With the revolt against bank fees in the news, I thought it was a good time to highlight some no fee online checking account options. The great thing about online banks is that not only are their checking accounts free, but many of them even pay interest.

For those that pay interest, online banks can generally beat traditional financial institutions big or small with higher rates because of lower costs. Online banks don’t need to maintain an expensive network of branches, and they can pass those savings on to consumers in the form of higher interest rates and lower fees.

To give you an idea of what’s available, I’ve put together this list of free and low cost online checking accounts. I’ll be adding to the list as interesting offers become available. What I like about these options, however, are the diversity in what is offered.

So here’s the list, and if you know of other free checking account options, be sure to leave a comment.

Best Free Online Checking Accounts

You can earn a $200 bonus with the Chase Total Checking® account. To receive the $200 checking bonus you need to open a new account and set up a direct deposit within 60 days.

There is a $12 monthly service fee associated with the account, but that becomes zero if you meet one of the following three criteria:

Having a direct deposit of $500 or more each month Having a beginning day balance of $1,500 or more (everyday) Having a beginning day balance of $5,000 ore more when you link other qualifying Chase balances (like other checking or savings products)

TD Bank Checking – $150 Cash Bonus / $300 Cash Bonus

TD Bank is currently offering two different online checking accounts that include promotions for signing up. Details are as follows:

Convenience Checking – New account holders can earn a $150 bonus after making $500 in direct deposits during the first 60 days. The $15 monthly maintenance fee can be waived when you maintain a balance of at least $100 in the account. Students and young adults ages 17 to 23 get additional perks like no minimum balance requirements and no monthly maintenance fee. Beyond Checking – New account holders will earn a $300 bonus after making $2,500 in direct deposits during the first 60 days. The $25 monthly maintenance fee can be waived by making $5,000 in direct deposits each month (kinda hard), having $25,000 in total balances across eligible TD accounts (kinda hard) OR maintaining a daily balance of $2,500 (not too bad).

Offer is available to new personal checking customers who do not have an existing or prior personal checking account at TD Bank

Minimum deposit required to open an account is $0

ATM fees are refunded if you have an account balance of $2,500 or more (Beyond Checking only)

A tiered APY is earned in the Beyond Checking Account only (up to 0.05%, so not a big benefit)

Citi Priority Account Package – $700 Cash Bonus

Citi has thousands of branches across the U.S which makes accessing your money a breeze. They currently offer a few different checking bonuses for new members; and my favorite is the $700 bonus; details below.

Open a new Citibank Priority Account Package by 09.30.2020.

Within 30 days of account opening, make a qualifying deposit of $50,000 or more of non-Citi funds into the new account, and maintain this deposit as your daily balance for a period of 60 days.

The $30 monthly service fee for this account is waived for average daily balances of $50,000 more more. Any non-Citi ATM fees you incur while owning this account are waived so long as you meet that average daily balance above.

This one is not your ordinary online checking account. Chime is both a checking account and an online savings account. When you receive your Chime Visa Debit Card, purchases you make with the card will have changed rounded up to then be deposited into your savings account.

Unfortunately, that savings account has a 0.01% APY but the funds can easily be transferred to a more productive online savings account.

The Chime Spending Account has no monthly account minimums and no maintenance fees. There are no overdraft fees and no ATM fees so long as the ATM is in network. Out of network ATM’s will be assessed a fee.

There is no minimum deposit to open an account ($0 is A-OK)

Physical checks are OK. In fact, Chime has something called the “Chime Checkbook” where they will mail a physical check to whomever you desire, free of charge.

Read More: Chime Bank Review – Fee-Free Banking

FNBO Direct

With its Online BillPay Account, you not only get a free account, but one that pays interest. The interest rate is currently 0.65% APY. The account comes with a free Visa debit card. And you can even transfer money with a cell phone or e-mail account.

This is one of the truly fee free accounts out there. No monthly maintenance fees or requirements, free ATM withdrawals, free Popmoney transfers, free wire transfers, one free over-limit fee per year and free online billpay.

The only fee you’re likely to find is that FNBO Direct will not reimburse you for foreign ATM transactions. If you use an ATM that’s on on their platform, then you will likely be charged a fee by the other bank. FNBO will never charge you a fee.

Minimum deposit required to open an account is $1

Physical checks are OK

Note that all of the online checking accounts listed above are FDIC insured.

Related: Have a business? Check out the Best Business Checking Accounts