Money Crashers

You can open a bank account for your child long before they attend their first school dance or slide behind the wheel of a car for the first time. 

And you should because kids learn by doing. A parent-supervised checking account is the ideal tool for teaching your child the value of money and getting them comfortable with the basics of spending, saving, and budgeting.

But not all kid-friendly checking accounts are alike. We’ve looked at dozens to build this list — now it’s on you to

You can open a bank account for your child long before they attend their first school dance or slide behind the wheel of a car for the first time. 

And you should because kids learn by doing. A parent-supervised checking account is the ideal tool for teaching your child the value of money and getting them comfortable with the basics of spending, saving, and budgeting.

But not all kid-friendly checking accounts are alike. We’ve looked at dozens to build this list — now it’s on you to decide which one best suits your family’s needs.

Best Checking Accounts for Kids (Minors Under Age 18)

These are the best available checking accounts for kids.

All require a parent or guardian owner on the account. Most accounts are structured as joint accounts in which the minor and their parent or guardian are on equal legal footing. But accounts open to kids under 13 generally name the parent or guardian as sole owner with full legal control over the account.

Best Overall: Copper Banking

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Designed for kids ages 13 to 17, Copper is built around a virtually fee-free checking account and Mastercard debit card with zero liability for unauthorized charges.

Parents have full visibility into and control over the funds in their kids’ Copper accounts, though they’re free to loosen the reins as kids demonstrate more responsibility.

Copper’s capabilities include:

Best Debit Card Rewards: Current

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Current is a kid-friendly money management app with customizable parental controls and a slew of features that make banking fast, fun, and profitable.

Current’s standout features include:

Best Checking Yield: Alliant Credit Union Free Teen Checking Account

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With no monthly maintenance fees or balance requirements, the Alliant Credit Union Free Teen Checking Account is an ideal first checking account for teens with part-time or summer jobs. All accounts come with a free Visa debit card and first box of checks with both account holders’ names.

All balances have a solid yield when you opt into electronic statements and receive at least one direct deposit per month. When the minor account holder turns 18, the account automatically converts to an adult checking account.

You must be an Alliant Credit Union member to open a Free Teen Checking account on your child’s behalf. If you live in the Chicago area, you can join at a physical branch.

If not, the easiest way to join is to become a supporter of Foster Care to Success, a partner charity that doesn’t restrict membership by geography.

Best for Young Children: Chase First Banking℠

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Chase First Banking℠ is a debit card with robust educational and budgeting features designed to teach children and teens the fundamentals of sound money management. It’s available to kids ages six to 17.

Much like the training wheels on your youngster’s first bike, Chase First Banking guides minor account holders in the right direction without ever removing the controls that prevent serious mishaps. The account is always owned by the parent or guardian.

Chase First Banking℠ also enables flexible limits on total spending to ensure kids don’t overspend in one place or place- and category-based spending limits for more granular controls as kids learn how to spend and save responsibly.

The guardian owner must be an eligible Chase banking customer to open a Chase First Banking℠ account.

Best for Mobile Banking: Capital One MONEY Teen Checking Account

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The Capital One MONEY Teen Checking Account is a fee-free, essentially paperless checking account for kids ages 8 to 17. (Paper statement copies cost $5 each, which is really steep.) It has a robust mobile app — the best of any account on this list.

With no minimum or ongoing balance requirements and a decent yield on all balances, it’s a solid daily account for kids flexing their financial muscles for the first time.

Parents can set text or email alerts for specific account actions and transactions to monitor their teen’s spending from a distance.

All accounts come with a free Mastercard debit card but no checks or electronic bill-pay option. Mobile check deposit is allowed (and free), though. The account has built-in budgeting features too.

Best for the Transition to Adulthood: Chase High School Checking

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Chase High School Checking is an account designed specifically for kids ages 13 to 17.

Minor account holders must open the account with an adult as a co-owner and link their accounts to that person’s eligible Chase checking account to allow direct control over the account’s funding.

When the minor account holder turns 19, the account turns into an adult checking account, removing the adult account holder. Just look out for monthly maintenance fees on Chase’s adult checking accounts; you may have to work to avoid them.

There’s no yield on any balances, but there’s no monthly maintenance fee, either.

Best for Earning Prizes: Yotta

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Yotta is a real FDIC-insured bank account that pays out interest in prizes — up to $7 million per week.

For every $25 you save in your Yotta account, you get a daily entry into Yotta’s prize sweepstakes. For example, a $200 balance earns you eight tickets per day.

Potential payouts range from $0.10 to $1 million daily, with drawings every evening. Bear in mind that when Yotta talks about “interest” or “yield,” it’s really talking about your potential prize earnings over time. Yotta claims to deliver 2.70% APY at its current pace, but your experience could be better or worse than that.

Best for Financial Education: Wells Fargo Clear Access Banking

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The Wells Fargo Clear Access Banking suite is a teen-friendly product available to kids ages 13 and up. Unlike many kid-friendly accounts, kid users can keep it long past age 18, though a $5 monthly service charge kicks in at age 25.

Kids 16 and under require an adult joint account owner, but that requirement ceases when they turn 17. Parents and guardians can open the account online and add a minor as a joint account holder. Kids 17 and under must open in-branch.

Wells Fargo Clear Access Banking has a slew of educational and practical tools for kids and parents, including a feature that helps kids build a budget and track spending on their own while a robust set of parental controls lets parents monitor and restrict spending.

Methodology: How We Choose the Best Checking Accounts for Kids

We surveyed dozens of U.S. financial institutions to build this list of the best bank accounts for kids. The most important factors in our analysis were:

Kids Checking Accounts FAQs

With the exception of added perks like educational tools, kids checking accounts work similarly to adult checking accounts. But there are still some common questions adults want answered before they open one.

Who Owns a Kids Checking Account?

It depends on the account. Generally, checking accounts designed for older kids are jointly owned between the child and their parent or guardian. Both have a legal claim to the account, though the adult often drops from the account once the kid turns 18, leaving the now-adult child as the sole owner.

Can a Minor Open Their Own Checking Account?

Usually not without an adult’s participation. Banks have different ways of going about it, but they usually require both the child and the adult joint-owner to be present at opening. Some banks still require the opening to occur in person at a branch, though that’s less common today.

Do Kids Checking Accounts Have Fees?

Most of the time. 

The good news is kid-friendly checking accounts tend to have overall lower fees than adult checking accounts, and that many kid-friendly checking accounts have no monthly maintenance fees. 

In fact, none of the accounts on this list charge monthly maintenance fees when the account holder is a minor. Some add maintenance fees if and when the account holder reaches a certain, comfortably adult age (often 25). But many account holders move on by then anyway.

Are There Transaction Limits on Kids Checking Accounts?

Kid-friendly checking accounts sometimes have limits on total daily, weekly, or monthly transaction values. More often, they allow parents to set custom transaction limits. These transaction limits can apply in the aggregate (that is, you can’t spend more than $100 per day on your debit card) or at specific merchants or merchant types (say, you can’t spend more than $20 per day at restaurants).

Can a Kid Keep a Kids Checking Account After They Turn 18?

It depends on the bank. Some banks drop the adult from joint checking accounts when the minor account holder turns 18. Others automatically upgrade the account to a different checking product. And still others allow the status quo to continue for as long as the child wants.

Final Word

Financial education doesn’t stop at age 18. It’s a lifelong process that lasts well into adulthood. 

Good thing there’s a bank account for every step of the journey, from early childhood products like Chase First Banking to high school and college checking accounts to deposit accounts designed specifically for seniors.

Brian Martucci

The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is a hotel rewards card and business credit card with a $125 annual fee. See rates and fees.

Every Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card purchase earns Marriott Bonvoy points, Marriott’s loyalty program currency. Once you accumulate enough points, you can redeem for free nights and room upgrades at thousands of participating Marriott hotels worldwide.

The Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express

The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is a hotel rewards card and business credit card with a $125 annual fee. See rates and fees.

Every Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card purchase earns Marriott Bonvoy points, Marriott’s loyalty program currency. Once you accumulate enough points, you can redeem for free nights and room upgrades at thousands of participating Marriott hotels worldwide.

The Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card directly competes with other popular business travel rewards cards, including the Gold Delta SkyMiles Business Credit Card and The Business Platinum Credit Card from American Express.

How the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card Stacks Up

You already know that the Bonvoy Business card isn’t the only fish in the hotel credit card sea. Before you begin the application process, see how it stacks up to another popular hotel card for business users: the Hilton Honors American Express Business Card. 

Key Features of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

These are the most important features of the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card. Note the impressive welcome offer, solid rewards program, complimentary elite status, and up to 2 annual free award nights as long as you remain a cardholder in good standing.

Welcome Offer

Earning Marriott Bonvoy Points

All eligible purchases made at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels earn 6 points per $1 spent.

All eligible purchases made at restaurants worldwide, gas stations, U.S. shipping providers, and on wireless telephone services purchases directly from U.S. service providers earn 4 points per $1 spent.

All other eligible purchases earn 2 points per $1 spent.

Redeeming Marriott Bonvoy Points

Marriott Bonvoy points are redeemable for free hotel nights and room upgrades at participating Marriott Bonvoy properties worldwide.

Free night redemption minimums start at 7,500 points for Category 1 hotels, which are budget-friendly and less luxurious, and rise to as much as 85,000 points for super high-end Category 8 hotels. Note, however, that exact point requirements vary based on season and demand.

If you don’t have enough points for a full night, you can combine cash and points to earn a free room.

Bonvoy point redemption values can vary based on season, demand, and the cash price of the room or upgrade. However, they frequently exceed $0.01 per point, and may go even higher in some cases.

Note that some Marriott hotels and resorts may have mandatory service charges.

Complimentary Gold Elite Status

For as long as your account remains open and in good standing, you’ll enjoy complimentary Gold Elite Status in the Marriott loyalty program.

Annual Free Award Nights

You can earn up to 2 annual free award nights as a Bonvoy Business cardholder in good standing.

First, every year your account remains open and in good standing, you earn 1 complimentary award night at participating Marriott properties after your account anniversary.

Second, after you spend at least $60,000 in eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year, you’ll earn an additional free night award.

Some hotels have resort fees, and your awards nights are limited to properties with redemption levels at or below 35,000 points.

Free WiFi

As long as your account remains open, you get free premium in-room WiFi at all participating properties.

Additional Business Benefits

This card has some additional benefits for business owners:

Important Fees

This card has a $125 annual fee. Purchases made with this card never incur foreign transaction fees. Late and returned payments both cost up to $39. Cash advances cost the greater of $5 or 3%. There are no fees for additional employee cards. See rates and fees.

Credit Required

This card requires good to excellent credit.

Advantages of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

There’s a lot to like about the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card, from the very good welcome offer to the expansive lineup of fringe benefits to the nonexistent foreign transaction fee. The free annual award nights are nice too.

Here’s the skinny.

Disadvantages Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card

Key downsides of the Bonvoy Business card are the annual fee — $125 every year — and the restrictions on redemption. It’s on you to decide whether these are dealbreakers or just drawbacks.

Final Word

The Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card is a very solid business travel rewards card. Its points offer high value at redemption, it offers a competitive welcome offer, and it matches up nicely with more than 100 frequent flyer programs.

However, it’s not for everyone – even those who travel often. If you don’t routinely visit vacation destinations or business hubs with Marriott Bonvoy hotels, you simply won’t rack up the points fast enough to make this card worth it. Before you apply for a hotel- or airline-specific travel rewards card of any sort, make sure you can get good use out of it without literally going out of your way.

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card, please visit this rates and fees page.

Brian Martucci

Self-directed saving seems easy enough. You set a goal (say, “down payment for a new car”), a dollar amount, and the date you’d like to reach the goal. You figure out how much of each paycheck to set aside to make it happen. And then you dutifully transfer funds from your checking account to your savings account each payday.

Of course, it’s not that easy. Emergencies happen. Impulse buys beckon. Accountability falters. 

That’s where the Guac app comes in. Guac

Self-directed saving seems easy enough. You set a goal (say, “down payment for a new car”), a dollar amount, and the date you’d like to reach the goal. You figure out how much of each paycheck to set aside to make it happen. And then you dutifully transfer funds from your checking account to your savings account each payday.

Of course, it’s not that easy. Emergencies happen. Impulse buys beckon. Accountability falters. 

That’s where the Guac app comes in. Guac is a simple, streamlined savings app that helps you save for goals automatically, minimizing the effort involved — and your risk of falling behind or ditching your goals altogether. If you’ve ever struggled to put money away for the future, Guac is for you.

What Is the Guac App?

Guac is a financial technology app that helps you set and save for financial goals. You define each goal (say, “new car” or “vacation”), target amount, and deadline.

And then you’re off. Guac’s core feature is a percentage-based savings tool that automatically sets aside and saves a portion of every purchase toward your goals. This is different from the usual method of goal-based savings, where you set aside a fixed dollar amount or percentage of each paycheck.

To reach your goals faster, Guac recommends saving at least 10% of each purchase, but you can customize the amount based on the goal’s size, deadline, and what you can afford to save from week to week and month to month. 

You can track your progress toward each goal with Guac’s daily analytics toolkit and adjust your savings percentage accordingly. When you reach your goal, check if it’s available for purchase in the Guac Marketplace, which features a growing inventory of experiences (travel, events) and merchandise (footwear, fashion, beauty products, and more). Eligible Guac Marketplace purchases earn cash back with no fees.

What Sets the Guac App Apart?

Don’t let Guac’s simple, user-friendly design fool you. It’s a potent goal-oriented savings tool that rewards you for making sound financial decisions. These three attributes really set it apart from other financial apps:

Is Guac Legit?

Yes, the Guac app is legitimate.

Guac is a simple solution to help you save toward your goals faster and more efficiently — and to have some fun doing it. Its marketplace platform carries a wide and ever-expanding range of merchandise and experiences.

Guac has hundreds of positive user reviews and a multiyear track record of user success. Ultimately, you’re responsible for meeting the savings goals you set in Guac, but the app certainly won’t hold you back from doing so.

Key Features of the Guac App

These are the most important features of the Guac app.

Setting Savings Goals

You can set savings goals with just a few taps in the Guac app. Large or small, it doesn’t matter: Simply specify what the goal is (“vacation,” “new shoes,” “emergency fund”) and set a dollar amount and deadline.

You can set more than one goal at once, which is a good thing considering you probably have more than one thing to save for at any given time. Your savings sit in an FDIC-insured savings account with nbkc bank, so your Guac balance enjoys the same protections as your “regular” savings account balance (if you have one).

Saving As You Spend

Guac’s key innovation is making it effortless to save a significant portion of every purchase you make. This is an improvement on the usual way of doing things, where you manually (or automatically, if you prefer) save a chunk of each paycheck.

You specify how much you want to save as a percentage of the purchase. Guac recommends at least 10% to stay on track to reach your savings goals, but you can set any amount. If you have multiple savings goals active at once, you can set a percentage for each goal.

Guac takes it from there. When you make a purchase with a linked payment card or bank account, Guac automatically calculates how much you’ll save and adds it to the purchase amount. The savings amount then transfers to your Guac account and the purchase value goes to the merchant (like usual). 

The actual amount you save with each purchase is (usually) lower than the amount you’d save from each paycheck if you chose to go the traditional route. But because you make multiple purchases every week — perhaps every day — your savings add up quickly.

Goal Tracking (Analytics)

Guac has a simple analytics toolkit that helps you stay on track to reach your goals. You can see your progress in dollar and percentage terms, plus daily updates as to whether you remain on track to hit your target amount by the deadline based on your spending patterns and savings percentage. 

If Guac thinks you’re on track, keep doing what you’re doing. If it looks like you could fall short, Guac might suggest improvements, like upping your savings percentage.

Guac Marketplace

Ready to reward yourself for a savings job well done? Head over to the Guac Marketplace, a growing ecommerce portal featuring merchandise and experiences in a variety of categories:

You’ll find these well-known brands (among others) in the Guac Marketplace:

And you can earn cash back on eligible purchases here, with no fees. Just use your linked payment card or bank account to complete the purchase.

Advantages of the Guac App

Why use Guac? These are its most potent advantages.

Disadvantages of the Guac App

Guac is great, but it does have a few downsides worth noting. 

Final Word

If you’ve ever had trouble sticking to a savings goal or schedule, the Guac app is made for you. 

It’s a straightforward, nearly seamless savings tool that can help you reach your savings goals faster and reward yourself appropriately when you do. It improves upon the traditional approach to goal-based saving and fosters accountability without being too heavy-handed about it. It’s free (and fun) to use.

Try it today and see what all the buzz is about.

Brian Martucci

If you have a bank account – or even if not – you’ve likely heard of FDIC insurance. FDIC insurance is deposit insurance overseen by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, a federal entity created by the Banking Act of 1933.

FDIC insurance guarantees the safety of deposits in checking, savings, and CD accounts held with FDIC member banks. When a member bank fails, the FDIC reimburses each depositor up to $250,000 per account. As of early 2023, there are about 4,800 FDIC member banks,

If you have a bank account – or even if not – you’ve likely heard of FDIC insurance. FDIC insurance is deposit insurance overseen by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, a federal entity created by the Banking Act of 1933.

FDIC insurance guarantees the safety of deposits in checking, savings, and CD accounts held with FDIC member banks. When a member bank fails, the FDIC reimburses each depositor up to $250,000 per account. As of early 2023, there are about 4,800 FDIC member banks, according to our analysis of FDIC data.

Origins & History of the Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF)

The FDIC doesn’t run the United States’ only deposit insurance scheme. The Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF) is a lesser-known, less-widespread scheme that provides supplemental protection for funds deposited with Massachusetts-chartered savings banks.

Massachusetts DIF isn’t to be confused with the Deposit Insurance Fund, which is the fund the FDIC uses to reimburse account holder deposits lost due to member bank failures.

What Are Savings Banks?

Savings banks primarily accept savings deposits and use those funds to issue mortgages, personal loans, business credit, and other types of credit vehicles. However, they often administer checking accounts as well.

Many smaller community banks are structured as savings banks. DIF membership is compulsory: if your bank is structured as a savings bank and based in Massachusetts, your deposits are covered by DIF insurance.

What Is a Depositors Insurance Fund Bank?

A Massachusetts Depositors Insurance Fund bank is any savings bank chartered in Massachusetts. DIF protects all Massachusetts-chartered savings bank deposits that aren’t protected by FDIC insurance, which is any amount deposited in excess of the FDIC’s $250,000 per account limit.

The FDIC and DIF combine forces to provide Massachusetts-chartered banks’ depositors with the country’s most robust deposit insurance protections. During major downturns, such as the late 1980s/early 1990s savings and loan crisis (when 19 Massachusetts banks failed) and the late 2000s financial crisis, DIF was more than adequate to cover depositors’ losses.

According to DIF, “The combination of FDIC and DIF insurance provides customers of Massachusetts-chartered savings banks with full deposit insurance on all their deposit accounts. No depositor has ever lost a penny in a bank insured by both the FDIC and the DIF.”

What Is the Maximum Coverage Amount for a Depositors Insurance Fund Bank?

With DIF, there’s no maximum insured amount per account. Depositors’ funds theoretically enjoy unlimited protections. However, as most banks impose maximum deposit limits – typically ranging from $1 million to $10 million per account – there’s a practical upper limit to DIF coverage.

How Did the Massachusetts DIF Begin?

In 1932, after a spate of Massachusetts-chartered bank failures, the Massachusetts state legislature voted to create the Mutual Savings Central Fund (MSCF), DIF’s predecessor. A concurrent act of the legislature created the Co-operative Central Bank, which provided deposit insurance for account holders with credit unions and cooperative banks based in Massachusetts.

As the United States’ first state-sanctioned deposit insurance fund, MSCF was designed to provide full deposit protection for individual and business depositors with failed member banks. After the creation of the FDIC, which initially reimbursed deposits up to $5,000, MSCF’s charter was modified to cover deposits above and beyond the FDIC’s coverage limit. It’s unclear when MSCF changed its name to DIF.

Key Features of DIF Insurance Coverage

The Massachusetts Depositors Insurance Fund has some key benefits — and important restrictions — for banking customers in Massachusetts.

Location and Residency

DIF insurance only covers deposits with Massachusetts-chartered savings banks. If your savings bank is chartered in Connecticut or New Hampshire, DIF can’t help you.

On the bright side, DIF doesn’t impose any residency restrictions. If you live in Connecticut, New Hampshire, or any other state, your Massachusetts-chartered savings bank deposits are protected. This is an important consideration if you do business with an online bank based in Massachusetts and is an important factor in why so many Massachusetts-based online banks thrive.

DIF insurance also covers deposits made at any member bank branch, even if that branch is located outside of Massachusetts. So if you live in New Hampshire, for example, and do business with a Massachusetts-based bank that operates a branch in your hometown, your deposits are protected.

No Added Cost

DIF insurance is free for all depositors. You don’t need to pay any fees or surcharges to benefit from the program.

No Application Requirements

Like FDIC insurance, DIF insurance automatically covers all new depositors from the moment they open an account with a member bank. You don’t have to fill out an application to participate in the program or provide any information beyond what’s necessary to open the account.

No Coverage for Investment Products

Like FDIC insurance, DIF insurance doesn’t cover investments in mutual funds, annuities, stocks, bonds or other investment products. Only deposit accounts – usually checking, savings, CDs, and money market accounts – are covered.

DIF Members, Funding, Assets & Oversight

Massachusetts DIF membership is subject to change as banks start, fail, or change their charter location. According to the Depositors Insurance Fund, as of 2023, DIF members include the following:

Massachusetts DIF Funding Mechanisms & Investments

Though DIF’s predecessor was created by a legislative act, the modern organization operates as a private organization funded by its member banks. Each DIF member is required to contribute an annual assessment, or payment, to the general fund. Each member’s assessment is based on the total value of its customers’ deposits.

According to DIF’s 2022 annual report, the fund took in a total of $5.43 million in assessments during the 2022 fiscal year, against $4.74 million in assessments during fiscal year 2021. Individual member banks’ assessments aren’t disclosed.

DIF invests assessed funds in three main classes of securities: short- and long-term U.S. treasuries, debt obligations issued by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises (federally-created financial services corporations, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), and privately issued mortgage- and asset-backed securities. DIF invests the bulk of its assets in obligations guaranteed by the Federal Government.

Since the value of and proceeds from these securities can change (and DIF’s expenses fluctuate depending on a variety of factors), the fund’s net income isn’t constant from year to year. For instance, according to its 2022 annual report, DIF’s net 2022 income came to $583,466. Its 2021 net income amounted to $853,639.

DIF’s total assets – including cash, cash equivalents, and securities – came to about $94.83 million in 2022 and $88.42 million in 2021. By comparison, its insured excess deposits (depositors’ funds insured above the FDIC limit) amounted to $28.57 million in 2022 and $27.14 million in 2021. In other words, DIF was able to cover 1.70% of depositors’ excess funds in 2022 and 1.87% of excess funds in 2021.

Massachusetts DIF Supervision & Member Oversight

DIF is overseen by the Massachusetts Division of Banks, a state regulatory authority. By law, it must also submit to independent audits by a private, third-party auditor. On a day-to-day basis, it’s run by a president and executive team. The executive team periodically reports to a 13-member board comprised of executives from DIF member banks and other major employers with a presence in Massachusetts.

Who Audits DIF?

DIF doesn’t have the authority to independently examine its member banks’ finances. However, it does require each bank to submit a quarterly financial statement.

DIF also works with the Massachusetts Division of Banks, the FDIC, and the Federal Reserve, all of which have legal authority to audit banks based in Massachusetts. DIF relies on reports from these entities to definitively determine whether a member bank is in danger of failing or becoming unable to repay its obligations.

What Happens When a Depositors Insurance Fund Bank Fails?

In the event that a failure appears imminent, DIF records an expected liability on its balance sheet. If and when a member bank fails, DIF steps in if necessary and as required by law to reimburse depositors for any funds lost above the FDIC insurance limit.

What Happens When a DIF Bank Is Bought or Goes Out of Business?

A bankrupt member bank’s membership generally lapses if it’s purchased out of bankruptcy by another DIF member or otherwise recapitalized. Regardless of its solvency, a DIF member also loses its membership when its assets are purchased by a non-DIF member bank (in other words, a bank headquartered outside Massachusetts) and it subsequently abandons its Massachusetts charter.

Final Word

Massachusetts is home to nearly 7 million people, or roughly 2% of the American population. Most Americans have never lived in the Bay State, and many have never even set foot in it. But that doesn’t mean DIF insurance is of no import to residents of, say, Texas or California.

For one thing, Americans are mobile. Even if you have no interest in moving to Massachusetts, you could find yourself compelled by an employer or some unforeseen life circumstances to do so in the future. In the midst of trying to find the right town or neighborhood for your family, you’re likely to find yourself looking for a local bank that protects deposits with DIF insurance.

Alternatively, you could find yourself weighing the best checking account or savings account options from one of the many online banks headquartered in Massachusetts, all of which offer DIF insurance in addition to FDIC insurance. Or, you could live in a state that borders Massachusetts, where Bay State banks are more likely to have satellite branches.

And, if you’re interested in public policy or the legislative process, you could even hold up DIF insurance as a model for more robust deposit account protections in your home state. After all, both DIF and FDIC insurance – critical consumer protections taken for granted today – were unheard of before the 1930s.

Brian Martucci

Business banking is a little different from consumer banking. Our master list of the best online banks around is surprisingly short on business checking accounts with no monthly maintenance fees, minimum balance requirements, or monthly transaction limits.

Also, most business bank accounts impose transaction limits and demand hefty minimum balances to waive high monthly maintenance fees (also known as monthly service fees).

That puts microbusiness owners and solopreneurs at a distinct disadvantage.

Business banking is a little different from consumer banking. Our master list of the best online banks around is surprisingly short on business checking accounts with no monthly maintenance fees, minimum balance requirements, or monthly transaction limits.

Also, most business bank accounts impose transaction limits and demand hefty minimum balances to waive high monthly maintenance fees (also known as monthly service fees).

That puts microbusiness owners and solopreneurs at a distinct disadvantage. And it’s a stark contrast to the consumer banking world, where the best free consumer checking accounts cater to individuals and joint account holders who aren’t swimming in cash.

But the picture isn’t uniformly bleak. Once you know where to look, you’ll find ample small-business checking options to choose from.

Best Small-Business Checking Accounts

These are the best small business checking accounts on the market right now. Each does at least one thing really well, whether it’s eliminating most common account fees or providing an unusual array of value-added services at no additional cost.

Best Overall: Chase Business Complete Checking

Chase Business Complete Checking is the best choice for growing small businesses. Its key selling points include:

Moving forward, you can avoid the $15 monthly maintenance fee in multiple ways, including maintaining a minimum daily balance or making qualifying purchases on your Chase Ink Business credit card.

Sign Up for Chase Business Complete Checking

Best Account Yield (Interest Rate): Bluevine Business Checking

Bluevine Business Checking has no minimum balance requirements, no monthly fees, and unlimited transaction allowances for all users. 

It’s also quite rare in the free business checking world for paying interest on balances: 2.0% APY on balances up to and including $100,000 when you meet your monthly activity goals. Just do one of the following:

Bluevine Business Checking has plenty of value-added capabilities for small-business users too:

Sign Up for Bluevine Business Checking

Best for No Monthly or Hidden Fees, Period: Free Novo Business Checking Account

Tired of business banks that nickel-and-dime their customers? Looking for a truly free business checking account with no monthly fees or hidden fees?

The Free Novo Business Checking Account is just what you’re in the market for. It’s one of the (very) few business checking accounts that has resisted monthly maintenance fees. And perhaps more notably, Novo does away with the “junk fees” traditional business bank accounts are known for.

With Novo, you always know what you’re going to pay to keep your account open and use it regularly: nothing.

Additional features:

Sign Up for the Free Novo Business Checking Account

Best for Freelancers: Lili Standard and Lili Pro

The Lili business banking suite offers two great products for businesses of all sizes — and their owners.

Lili Standard is a truly free, all-in-one checking solution that makes it easy to manage business and personal finances in the same account. Benefits include:

For $9/month, Lili Pro adds:

Sign up for Lili

Best Integrated Financial Tools: Found

Need an even more powerful banking and money management app for your small business or freelance operation?

Then you need Found, a comprehensive financial suite for self-employed people. With no hidden fees and no monthly maintenance fees, Found arguably offers the best value of any small-business solution on this list.

Found’s key features include:

Sign up for Found

Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by Piermont Bank, Member FDIC. The Found Mastercard debit card is issued by Piermont Bank pursuant to a license from Mastercard Inc. and may be used everywhere Mastercard debit cards are accepted.

Best Package Deal: U.S. Bank Business Checking Packages

U.S. Bank offers the most comprehensive business checking lineup of any bank on the market right now. Choose your ideal fit of three business checking packages:

No matter which you choose, all offer great benefits like:

Plus, through April 23, 2023, you can earn a bonus worth $500 when you open a new, eligible U.S. Bank business checking account online with promo code Q1AFL23 and complete qualifying activities¹, subject to certain terms and limitations*. 

*Applicant must reside in AZ, AR, CA, CO, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NC, ND, OH, OR, SD, TN, UT, WA, WI, WY to be eligible for checking account. Member FDIC.

Deposit products offered by U.S. Bank National Association. Member FDIC.

Sign Up for U.S. Bank Business Checking

Best for No Limits: NorthOne Business Banking

NorthOne Business Banking is a refreshingly simple business banking platform that prides itself on “radically transparent pricing.” 

Yes, NorthOne costs $10 per month. But for that, you get truly unlimited banking:

For a limited time, get $20 off when you open and fund a new NorthOne account.

And a whole bunch more features:

Plus, for a limited time, NorthOne is offering an exclusive deal for Money Crashers readers who sign up for a new account: one month of free business banking when you sign up using the link below.

Sign Up for NorthOne

Best for Deposit Insurance: BankProv Small Business Checking

BankProv Small Business Checking is one of the best small-business starter accounts around. With no minimum deposit requirements or ongoing balance requirements and unlimited deposit transactions per month, it’s perfect for entrepreneurs looking to keep overhead low.

But BankProv really shines on a point that banking customers — and bank marketers — often overlook: deposit insurance. That’s because it offers 100% DIF insurance coverage that boosts your deposit insurance protection above the standard FDIC coverage limit. (See terms for details.)

With a $50 monthly maintenance fee that drops to $25 with a minimum daily balance of $100,000 and $0 with a minimum daily balance of $250,000, BankProv is definitely for better-capitalized small businesses. Once you’re off and running, give it a look. 

Sign Up for BankProv Small Business Checking

Best for No Minimums: NBKC Business Checking Account

NBKC’s business checking account is truly free from minimums and limits:

Additional features:

Take advantage of NBKC’s courtesy overdraft sweep option — see account disclosures for details on how this works

Sign Up for NBKC Business Checking

Methodology: How We Select the Best Small Business Checking Accounts

We use several important factors to evaluate small business bank accounts and choose the very best for our readers. As you narrow down your list of suitable accounts, consider each in turn and how it relates to your business needs.

Account Fees

Some bank accounts have more fees than others. Rather than let the perfect be the enemy of the good, we look for small business accounts that keep fees to a minimum. We’re especially sensitive to account maintenance fees — our ideal business account doesn’t charge those.

Account Minimums

Many small business owners, and certainly many microbusiness owners and sole proprietors, can’t afford to keep thousands of dollars in their accounts at all times. All else being equal, we prefer accounts that don’t require large opening deposits or ongoing minimum balances.

Account Limits

Transaction limits are the bane of small business owners’ existence. At least, they used to be. The best small business accounts waive transaction limits altogether, reckoning that an arbitrary cap on inflows and outflows is bad for, well, business.

Account Yield

We don’t hold the lack of interest (yield) on business checking accounts against their backers. But we do give extra weight to banks that find a way to pay interest on eligible deposits, especially when prevailing interest rates remain low by historical standards.

Account Bonuses and Incentives

It’s not uncommon to find small business bank accounts offering generous account opening bonuses with relatively few strings attached. Some upstart banks offer referral bonuses and other financial incentives, such as cash-back rewards, as well. We say: the more, the merrier.

Other Features and Capabilities

Increasingly, great business bank accounts are hubs for actually getting business done, not simply collecting payments and settling bills. We’re big fans of banks that offer a range of features and capabilities, especially third-party integrations with accounting, payroll, and other software platforms. Bonus points for discounts on these services.

Other Account Types Available

These small-business checking accounts aren’t always the stars of the show at their respective online banking institutions.

Most of these banks offer multiple personal and business deposit accounts. Several make our lists of banks with the best CD rates and the best money market rates, and some offer enticing high-yield savings accounts to boot.

So even if you come for the low-cost small-business checking, you could find yourself staying for more. All else being equal, we prefer banks that give you this option.

Business Checking FAQs

You have questions about small business banking. We have answers.

Can You Use a Business Bank Account for Personal Expenses?

Technically, yes, but it’s not a good idea. You should keep your business finances separate from your personal finances for two reasons:

The best way to keep business expenses separate from personal expenses is to maintain separate accounts for each. That’s an easy lift with any of the providers on this list.

Does a Business Bank Account Build Credit for Your Business?

Usually, no. At least, not directly. Banks don’t report deposit account information to credit bureaus on a regular basis.

However, if you have a business loan or line of credit with your bank, including a business credit card, you can and will build credit for your business. It’s important to use these products responsibly by making timely payments and keeping credit line utilization low. Otherwise, your business credit score could suffer.  

What Are Some Common Restrictions on Small Business Bank Accounts?

Most business bank accounts impose transaction limits and demand hefty minimum balances to waive high monthly maintenance fees (also known as monthly service fees).

That puts microbusiness owners and solopreneurs at a distinct disadvantage. And it’s a stark contrast to the consumer banking world, where the best free consumer checking accounts cater to individuals and joint account holders who aren’t swimming in cash.

Fortunately, friendlier business bank accounts are out there. You’ll find many on this list. 

How Many Bank Accounts Can Your Small Business Have?

There’s no hard upper limit to the number of bank accounts your business can have. 

That said, you shouldn’t open an account just for the sake of opening an account. As your bank accounts multiple, managing them gets more complicated and time-consuming. With many business bank accounts charging maintenance fees and imposing transaction limits, the costs can add up quickly too. So if your business is relatively simple, it probably needs no more than two or three accounts.

How to Choose the Best Small Business Checking Account

If you’ve read this far, you’ve probably noticed that the best small-business checking accounts have certain things in common:

The ideal business checking account for your needs should cover as many of these bases as possible. If you’re not sure where to turn, know that any of the accounts on this would be a fine addition to your enterprise’s financial portfolio.

Brian Martucci

The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is a no-annual-fee cash-back credit card with a very generous rewards program. Blue Cash Everyday offers 3% cash back (up to $6,000 per calendar year) on U.S. supermarket purchases, 3% cash back on U.S. online retail purchases, 2% cash back at U.S. gas stations and select U.S. department stores, and 1% cash back on everything else. Cash back accrues as Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for statement credits.

Although applicants

The Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is a no-annual-fee cash-back credit card with a very generous rewards program. Blue Cash Everyday offers 3% cash back (up to $6,000 per calendar year) on U.S. supermarket purchases, 3% cash back on U.S. online retail purchases, 2% cash back at U.S. gas stations and select U.S. department stores, and 1% cash back on everything else. Cash back accrues as Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for statement credits.

Although applicants do need very good credit, Blue Cash Everyday doesn’t require near-perfect credit, as is the case with more generous cards.

Blue Cash Everyday competes with a number of popular cash-back and points-based rewards credit cards. These include general cash-back cards like the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express (its closest analogue) and the Capital One Quicksilver Credit Card, as well as general rewards credit cards such as the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

What Sets the Blue Cash Everyday Card Apart

The Blue Cash Everyday Card is a very solid cash-back credit card from American Express. If you’re a fan of the Amex brand, that might be all you need to know to move ahead with this card. But if you need more convincing, consider these key selling points as well: 

FYI: Cash back accrues as Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for statement credits.

Key Features of the Blue Cash Everyday Card

These are the key features of the Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express.

Welcome Offer

Earning Cash Rewards

U.S. supermarket purchases, up to $6,000 total per calendar year, earn 3% cash back. Supermarket purchases above the $6,000 spending cap earn 1% cash back.

U.S. online retail purchases earn 3% cash back.

U.S. gas station and select U.S. department store purchases earn 2% cash back.

All other purchases earn 1% cash back.

Redeeming Cash Rewards

Cash back accrues as Reward Dollars that can be redeemed for statement credits. Note that American Express does not include big-box superstores such as Walmart and warehouse club stores such as Costco in its definition of grocery stores.

Introductory APR

Blue Cash Everyday comes with a 0% purchase and balance transfer APR for 15 months from account opening. Following the introductory period’s end, variable regular APR applies, currently 18.74% to 29.74%.

Additional Benefits

The Blue Cash Everyday has two additional benefits worth noting in detail. Amex can describe them better than we can, hence the screenshots.

First, the Disney Bundle credit (enrollment required and terms apply):

And the Home Chef credit (enrollment required, terms apply):

When fully utilized, these benefits can be worth a combined $264 in statement credits each year.

Important Fees

There is no annual fee. Balance transfers and cash advances both cost the greater of $5 or 3% of the transferred or advanced amount. Foreign transactions cost 2.7% of the total transaction amount, regardless of currency denomination.

Credit Required

This card requires excellent credit. You won’t be approved if you have any notable credit blemishes.

Advantages of the Blue Cash Everyday Card

These are the most notable advantages of the Blue Cash Everyday Card. Note the excellent cash-back rewards program, the predictable cash-back categories, the strong welcome offer, and the lack of an annual fee, among other benefits.

Disadvantages of the Blue Cash Everyday Card

Consider these downsides before you apply for the Blue Cash Everyday Card. The weakest points here include the inflexible cash-back redemption options, foreign transaction fee, and lack of credit monitoring tools.

How the Blue Cash Everyday Card Stacks Up

The Blue Cash Everyday Card lives in the shadow of its more generous cousin, the Blue Cash Preferred Card. See how the two compare and decide which makes more sense for you. 

Final Word

If you don’t fly or stay at hotels often, and spread your spending across a wide range of categories, a cash back rewards credit card is probably a better choice than a travel rewards card or similarly specialized credit card. However, even if you have more specific spending needs, such as travel or business expenses, Blue Cash Everyday is a good card to keep in your wallet.

With 3% cash back at U.S. supermarkets, the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express is great for people who eat lots of meals at home. With 2% cash back at U.S. gas stations and select U.S. department stores, it’s nice for folks who drive long distances and buy clothing or household goods regularly. And, with 1% cash back on everything else, it’s not bad for, well, everything else. When it comes to cash back cards, you can definitely do worse than Blue Cash Everyday.

For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, please visit this rates and fees page.

Brian Martucci

Do you know what to do if your bank fails?

The sudden implosion of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank has millions of once-complacent asking this question. The truth is, banks can and do fail, often without any prior outward signs of trouble. Hundreds of banks went out of business during the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and hundreds more failed during the Great Financial Crisis of the late 2000s.

The good news is that your money doesn’t automatically evaporate

Do you know what to do if your bank fails?

The sudden implosion of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank has millions of once-complacent asking this question. The truth is, banks can and do fail, often without any prior outward signs of trouble. Hundreds of banks went out of business during the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and hundreds more failed during the Great Financial Crisis of the late 2000s.

The good news is that your money doesn’t automatically evaporate when your bank fails. At least, not all of it, and not right away. But you may have to take action quickly to minimize the financial fallout.

What to Do If Your Bank Fails — Bank Failure Checklist

Do these four things, in order, if your bank is in trouble.

1. Check Your FDIC Coverage

First things first: Are your bank deposits covered by FDIC insurance? Most accounts at traditional banks, large or small, are FDIC-insured, so your money is safe even if the institution shuts down. If you’re not sure whether your bank has FDIC insurance, look for the “member FDIC” logo on their website or branch.

The FDIC’s deposit insurance fund covers your first $250,000 in deposits per ownership type. Basically, that means the FDIC only guarantees up to $250,000 per bank across all accounts, including checking, savings, CDs, and other deposit account types. You can get around this limit without opening accounts at multiple banks by using different ownership types, such as:

At some point, it’s easier just to open accounts at different banks. But this is a moot point when your immediate concern if your primary bank’s failure.

Anyway, under FDIC rules, your bank will keep operating normally until it transfers its assets to a purchasing bank or the FDIC opens what’s known as a “successor bank” to hold its assets if it can’t find a buyer. This happens quickly, and there’s no reason to attempt to withdraw your FDIC-insured funds and switch banks.

If you have cash or assets in an account that isn’t FDIC-insured, such as a taxable brokerage account, or your cumulative deposits exceed the $250,000 insurance limit, then you’ll need to go to the next step: get a receiver’s claim.

2. File a Receiver’s Claim

A receiver’s claim (technically, a Receiver’s Certificate) is essentially a claim that the bank owes you money. The tables turn, and now they’re the ones in debt to you. Your claim will be one of many that individuals and businesses file against the bank when it goes under or gets bought out.

As the bank’s assets are liquidated, they’ll send you payments toward the total amount they owe you. It might be slow — potentially taking months or even years — and you may not get back every dollar.

This slow, unsatisfying process is better than nothing, and there’s a good chance you’ll get much of your uninsured cash back. Still, it’s a reminder of the importance of keeping your cash and assets in accounts with FDIC insurance, staying below the deposit insurance limit whenever possible, and using more than one FDIC-insured bank if necessary.

3. Keep Using Your Account(s) as Usual

Banks go out of business, but they don’t just go away. You’ll still have access to your money, though with some restrictions. Thanks to the FDIC, your bank can’t just chain its doors and lock you out.

Instead, the government steps in and runs the bank as if nothing had ever happened. Your checks won’t bounce. Your ATM card will still provide access to cash. Everything still functions under the FDIC’s direction.

There’s no need to withdraw your funds from the bank in a panic. In fact, if enough account holders try to do this at once, it can lead to a run on the bank and jeopardize the FDIC’s attempts to wind down the bank in an orderly fashion.

4. Meet Your New Bank

When a bank is going under and the FDIC seizes control, they usually have another bank lined up to purchase and take over the failing bank’s assets. If they can’t find a buyer, the FDIC will close the bank and pay out the losses covered by deposit insurance.

There’s no specific deadline by which you’re guaranteed to get your money, but the FDIC says it strives to pay out insured deposits within 2 business days.

This leaves you (hopefully) with only a short period of time without access to your money. A 2-business-day gap can be a challenge, especially if bills are due and your paycheck is stuck in the bank, but at least you don’t need a month’s worth of cash on hand (or to dip into your emergency fund).

If a new bank purchases your now-defunct institution, you’ll follow some simple guidelines depending on which products you held. If the FDIC can’t find a buyer for the entire failed bank, your deposit accounts in particular may stay with the successor institution, which will essentially be a slimmed-down version of the failed bank. But the guidelines remain the same.

Loan Products

A failed bank’s loan products are very valuable to other banks, so another business will quickly buy up your loan and send you new paperwork and instructions on where to send your payments.

In the meantime, you must keep up with your payments for any loans or lines of credit that you have with the bank. Bank failure isn’t an excuse for missing payments. You’ll just owe the money to a new lender, which will assess late fees and penalties incurred during the transition.

For Deposit Products

When a new bank takes over your account, read the fine print on their account agreements for deposit products like checking and savings accounts. You’ll probably have a new fee structure and maybe even new account minimums. If the new policies are too restrictive or expensive, you can move your funds to a different account type or find a new bank.

For Automatic Deposits

What happens to your direct deposits like your paycheck or social security payments? Since these are of critical nature, the FDIC will immediately appoint a new bank to temporarily accept these payments. You may get an update in the mail, but the best way to get this information is at your local bank branch. It’s the one time it’ll actually be worth going to your bank in person after the failure.

Bank Failure FAQs

Finding out your bank has failed won’t warm your heart, but the good news is that you’re very unlikely to lose FDIC-insured funds. And dealing with the fallout is straightforward enough — the FDIC does most of the hard work.

Still, it’s reasonable to have questions about why and how you got to this point, and what comes next. We’ve answered the most common questions here.

How Do Banks Fail?

Banks fail when they become insolvent, when they don’t have enough cash to process withdrawal requests, or a combination of both.

A bank becomes insolvent when the value of its liabilities (what it owes to deposit customers who have money in the bank) exceeds the value of its assets (the money it lends out to borrowers and the securities it buys with deposited funds). Insolvency doesn’t automatically cause the bank to fail, but it increases pressure on the bank and makes failure more likely.

A more acute situation occurs when a bank doesn’t have enough money to process withdrawal requests. This is known as a liquidity crisis. It’s often preceded by a bank run, where deposit customers try to withdraw cash while they still can. 

In a bank run, the bank eventually runs out of money and can’t process withdrawals. The FDIC steps in at this point (or before) to keep the situation from getting even worse. This is what happened to Silicon Valley Bank — in the 24 hours before the FDIC seized its assets, customers withdrew some $42 billion.

Solvency and liquidity crises often feed on each other. In Silicon Valley Bank’s case, rising interest rates steadily eroded the value of its liquid assets, which were heavily invested in low-yield bonds. Meanwhile, deposit customers with exposure to the struggling tech and venture capital industries drained their accounts, leaving the bank with even less cash on hand. 

To maintain solvency, Silicon Valley Bank’s leaders had no choice but to sell their bonds at a loss and try to raise capital through a share sale. This caused already-nervous customers to panic and attempt to withdraw their remaining deposits, sparking a full-blown run that killed the bank.

What Happens When a Bank Fails?

State or federal banking regulators seize the bank’s assets and transfer them to the FDIC. The entity doing the initial seizure depends on whether the bank is state- or federally chartered, but that’s more of a technical distinction. The end result is the same: within hours, the FDIC controls the bank.

Once the FDIC is in control, it replaces the bank’s senior management and begins looking for a buyer for the bank’s assets. Ideal candidates are larger, financially sound banks, so this is more difficult for bigger failed banks.

If the FDIC can’t find a buyer for the entire bank, it goes to plan B: liquidate the bank’s assets by selling them off in pieces. This is what happened with Silicon Valley Bank, which was one of the 20 biggest banks in the U.S. when it collapsed. Even massive international banks like JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo passed on buying Silicon Valley Bank due to uncertainty about the health of its balance sheet, so the FDIC created a more permanent successor institution that immediately began trying to attract deposits from former customers.

If the FDIC can find a buyer for the failed bank, customers’ loans and deposits transfer over and business continues pretty much as usual. If it can’t, the FDIC transfers what it can to willing banks and pays out everything else on an individual basis.

What Banks Are Most Likely to Fail?

Smaller, under-capitalized banks are more likely to fail. But as we saw with Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, huge banks can go under as well. It all depends on the strength of their balance sheets and customers’ faith in their ability to make good on deposits.

What Banks Are Least Likely to Fail?

The biggest banks in the U.S. are the least likely to fail. Not because they’re necessarily the strongest, but because the U.S. government literally deem them “too big to fail.”

The list of “too big to fail” banks is a short one, but it includes household names like:

Silicon Valley Bank wasn’t technically on this list, but by guaranteeing all deposits — even those over the $250,000 insurance limit — the FDIC implicitly designated it as such.

How Long Does It Take to Get Your Money When Your Bank Fails?

The FDIC makes every effort to pay out insured deposits within 2 business days of taking over the bank. In some cases, it may take longer. However, if the FDIC finds a buyer for the failed bank, accounts transfer more or less seamlessly and there’s virtually no gap in funds availability.

What Happens to Your Direct Deposits When Your Bank Fails?

If another bank buys the failed bank, your direct deposit instructions should transfer to your new bank. If the FDIC can’t find a buyer, it tries to find another bank to temporarily take responsibility for processing direct deposits and holding your funds. In that case, you might need to inform your employer about the change.

What Happens If You Have More Than $250,000 in an Account at a Failed Bank?

The FDIC only guarantees up to $250,000 per legal ownership type, per bank. If you have more than that in a failed bank, you could lose some or all of the balance above the $250,000 limit.

That said, the FDIC makes every effort to recover as much as possible for depositors by selling the bank’s assets. You might get everything back, or you might take only a small haircut. And in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, President Joe Biden publicly assured Americans that “your deposits will be there when you need them,” which is somewhat ambiguous but seems to suggest that the FDIC will provide a de facto blanket guarantee for all deposits in FDIC member banks moving forward.

Can the FDIC Fail?

Anything can happen, so we can’t say with certainty that the FDIC can’t fail. However, the FDIC has demonstrated remarkable resilience over the course of its nearly 100-year history. It would take some sort of geopolitical catastrophe, possibly precipitated by a U.S. debt default that ends the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency, to lay the groundwork for the FDIC’s collapse.

After the Great Depression, the FDIC’s two most serious tests were the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and the Great Financial Crisis of the late 2000s. The FDIC liquidated hundreds of banks during those episodes without running out of money. 

Though the Great Financial Crisis saw banks bailed out by Congress to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, the FDIC funded its work through special assessments on member banks. It only ran a deficit for a few years before those assessments put it back in the black, where it remains today.

Final Word

The best way to get through the ordeal of a failure is to avoid problems in the first place. Which, for starters, means banking with FDIC-insured institutions only. And if you’re approaching the maximum for FDIC coverage, open a new account with another insured institution so you’ll be confident in your coverage.

If you’re a little scared right now and you’re curious about how your bank is doing, take a look at your bank’s financial reports. If your bank is publicly traded, you can find them for free on websites like CNBC and Yahoo! Finance. Banks generally try to put on a brave face in publuic statements, but if you see concerning liabilities on the balance sheet or consistent losses, perhaps it’s time to find a new financial institution.

Brian Martucci

Discover it® Cash Back is a cash back credit card with no annual fee and a nice rewards scheme. The card earns a base rate of 1% cash back on all purchases, but select rotating categories — for example, gas stations, restaurants, and department stores — earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases per quarter. Discover it Cash Back is part of a larger family of cash back and travel rewards credit cards, with stablemates such as Discover it Chrome, Discover it Miles, and Discover

Discover it® Cash Back is a cash back credit card with no annual fee and a nice rewards scheme. The card earns a base rate of 1% cash back on all purchases, but select rotating categories — for example, gas stations, restaurants, and department stores — earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 in purchases per quarter. Discover it Cash Back is part of a larger family of cash back and travel rewards credit cards, with stablemates such as Discover it Chrome, Discover it Miles, and Discover it for Students.

Discover it Cash Back competes with a number of popular cash back credit cards, not including its Discover-branded peers. The closest analogues is Chase Freedom Flex, which also has rotating 5% bonus cash-back categories. It’s often mentioned in the same breath as flat-rate cash-back cards like Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card and Citi Double Cash Card too.

If you’re in the market for a new cash-back credit card with no annual fee and the potential to reliably earn 5% on eligible purchases, keep reading. Discover it Cash Back could what you’ve been waiting for.

What Sets the Discover it Cash Back Card Apart

The Discover it Cash Back Card is not your standard cash-back credit card. Three features set it apart from most competitors:

Key Features of the Discover it Cash Back Card

These are the most important features of the Discover it Cash Back Card. Note the Cashback Match (double cash back during the first year your account is open) and signature 5% bonus categories that rotate quarterly.

First-Year Double Cash Back (Cashback Match)

On your first card membership anniversary, Discover it Cash Back automatically doubles all cash back earned in that year, with no caps or restrictions. This includes cash back you earn through the Discover Deals shopping portal, which can pay north of 5% on eligible purchases.

The more you spend, the more valuable this benefit is, and there’s no upper limit on your first-year Cashback Match. $200 in first-year cash back turns into $400, $400 into $800, $800 into $1,600, and so on.

Earning Cash Back

Discover it Cash Back earns 5% cash back on select quarterly rotating categories. Popular categories include gas station purchases, department store purchases, and restaurant purchases — check out our guide to recent and future 5% bonus categories for more examples and a peek at what’s ahead.

The 5% cash back benefit applies to the first $1,500 spent across all rotating categories in a given quarter. Once you hit $1,500, future purchases in the rotating categories earn an unlimited 1% cash back. Note that you need to manually activate your 5% cash back categories each quarter, and cash-back earnings are not retroactive to the beginning of the quarter, so it pays to activate before the first day.

All other purchases also earn an unlimited 1% cash back, with the exception of select purchases made through the Discover Deals online mall. Those purchases can earn 5% or more, subject to purchase and item restrictions. 

Redeeming Cash Back

You can redeem your accumulated cash back rewards for statement credits, bank account deposits, pay-with-points at Amazon.com, and electronic and physical gift cards. Statement credit and bank account deposit redemptions can be made at any time, in any amount. Gift card redemptions come with a $20 minimum.

Freeze It

Discover’s Freeze It feature allows you to lock your account with a single click from any Internet-connected device, preventing new purchases, cash advances, and other activities. It comes in handy when you misplace your card or suspect that your account has been compromised.

If you later find your card, you can unfreeze your account using the same method. Keep in mind that balances continue to accrue interest and automatic payments for bills and other recurring expenses continue to execute as normal when your account is frozen.

Introductory APR

Discover it Cash Back comes with a 15-month 0% introductory APR on purchases and balance transfers. To qualify, balance transfers must be made by the 10th day of the third month after you open your account. For instance, accounts opened in January have until April 10th to take advantage of the promotion.

Free FICO Score

Discover it Cash Back includes a free FICO credit score on every monthly paper or electronic statement. You can also access your FICO score at any time through your online account dashboard.

Custom Card Design

Discover lets you customize your card face’s design — a valueless but fun perk that many credit card issuers don’t bother with. Choose from 25 designs depicting everything from clover plants to the New York City skyline.

Important Fees

There is no annual fee or foreign transaction fee. Balance transfers cost a flat 3% of the transferred amount. Cash advances always cost the greater of $10 or 5%, and late and returned payments cost $35.

Credit Required

This card requires very good to excellent credit. Any blemishes of note are likely to be disqualifying.

Additional Card Features

The Discover it Cash Back Card has two other notable features: a card security suite that includes free Social Security number alerts (great if you suspect you’re the victim of identity theft) and an online privacy protection feature that removes your personal information from popular people-search websites known for selling consumer data.

Advantages of the Discover it Cash Back Card

These are the most important advantages of the Discover it Cash Back Card. Are they impressive enough for you to add this card to your spending lineup?

Disadvantages of the Discover it Cash Back Card

These are the biggest downsides of the Discover it Cash Back Card. Only you can decide if they’re enough to warn you off this card altogether.

How the Discover it Cash Back Card Stacks Up

The Discover it Cash Back Card’s closest competitor — or, at least, its most similar competitor — is the Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card.

The comparison table shows why. See how the two cards stack up and decide which is better for you. 

Final Word

Like Chase Freedom Flex and other cash back rewards cards with tiered, rotating spending categories, Discover it® Cash Back rewards you for making certain types of purchases at certain times. That’s great news for applicants who intend to use this as a primary credit card and make a wide variety of purchases with it.

However, Discover it Cash Back’s approach to cash back certainly isn’t the only way to do such things. If you prefer a card without quarterly rotating categories or spending caps, there are plenty of great alternatives on the market.

Brian Martucci

The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is a cash back credit card that charges a $39 annual fee and earns a flat, unlimited 1.5% cash back rate on every purchase. Cash back rewards can be redeemed for a variety of cash equivalents, including paper checks and statement credits.

Capital One QuicksilverOne is among a relative handful of cash back credit cards without an early spend bonus. On the other hand, this card has unusually lax credit requirements – prospects

The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is a cash back credit card that charges a $39 annual fee and earns a flat, unlimited 1.5% cash back rate on every purchase. Cash back rewards can be redeemed for a variety of cash equivalents, including paper checks and statement credits.

Capital One QuicksilverOne is among a relative handful of cash back credit cards without an early spend bonus. On the other hand, this card has unusually lax credit requirements – prospects with average credit are welcome to apply. If you make timely, in full payments for at least six months following approval, you’re rewarded with a higher credit limit.

QuicksilverOne is similar to the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card, which is basically a no-annual-fee version of this card for consumers with good to excellent credit.

Other popular alternatives include the Citi Double Cash Card and the Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card, though both of those cards are also reserved for consumers with good to excellent credit.

Key Features of the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

These are the key features of the Capital One QuicksilverOne card. Note the straightforward rewards program, easy redemption, and additional cardholder benefits.

Earning and Redeeming Rewards

Capital One QuicksilverOne earns unlimited 1.5% cash back on most purchases. Eligible hotel and car rental bookings earn unlimited 5% cash back when made through Capital One Travel.

There are no caps, restrictions, or tiered spending categories to worry about here. You can manually redeem accumulated rewards at any time and in any amount for statement credits, gift cards, or paper checks. If you prefer, you can schedule automatic redemptions that execute when you hit a specified cash back increment: $25, $50, $100, or $200.

Important Fees

This card charges a $39 annual fee. There is no foreign transaction fee.

Capital One CreditWise

This card comes with access to Capital One CreditWise, a suite of credit-building and -education tools that includes a free credit score with your monthly statement. You can also access your score at any time through your online account dashboard.

Additional Cardholder Benefits

The QuicksilverOne card comes with a nice lineup of fringe benefits, including:

Credit Required

This card requires average or fair credit. Capital One tolerates some blemishes on applicants’ credit histories. After you make your first five payments on time, Capital One may grant you access to a higher credit line.

Advantages of the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

Here’s what the QuicksilverOne card has going for it. Note the loose underwriting standards and “redeem in any amount” flexibility.

Disadvantages of the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card

Here’s why you might want to think twice about the QuicksilveOne card. Its annual fee is a disadvantage relative to other entry-level cash-back cards, and the lack of an early spend bonus and 0% intro APR promotion are problematics too.

How the Capital One QuicksilverOne Credit Card Stacks Up

Despite its flaws, the QuicksilverOne card is one of the best cash-back credit cards on the market for people with average credit. But what if your credit is on the upswing and you think you might be able to do a bit better?

Then QuicksilverOne’s grown-up cousin, the Capital One Quicksilver card, could be right for you. See how it compares to its junior.

Final Word

The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is one of the few cash back cards that openly advertises itself to applicants with average credit. Compared to Quicksilver, its stablemate, this is a big benefit. That said, you shouldn’t expect your QuicksilverOne account to come with a sky-high credit limit.

If your credit isn’t great, your initial approval is likely to include a restrictive limit that invites you to prove yourself capable of using credit responsibly. If successful, you’ll be rewarded after some months with a higher credit limit – and, if all goes well, an invitation to apply for the Quicksilver Card, which has a lower regular APR and no annual fee.

Brian Martucci

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a popular cash back credit card that pays a flat, unlimited 1.5% cash back rate on all purchases and doesn’t charge an annual fee. Like many fellow cash back cards, it boasts a nice early spend bonus, a special introductory APR promotion for purchases, and some other user-friendly perks.

The Quicksilver Cash Rewards Card is comparable to a number of other cash back cards, most of which also lack annual fees. Popular alternatives

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card is a popular cash back credit card that pays a flat, unlimited 1.5% cash back rate on all purchases and doesn’t charge an annual fee. Like many fellow cash back cards, it boasts a nice early spend bonus, a special introductory APR promotion for purchases, and some other user-friendly perks.

The Quicksilver Cash Rewards Card is comparable to a number of other cash back cards, most of which also lack annual fees. Popular alternatives include the Chase Freedom Flex Card, the Citi Double Cash Card, and the American Express Blue Cash Everyday Card.

Quicksilver is very similar to its Capital One cash back stablemate, the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card, which is easier to qualify for and offers similar cash back benefits, but comes with a $39 annual fee and higher interest rates.

How the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card Stacks Up

Is Quicksilver right for you? Before you answer, see how it stacks up against another popular flat-rate cash-back credit card: the Citi Double Cash Card.

Key Features of the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card

These are the key features of the Capital One Quicksilver card.

Early Spend Bonus

Cash Back Rewards and Redemption

The Capital One Quicksilver card earns unlimited 1.5% cash back on most purchases, with no caps, restrictions, or tiered spending categories. Eligible hotel and car rental bookings earn unlimited 5% cash back when made through Capital One Travel.

You can manually redeem accumulated rewards in any amount for statement credits, gift cards, or paper checks. You can also schedule automatic redemptions that are triggered when you pass a specified cash back increment: $25, $50, $100, or $200.

Introductory APR

Capital One Quicksilver has a 0% introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, after which variable regular APR applies (currently 19.24% to 29.24%).

Important Fees

There is no annual fee or foreign transaction fee associated with this card.

Capital One CreditWise

You get free access to Capital One CreditWise, a useful collection of tools and content to help you build and stay on top of your personal credit. It includes a free credit score accessible in your account dashboard and visible on your monthly statement.

Additional Cardholder Benefits

As a Capital One Quicksilver cardholder, you’re entitled to a number of general fringe benefits: 24/7 concierge service and travel booking assistance, 24/7 emergency card replacement for lost or compromised cards, and VIP/priority access to events such as sporting contests and special golf outings.

Credit Required

This card requires good to excellent credit. Minor credit blemishes aren’t likely to be disqualifying, but major issues can cause problems.

Advantages of the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card

Here’s what the Capital One Quicksilver card has going for it. Note the attainable early spend bonus, long 0% APR intro period, and no annual fee, among other choice benefits.

Disadvantages of the Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card

Consider these drawbacks before applying for Quicksilver. There aren’t too many, but notables include 1.5% cash back on most purchases (a mediocre rate) and strict underwriting requirements.

Final Word

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card belongs to a newer generation of cash back cards that emphasize simplicity, consistency, and accessibility. Think of it as a response or reaction to cards like Chase Freedom, which now seems a bit dated and quaint due to their continued reliance on rotating spending categories and other gimmicks. That’s not to say that Chase Freedom has no place in your wallet – just that the cash back tide seems to be ebbing away from them and toward cards like Quicksilver.

Brian Martucci