Yes. All bank of America accounts are FDIC insured. Coverage is offered for up to 0,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account. This covers checking accounts, savings accounts, money market savings accounts, and CDs — essentially all the personal finance options.
Bank of America offers three checking accounts, each with its own attributes.
Advantage Savings Account
Ready to stop worrying about money?
We like the Keep the Change program. If you opt in to this feature, your debit card purchases will automatically be rounded up, and the leftover change is deposited into your Bank of America savings account. It’s a simple way to add to your savings without having to think about it, and the money can add up quickly.
Checking Accounts
In 2021, a number of banks and fintech platforms eliminated overdraft fees but Bank of America has not joined them completely, though some accounts have this feature. If this is a service you need or want, BofA may not be the best choice for you. We’ve got some handy tips, though, on how to keep from overdrawing your accounts.
Advantage SafeBalance Checking
Advantage Relationship bank accounts have a hefty in monthly fees attached, but it can be waived with a combined balance of at least ,000 in eligible linked accounts.
The BofA mobile banking app gets rave reviews. With a 4.8 out of 5 score in the Apple App Store and 4.6 of 5 in the Google Play Store, it doesn’t get much better.
The BofA mobile banking app gets rave reviews. With a 4.8 out of 5 score in the Apple App Store and 4.6 of 5 in the Google Play Store, it doesn’t get much better.
As you would expect, Bank of America offers many modern-day banking conveniences like a phone app, online banking, and mobile deposits. It’s easy to forget just how powerful these features are until you have to go without them — particularly mobile deposits. Since paper checks are being used less and less these days, having to go to the bank to deposit one is a nuisance. Mobile deposit spares you that inconvenience.
- Low opening deposit
- No minimum daily balance
- Cash back deals
Key Features
None at Bank of America ATMs.
If you like to feel a personal connection to your banking app, you can even tap into Erica, BofA’s virtual assistant to walk you through your banking tasks. It’s not the most creative name for a virtual assistant, but she gets the job done.
Penny Hoarder contributor Dave Schafer has been writing professionally for nearly a decade, covering topics ranging from personal finance to software and consumer tech. Information from former contributor Tyler Omoth is included in this report.
Advantage SafeBalance Checking
- You maintain a minimum daily balance of $500.
- You’re a Preferred Rewards Member.
- You link your savings account to your Bank of America Advantage Relationship Banking account (waiver applies to first four savings accounts).
More About Savings
If you’re looking to open a savings account for a minor, you’re in luck. BofA has a Minor Savings account. It only requires a opening deposit, but there is no minimum balance requirement after that and no monthly maintenance fee. The interest rates are the same as for the Bank of America Advantage Savings account (0.03%), making it a perfect starter account to help get children in the habit of saving.
Other Bank of America Features
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Keep the Change
Is Bank of America Better than Chase?
Certificate of Deposit
The convenience is one of the best aspects of Bank of America, and one of the big reasons it gets picked over competitors. It’s everywhere, and offers nearly everything, so you don’t need to worry about maintaining accounts at multiple banks. That said, with the relatively poor interest rates on savings accounts, you may want to.
Small Business Banking
Have you ever had your card declined because you are traveling? Bank of America’s phone app has a feature that you can turn on that will compare the location of your phone to where the transaction takes place. If your phone is nearby, they can assume it’s you and approve the transaction. That’s pretty slick and could save an enormous amount of hassle (unless the crook steals your phone and your card).
The Business Fundamentals Checking account isn’t interest-bearing and doesn’t list a minimum opening deposit amount. However, there is a monthly service fee. This can be waived if you:
- Spend $250 in net new purchases on a business debit or credit card.
- Maintain an average monthly balance of $5,000 or more.
- Maintain a minimum daily balance of $3,000.
- Maintain a combined average monthly balance of $15,000 or more in your linked Bank of America accounts.
- Qualify and enroll in the Preferred Rewards for Business program (waiver applies on up to four eligible business checking accounts.)
As with most bigger banks, you can do a lot more than just checking and savings with Bank of America. You can get a mortgage, car loan, credit cards and even some investment accounts linked with Merrill Lynch. They even have a Better Money Habits web page that provides financial wellness tips for consumers.
Even part-time employees are likely to make a direct deposit of at least 0, so the fee shouldn’t be a major nuisance. Unfortunately, neither the AdvantageSafe Balance Checking account nor the Advantage Plus checking account offers interest on your money.
- Spend $2,500 in net new purchases on a business credit card.
- Maintain an average monthly balance of $15,000 or more.
- Maintain a combined average monthly balance in your linked Bank of America accounts of at least $35,000.
- Actively use one or both of these business services: Bank of America Merchant Services or Payroll Services.
- Qualify for and enroll in the Preferred Rewards for Business program (first four checking accounts per enrolled business)
Best for Customers with Simple Needs
Convenience
As one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, Bank of America has a lot to offer. The range of personal and business account options is impressive, and the availability of bank branches makes it extremely convenient.
The next step up in BofA’s checking account offerings is Advantage Plus Checking. It comes with in monthly fees, but it also has a couple more ways to avoid it. Besides enrolling in Preferred Rewards or qualifying as a student, you can avoid the monthly fee if you:
Bank of America’s basic savings account has a 0 minimum opening deposit. There’s also an monthly fee that’s waived if:
Bank of America has a dedicated site just for small business banking. The site makes it easy to track your account and keep on top of things. That said, there are some shortcomings to its services.
Mobile Banking
Pros
Get the Penny Hoarder Daily
Cons
Minimum balance
Pro Tip
0
Bank of America Review: The Pros and Cons
.95 per month, but can be waived
Does Bank of America Offer Loans?
Bank of America offers many types of loans: auto loans, mortgages, small business loans, and a single personal finance loan option called Balance Assist. Balance Assist is the only personal loan option and is capped at 0, so if you need a larger personal loan, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
- The Keep the Change feature lets you add to your savings without thinking about it because it rounds up each debit card transaction and deposits the change into your savings account.
- BoA’s mobile app is easy to use with some pretty advanced features you don’t find with a lot of banks, such as the ability to approve transactions as long as your phone is nearby.
- There are nearly 16,000 ATMS and more than 4,000 brick-and-mortar branches.
- Between the plentiful physical locations, solid mobile app, and the generally great Bank of America customer service, it’s easy to bank with BoA.
- Although a number of BoA accounts come with monthly fees, there are generally multiple ways to avoid them, such as by keeping a certain minimum balance.
Bank of America’s next-level account for small business checking is called the Business Advantage Checking. This account comes with a .95 monthly fee. To get this waived, you need to:
- The standard overdraft fees are $35 with four possible per day. An additional $35 gets tacked on after five days of continuous negative balance. Overdraft protection comes with a $10 transaction fee.
- The APY rates for checking and savings accounts are well under average.
- There’s an $8 monthly fee for savings accounts that do not keep a minimum balance of $500.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Bank of America
If we were to name Bank of America the best bank, it would be for convenience. Between the enormous number of physical locations, the wide range of bank accounts and products, and the sheer number of different ways to access those accounts and waive the various fees involved all add up to make BoA a fantastic option compared to other banks.
Best for Customers Opening First Savings Account
Bank of America’s overdraft fee is with as many as four possible per day. An additional gets tacked on after five days of a continuous negative balance.
Opening deposit
The AdvantageSafe Balance Checking account comes with .95 in monthly fees. Bank of America will waive this fee if you can check one of the following boxes:
Because of its size — it has more than 200,000 employees and annual revenue in excess of billion — Bank of America has many more features than smaller financial institutions. Here are some that we think you’d want to know about:
None
3 out of 5 Overall
You’ll get 200 free transactions per billing cycle and ,500 worth of free cash deposits.
To earn interest with a Bank of America checking account, you need to bump up to the
Advantage Relationship checking account. This account offers 0.03% APY on your money, which is below the
national average for interest checking accounts. You can get that increased if you join the Preferred Rewards program.
0.03% APY
Is Bank of America a Good Bank?
Does Bank of America Offer Loans?
BofA has 4,270 bank locations. That number has been decreasing in recent years, though. It’s not hard to find a BofA ATM either as there are 15,900 in existence, though that number is less than half what is available for many of the nation’s growing online banks. <!–
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All that said, is Bank of America the right place for you to do your banking? Our deeper dive on what the bank offers will help you decide.