Best Online Checking Accounts February 2025

Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services through Chime are provided by The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank N.A. The company was founded in 2012 and has its headquarters in San Francisco, CA. Its focus is on providing personal banking services. Chime does not market to or service the business market.

Chime’s main selling point is that basic banking services for individuals should be helpful, easy, and free. They partner with regional banks to design “member-first financial products” to compete with traditional banks.

Axos Bank lays claim to being one of the oldest digital banks in the world. The company was founded as Bank of Internet USA in 1999 and rebranded to Axos Bank in 2018. Nowadays, Axos Bank is based in San Diego, California, where it has grown to a workforce of over 1,000 and is the consumer-facing arm of Axos Financial.

Axos has built a solid reputation over two decades of trading as an online bank. The company is well known for its excellent APYs, ATM reimbursements, and one of the market’s most rewarding ranges of checking accounts. To this day, the company remains online-only, with the lack of branches resulting in better value financial products for its customers.

Axos Bank is a public company: stock ticker NYSE: AX

Current is mobile banking app that was launched in 2015 with an initial focus on fee-free accounts for teens. Since that time, it has become one of the more competitive online banking options with excellent cash-back rewards, no fees, no balance requirements, and access to cryptocurrency. While we are reviewing Current as an online bank, it’s important to note that it is not a bank but a financial services company. Because it offers its banking services through Choice Financial Group, its deposits are eligible for FDIC insurance.

Upgrade is an online lender that has been around since 2016. It caters to the needs of a wide range of people, including people who want to refinance credit cards, make significant purchases, and make improvements to their homes.

It also offers a no-fee checking account that provides cash-back opportunities, as well as a variety of different credit lines. This Upgrade review will look at everything that Upgrade brings to the table.

Raisin is a popular marketplace that provides an overview of all the leading savings products in the space today. Formerly known as SaveBetter, Raisin only works with credit unions and banks that are federally insured.

It has been in business for many years through its Germany-based parent company, and its US subsidiary has headquarters in New York. It currently caters to over one million customers across the world.

More than $50 billion in deposits have been made through the platform and Raisin allows you to invest money in savings products across multiple institutions all through a single account.

Live Oak Bank’s goal is to be the bank for small businesses in America and help individuals achieve their savings goals. It offers various loans for businesses, including SBA and USDA options. Then there’s a mix of different bank accounts for businesses, a savings account and certificates of deposit (CDs) available for individuals.

Live Oak Bank is FDIC-insured and has no physical branches, preferring to focus all of its attention online. The North Carolina-based company was started in 2008 and operates in all 50 US states.

Its parent company’s shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which means that Live Oak Bank is subject to plenty of oversight from regulators. It is one of the best companies in the digital banking space today.