Best Student Bank Accounts for September 2024

The Chase Bank College Checking Account offers all the features a student needs for banking. For college students between the ages of 17 and 24, the Chase College Checking Account has no monthly service fee until after graduation (up to five years after opening the account). Chase offers a sign-on bonus of $100: To qualify, students must make 10 qualifying transactions (including direct deposit, debit card purchases, and online bill payments) within 60 days of opening the account.

Chase’s huge network of more than 4,700 branches and more than 15,000 ATMs nationwide add to its appeal. Students going to school out-of-state may be able to access their student account on campus and from home with Chase, and they can feel confident about finding a Chase ATM to avoid any fees. However, despite Chase’s enormous footprint, there are no branches in Alaska or Hawaii.

The Capital One MONEY Teen Checking account is an excellent option for students under the age of 18—in fact, account-holders can be as young as 8 years old. There are no monthly fees or minimum balances, and teens also receive a fee-free debit card in their name. With more than 70,000 fee-free Capital One and partner ATMs, teen account-holders can access their cash all over. Best of all, the account offers 0.10% APY (annual percentage yield) on all balances, so high school students can learn the benefits of saving.

Parents are joint owners of the account and can view transaction information and receive text alerts about the account. They can also link their own bank account (even if it's not with Capital One) to the MONEY account and transfer a recurring allowance or one-time amount.

While this account is great for teens under 18, accounts don't have to be closed or rolled over when the account holder turns 18. However, account-holders do have the option of opening their own Capital One 360 Checking account and transferring some or all of their balance into it.

Bank of America’s Advantage Banking program is a general checking account that waives the monthly maintenance fee for any student under the age of 25 (including those enrolled in high school, university, and vocational programs). Advantage SafeBalance and Advantage Plus accounts require a minimum deposit of $25 and $100, respectively.

The Advantage SafeBalance account is checkless but carries overdraft protection.

An Advantage Banking account also provides access to BofA’s Keep the Change® program, which rounds up debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and deposits this remainder in savings. Besides this perk, this account is especially beneficial for beginning savers because of its customizable email and text alerts, and its interactive Spending and Budgeting tool, which allows account-holders to create a budget and track their spending and other financial habits.

Account-holders can also keep the account after graduation or age 25. However, after these milestones, the account-holder will have to pay a somewhat high monthly maintenance fee: $4.95 per month for SafeBalance and $12 per month for Advantage Plus. The SafeBalance fee can be waived if you qualify for Preferred Rewards or have an average daily balance of at least $500. Advantage Plus accounts have the fee waived by qualifying for Preferred Rewards, by having a monthly direct deposit of at least $250, or by maintaining a minimum daily balance of $1,500.

While the Discover Cashback Debit Account isn’t specifically created for students, it’s an excellent option for anyone 18 or older who wants all the perks of a student account, plus a debit card. This account has no monthly fee, minimum deposit, overdraft protection, or ATM fee, benefits that continue even after graduation. Another big draw is the 1% cash back earned on up to $3,000 in monthly debit card purchases, which can generate up to $360 in cash back per year.

Discover’s other perks include free checks, free online bill pay and ACH payments, and free replacement debit cards. Discover also partners with the Allpoint ATM network, with free access to more than 60,000 ATMs nationwide. However, Discover has no physical branches to visit, which means any problems will be handled via phone. Account-holders' deposit options include online transfer, direct deposit, mobile check deposit, or mail-in deposit.

The PNC Virtual Wallet Student Account has a $0 minimum deposit requirement and waives the monthly service fee for up to six years for actively enrolled students. Also, the PNC Virtual Wallet comes with three accounts: Spend, a primary checking account; Reserve, an interest-bearing checking account; and Growth, a long-term savings account. These accounts, their interactive mobile tools, and PNC’s online educational articles make it easy for a student to manage bills, develop financial goals, and plan spending and savings.

PNC also offers some unique perks, like an automatic courtesy refund of an overdraft fee on the first overdraft, one free incoming wire transfer per statement, and ATM fee reimbursement for any fees levied by other banks per statement period, up to $5.

With a fee waiver for students under age 25, the Truist One Checking Account has some useful features overall (see below), but what makes it shine in this category is the Truist mobile app.

State-of-the-art and easy-to-use, the app lets users pay bills online, of course. But they can also view electronic versions of paper bills, track due dates, set up email reminders, and choose their payment frequency. The app allows for payments through Zelle and interfaces with Quicken, too, so students can easily download and organize their financial information and create a smart budget based on actual spending patterns.

The account has a $50 minimum opening deposit. There is a $12 monthly maintenance fee, but it is waived for students. After the student waiver expires there are many other easy ways to waive it. In addition, Truist offers students financial education resources at no charge, a customizable debit card, and fee-free transactions at over 3,000 Truist ATMs. There are no overdraft fees, and the account offers negative balance protection.

Unfortunately, Truist banking accounts are currently available only in the District of Columbia and 17 states.

For students in the West, Midwest, and South, using the U.S. Bank Student Checking Account is an optimal choice. Account-holders are able to link their student ID with their checking account and use the ID at ATMs and for PIN purchases. They also have access to financial education for students through the campus banking program to help manage their money.

Among this account's many benefits are that its monthly maintenance fee is waived for students and the U.S. Bank Visa debit card. With more than 2,000 branches, U.S. Bank offers student accounts full access to the same suite of tools enjoyed by non-student accounts, including online and mobile banking, no-fee transactions at U.S. bank ATMs, mobile check deposit, and payments with Zelle. ATM fees on the first four non-U.S. bank ATM transactions per statement period are waived.