest bank account to open online. The application process is swift and straightforward, typically taking about five minutes. Once your application is approved, you can expect to receive your debit card within 10 business days.
How do you open a bank account online?
It's easy to open a bank account online. While the process may vary a bit from bank to bank, generally you'll go the bank's website, choose which type of account you want to open, and then enter your personal details. You'll be asked for things like your name, address, and occupation. Most accounts will also ask for your social security number if you're in the U.S.
Can you open a bank account and use it right away?
Yes, with most of the financial institutions we’ve mentioned in this article, you can use your bank account right after opening it. If the bank account includes a debit card, you'll typically receive it in 7 to 10 days.
Can I open a bank account with bad credit?
Most banks offer basic checking or savings accounts that have no credit requirement. Current specifically markets its checking account product to those with bad or no credit. They do not require a credit check to open an account and have account features that are focused on helping you build credit.
Featured Checking Account
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Earn 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month.8 No minimum deposit or balance. FDIC Insured.
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When you open a new U.S. Bank Smartly® Checking account and complete qualifying activities. Subject to certain terms and limitations. Offer valid through December 30, 2024. Member FDIC. Offer may not be available if you are an existing U.S. Bank customer or live outside of the U.S. Bank footprint.
Other bank accounts to consider
While our list primarily focuses on checking account options, if you're looking to open both a checking and savings account, SoFi® and Ally are two more options to consider. Both are online banking with strong mobile banking features and high APYs.
Read our SoFi Checking and Savings review.
Read our Ally Online Savings review.
Bottom line
As more online banks enter the marketplace, it gets easier and easier to open a bank account without ever stepping foot into a branch. Many of these banks or financial companies allow you to open an account with no initial deposit.
The best bank accounts to open online are those that require little to no initial deposits, don’t charge monthly fees (or offer ways to waive the fees), enable you to get paid early with direct deposit, and have no minimum balance requirements. Features like overdraft protection, no foreign transaction fees, and interest-earning checking accounts are added benefits.
Of the financial institutions we looked at for this article, the best and easiest bank account to open online is Discover.
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