The best checking accounts offer a variety of benefits without large balance requirements or fees. How much money you plan to keep in the bankĬompare premium accounts to other checking accounts.If not, you could lose the flexibility to pivot to better accounts or earning opportunities elsewhere.īefore you open a premium checking account, consider: If you’re an existing customer and plan to continue to keep your money with a bank, pursuing premium status probably makes sense. Relationship benefits can save and earn you money, but they often anchor you to one financial institution, sometimes extending to your investment accounts too. These accounts offer unique and often valuable benefits but are not worth opening if they force you to keep more money tied up in your accounts than you intended or alter your desired saving and investing strategies. Premium accounts usually require five- or six-figure combined balances to access benefits or waive monthly fees. Like any bank account, a premium checking account is only worth it if it provides enough value to offset added costs and includes benefits you’re likely to use regularly. For example, with Preferred Rewards, Bank of America applies premium benefits to your existing checking account instead of requiring you to open a new account.Ĭontact the financial institution for details and requirements before you apply for a premium checking account you’re interested in. If you’re an existing bank customer, you can often convert your current account to a premium checking account once you meet the account’s minimum balance threshold or other criteria. Qualifying for premium checking may also take several consecutive months of meeting balance requirements. Banks may also require you to be an existing customer, but others let you open a new account and access perks right away, provided you deposit the required funds within a specified period for the tier you’re going for. Some banks require you to submit a formal application for premium checking online or by meeting with a bank representative in person. The process to open a premium checking account depends on where you bank, but it tends to vary in a few ways from other types of checking accounts. Premium checking accounts are often marketed toward high-net-worth individuals and those with multiple accounts at a given bank, as these customers are more likely to meet account requirements. Wealth management or investing advice and support.Rewards boosts or bonuses on debit card or credit card spending.Waived or reduced foreign exchange fees.Premium checking benefits differ between banks and can also vary by your account balance if a program contains multiple relationship tiers. If you have investment accounts through the bank or a partner, some banks include these balances in your combined total as well. Generally, banks consider your combined balance between eligible bank accounts to determine eligibility for premium banking. Some premium accounts have low deposit requirements but high balance requirements to waive monthly fees. These may start at $20,000 or more for the lowest tier but often go much higher. Premium checking accounts typically have high account balance thresholds and may have relationship tiers for different balances. As a rule, premium checking is offered by larger, established banks with a variety of accounts and services to choose from. To learn more about our editorial process and rating and review methodology, read our guide on How Forbes Advisor Reviews Banks.Ī premium checking account is a top-tier checking account available with some banks and financial institutions that offers exclusive relationship perks and benefits not available to most customers. Accounts with more perks, fewer fees, lower minimums and larger branch and ATM networks ranked higher. When applicable, all tiers within relationship banking programs were analyzed to identify those offering the most benefits for the balance and activity requirements. Only accounts offering exclusive perks at the premium banking level were included in our research. Individual data points considered were monthly service fees and the ability to waive them, overdraft fees and ATM fees minimum opening deposit and minimum ongoing balance requirements BBB and Trustpilot ratings, live chat availability and 24/7 customer service App Store and Google Play mobile app ratings and the number of ATMs and in-person branches. The following weightings were applied to each category: We ranked each account on 15 data points within the categories of premium features and benefits, fees, minimum requirements, customer experience, digital experience, in-person access and APYs. To create this list, Forbes Advisor analyzed 29 different checking accounts at 10 financial institutions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |