What are the best banks in New York City? Where should you open your new account? Let’s find out.
New York is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. From Union Square in Manhattan to Bowery and Broadway, there are many things to see and neighborhoods to explore!
Apart from its lights and shows, let’s not forget that New York is home to the Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan (or Sixth Avenue to New Yorkers).
Avenue of the Americas is the most important financial street in the city, and it is well known worldwide.
As you might have guessed, New York City is a major financial center with countless options for financial services and banking products.
7 Best Banks in New York City
Here are the top 7 banks and credit unions in NYC you can open an account with today:
- 🏆 Chase Bank
- Capital One 360
- Santander Bank
- HSBC Bank
- Alliant Credit Union
- Navy Federal Credit Union
- Teachers Federal Credit Union
See New Yorks Best Bank Bonus Offers & Promotions
1. Chase Bank 
🏆 Best for Branch Locations and ATMs in NYC
JPMorgan Chase National Bank is the perfect choice if you’re not sold on the idea of managing your accounts fully online. It has the largest number of branch locations in NYC, which is easy to notice even by walking. It’s hard to miss Chase’s 500 branches!
Chase also has a large national presence, so you’ll be able to talk to a representative face to face even while traveling if you need to. Chase has you covered online as well, with an exceptional mobile banking experience. The bank has a highly-rated mobile app, which comes with many great features to track your spending and make payments in a few taps.
It also has many ATM locations all over New York, which is important as the bank charges $2.50 for out-of-network ATM access (plus a surcharge). That said, as there are so many Chase ATMs all over New York (and nationally), this shouldn’t be a problem.
Chase Bank Account Options
Chase has a varied offering of checking accounts, savings accounts, CDs, and money market accounts regarding financial products. In addition to that, you can get a credit card and obtain a loan at Chase as well.
This mix of the complete financial offer, financial representative always available to talk to you, and online banking allows for a lot of flexibility. It satisfies a wide range of account holders. That’s why Chase is very popular, especially with New Yorkers.
Runner-Ups for Branch Locations in New York City: Wells Fargo, and Citibank.
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2. Capital One 360 
🏆 Best Bank for APY and Small Businesses in NYC
Capital One 360 is a mainly online bank, and it allows you to manage all of your financial operations online comfortably. Still, it doesn’t have branches in all states. New York City is one of the places where Capital One 360 decided to establish a brick-and-mortar presence, which is great news if you prefer banking face-to-face.
Capital One Personal Banking Account Options
Capital One offers a free checking account with no minimum starting deposit, no minimum balance, or monthly maintenance fees.
Savings accounts and CD accounts don’t have minimum deposits either. Still, you’ll be better off depositing more money if you want to earn higher interest rates.
Compared to other major banks in NYC, Capital One 360 offers the best savings account rate by far at 3.40% APY” layout=”single” rateonly=1].
Consider that most popular bank accounts earn less than a tenth of that APY. The real winners are Capital One Checking Accounts, which are the best in NYC for business banking.
Capital One Business Banking Account Options
There are two different accounts dedicated to businesses.
- Capital One Spark Business Basic Checking, asks for a minimum daily deposit of $2,000 to avoid the service fee.
- Capital One Spark Business Unlimited Checking, is free if you can keep $25,000 or above in your account at all times.
You can open either of these accounts online. Worth noting, they come with several benefits, such as free transactions, online statements, mobile check deposits, and customer service dedicated to small businesses.
Runer-Up for Best Business Banking in NYC: PNC Bank
Runner-Up for Best APY: CIT Bank
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3. Santander Bank 
🏆 Best Bank for New York City Students
Are you a student in New York and are between 16 and 25 years old? Then Santander Bank might be an excellent option for you.
Santander Bank offers a free checking account to all students 16 to 25 years old and waives incoming wire transfer fees. This particular perk is extremely valuable, especially for international students who often receive money from their parents abroad.
Santander Bank is very convenient compared to most other banks, which charge incoming and outgoing wire transfers.
If you’re signing up for an account with Santander, opt for e-statements early on. They’re free, so you won’t pay $3 for every paper statement that they probably won’t ever need anyway. It’s a lot more cost-effective to check your statements online or on the banking app.
Santander Bank Accessibility
In terms of location accessibility, Santander has 108 branches. It is well served all over New York, except for Brooklyn and Harlem, so if you live in one of these two neighborhoods and would like to visit a local branch, you might have some difficulties.
The most advantaged students will be New York University (NYU) students and Columbia students. There are many Santander locations and ATMs close to both these universities.
Mobile Banking with Santander Bank
Most students probably prefer using online banking or mobile banking, so wherever they are in New York, they can access their financial information, check their balances, make transfers, and so on.
Santander has that option too, and it has a web portal and an app you can download on your Apple and Android devices for the most user-friendly experience.
Runner-Up for Best Student Banking in NYC: Bank of America
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4. HSBC Bank 
🏆 Best Customer Service in New York City
A Pew study conducted in 2015 crowned HSBC Bank as the best brick-and-mortar bank in New York City for its transparency, fairness, dispute resolution abilities, and overdraft policy. All great qualities help account holders in New York City to trust this bank.
The HSBC overdraft policy also stands out: all your daily transactions are processed from the lowest to the highest amount to decrease the overdraft fees you might incur on any given day.
Many banks do the opposite and process the fees from the largest to the smallest amount to maximize the fees they can charge you, which doesn’t sound as honest. HSBC also will not charge you an overdraft fee if you went over your balance by overspending $10 or less, which is pretty nice.
HSBC Bank Account Options
HSBC offers many different accounts. It makes it easier to waive monthly maintenance fees. It offers a Premier Account that may interest you if you plan to keep a larger balance in the bank and like some extra perks such as free foreign exchange fees on your debit card and rebates on out-of-network ATM usage.
HSBC doesn’t have many ATMs available or branch locations outside major cities in general, so the rebates mentioned above on ATM fees come in handy. Your deposits at HSBC Bank are all FDIC insured, so you can rest assured your deposits are well protected.
Runner-Up for Best Consumer Experience: New York Community Bank
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What About Credit Unions in New York City?
For those of you who prefer credit unions over national banks because of their perks or to support nonprofits (as many credit unions are not-for-profit), there are many options in NYC.
3 Best Credit Unions Available in NYC:
- Alliant Credit Union: Online-only and pays a high-interest rate on its savings bank account.
- Navy Federal Credit Union: It used to serve only members of the military community but now allows civilians to join, too. However, they’ll need to have at least a family member in the military.
- Teachers Federal Credit Union: A nonprofit with 43 offices in New York, serves members of the teaching industry.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best banks in New York City?
It’s hard to give a definite answer to this question because there are many good, trustworthy banks in NYC.
The best one will largely depend on what your expectations, banking needs, and wants are.
- If you are a frequent visitor of brick-and-mortar branches, the best NYC Bank is Chase, a full-service bank with many offices and ATMs in NY.
- If you are a small business, you are better off with a tailor-made checking account offered by Capital One 360 (and BofA in second place).
- Looking to grow your savings? Capital One 360, again, will help you out with its excellent interest-bearing savings account.
- The best bank for students is Santander Bank. The most notable perk is dedicated to international students: no incoming or outgoing wire transfer fees.
- Finally, if you’re after the best customer service, HSBC Bank is an excellent choice for that.
What banks are in New York City?
The banks with most local brick-and-mortar branches in New York City are, among others:
- Chase Bank: 662 branch locations in New York City
- Wells Fargo: 287 branches in New Jersey and 82 in NYC
- Citibank: 77 branch locations in New York
- Bank of America: 271 offices in the state
Many other banks have many locations in New York City because it’s a major city of high financial importance.
Many banks in NYC allow you to open an account online, so they don’t really need a branch in the city or even in the state of New York.
They might be worth looking into since they often have lower fees and higher annual percentage yields, on top of the convenience, of course.
What is the biggest bank in New York?
The biggest and most popular New York bank is Chase Bank. It has 662 branches in 248 different cities in New York, many of which are in New York City alone.
Chase Bank is very popular among New York residents because it has many brick-and-mortar locations. It also has a huge ATM network, which makes for lower ATM usage fees and higher convenience.
Plus, it offers many different banking solutions, both online and offline.
