Since its inception in 2013, Chime has been quietly establishing itself as a leader in the neobank space — and for good reason – but are there other banks like Chime?
Its platform is intuitive, low-cost, and offers one of the best savings rates around. That said, as much as I love Chime, it would be foolish not to consider your other options.
In this post, we’ll do just that. Keep reading to learn about the best banks like Chime – which also offer high APY earnings and low fees.
From there, you should be able to figure out if Chime, or one of its alternatives, is right for you.
11 Best Banks Like Chime
Here are our top picks for the best Chime alternatives:
- Varo Bank
- Discover
- Ally Bank
- Axos Bank
- Current
- One Finance
- Revolut
- Bank5 Connect
- Aspiration
- MoneyLion
- Monzo
This list is in no particular order. The best option for you depends on which services you need from each provider.
1. Varo
Varo is one of the most recent neobanks to get ahold of its own banking charter, so it doesn’t need to rely on a partner bank to back its accounts.
Varo offers a checking account, a savings account, cash advances, and tools to help build your credit score.
Varo is almost entirely fee-free, so you won’t pay monthly maintenance fees, transfer fees, or foreign transaction fees. It’s also part of the Allpoint ATM network, so users have access to more than 55,000 free ATMs.
Varo accounts come with a competitive APY for savings, but it doesn’t stop there. If you’re starting out in your savings journey and carry a balance of $5,000 or less, you get up to 5.00% APY when you receive direct deposits of $1,000 or more each month. Additional balance above $5,000 earns Varo’s base 3.00% APY.
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2. Discover Bank
Discover is best known for its massive presence as a credit card issuer. It also offers some of the best online bank accounts available.
The Discover Checking Account has no monthly fees and comes with 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases every month.
There are no fees for withdrawals at more than 60,000 ATMs, and you won’t pay for checks, bill pay, overdrafts, or card replacements.
Discover Online Savings is similarly fee-free and comes with a 4.30% APY on all balances. You can easily move money between the two accounts and take care of any other task with the excellent Discover Bank app.
Discover also has a Money Market, CDs, and retirement accounts.
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3. Ally Bank
Ally is the heaviest hitter in online banking and one of the biggest banks in the US, period.
In many ways, Ally is similar to a traditional brick-and-mortar bank in that its product offerings are expansive and cover everything from deposit accounts to credit cards to loans and investments. Fortunately, that’s where the similarities end.
Ally accounts come with basically no fees, and its savings rates are consistently high. At the moment, you can enjoy a 4.25% APY with no minimum balance requirement in its high-yield savings account.
Ally also offers an interest checking account, a money market account, and three different Certificates of Deposit (CDs).
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4. Axos Bank
Axos is one of the bigger names in online banking and offers financial services for personal and business banking.
With five different consumer checking accounts, Axos has one of the widest account selections of any digital bank. It also offers a savings and Money Market account, CDs, and home, auto, and personal loans.
All of Axos’ accounts are free of monthly maintenance fees, and it reimburses users for all domestic ATM fees. Its 5.25% APY on its High Yield Savings account is one of the highest around, though the max interest rate is capped at balances of $25,000.
The Axos mobile app is highly rated for both Apple and Android devices, so you can easily make mobile check deposits, monitor your account balance, and transfer money from your smartphone.
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5. Current
Current is a neobank that offers banking services through partnerships with Choice Financial Group and Metropolitan Commercial Bank.
Current only offers one account, so you can spend and save in one place. It doesn’t charge monthly fees or overdraft fees and comes with benefits like early direct deposit and automated savings pods. Current is also part of the Allpoint network for fee-free ATM use.
Plus, if you have kids, you can open a connected Teen Banking account to help instill positive financial habits in your children.
A Current savings account come with up to 4.00% APY attached, and you can earn through cash back when you use your Current Visa debit card.
When you make debit card purchases at more than 14,000 participating retailers, you get up to 15x points, which you can redeem for cash in your account.
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6. One Finance
One is a digital bank that’s built around high savings rates and low-interest lines of credit. Its accounts are provided by Coastal Community Bank, an FDIC-insured partner.
One offers a single account that acts as both a checking account and a savings account. You get a debit card, early direct deposit, and free overdraft protection, plus savings perks like customizable Pockets and up to a 3.00% APY.
To earn the highest savings rate, you need to enroll in automatic savings and contribute up to $1,000 per month. The up to 5.00% APY applies to your entire Auto-Save balance, while the rest of your savings (up to $25,000) earns at 1.00%.
One does not have any account fees or minimums, and it also offers no-fee credit lines of up to $10,000 with competitive interest rates.
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7. Revolut
Revolut is a digital bank that’s made its name as a “challenger bank” in the UK. It’s the largest neobank in Europe and, unlike Monzo, is now widely available in the US.
With a Revolut account, you get mobile banking, free transfers between Revolut users, instant currency exchange, and early direct deposit.
Revolut also has a rewards program that offers cash back with its partner brands, plus helpful budgeting and analytics tools.
Revolut offers three tiers of its digital bank account: Standard, Premium, and Metal.
Here’s a look at what you get (and what you pay) with each one.
Standard
- No monthly fee
- 0.05% APY
- Fee-free ATM withdrawals (up to $300 per month)
- Revolut Junior account for one child
Premium
- $9.99 per month
- 0.07% APY
- Fee-free ATM withdrawals (up to $600 per month)
- Overseas medical insurance
- Premium debit card
- LoungeKey Pass access
- Revolut Junior account for up to two children
- One fee-free international transfer per month
Metal
- $16.99 per month
- 0.07% APY
- Fee-free ATM withdrawals (up to $1200 per month)
- Priority customer support
- Overseas medical insurance
- Exclusive metal debit card
- LoungeKey Pass access
- Revolut Junior account for up to five children
- Three free SWIFT transfers per month
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8. Bank5 Connect
Bank5 Connect is a somewhat under-the-radar online bank. It’s the digital division of BankFive, a community bank in Massachusetts and Rhode Island that’s been around since the mid-1800s.
Bank5 Connect is available nationwide (with the exception of MA or RI residents) and offers high-yield checking and savings accounts, plus CDs. There are no monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements, and your first order of paper checks is free.
Bank5 Connect is part of the SUM ATM network, which comes with thousands of free locations. The bank doesn’t charge for out-of-network ATM use and reimburses up to $15 in ATM fees each month.
Bank5 Connect is a member-FDIC financial institution, but its accounts are also protected by the Massachusetts Depositors Insurance Fund (DIF), so deposits are covered in their entirety rather than just the standard $250,000.
To start an account with Bank5 Connect, you need a $10 minimum opening deposit for checking or savings, or $500 for a CD.
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9. Aspiration
Aspiration is an online bank with a conscience. The bank promises that your deposits will not fund industries that harm the environment. Furthermore, it rewards customers for spending money with socially conscious brands.
Aspiration offers two all-in-one accounts: Aspiration Spend & Save and Aspiration Plus.
- Spend & Save: Employs a “choose what you pay” fee structure, so you have the option to completely avoid a monthly fee. You earn 0%, 3% to 5% back on Conscience Coalition purchases, and the account comes with early direct deposit.
- Aspiration Plus: Costs $5.99 per month, and in exchange for the fee, you get up to 3.00% APY, 10% back on Conscience Coalition purchases, and one out-of-network ATM reimbursement per month.
Both accounts come with access to Aspiration’s network of 55,000 free ATMs and a Visa debit card.
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10. MoneyLion
MoneyLion is a personal finance app that provides a digital bank account and an investment account through MetaBank, its partner financial institution.
Its main banking product, the RoarMoney account, is an all-in-one account that comes with early direct deposit, daily spending rewards, up to $1,000 per year in price protection, and a built-in spending tracker.
RoarMoney has a small $1 monthly fee but is otherwise a mostly free account. You won’t pay for withdrawals at Allpoint ATMs, and there are no minimum deposit requirements, ACH transfer fees, foreign transaction fees, or card replacement fees.
MoneyLion’s automated investment platform easily links with your RoarMoney account so you can transfer funds back and forth with ease.
You can choose an investment strategy that fits with your financial goals, and you won’t pay any fees for portfolio management.
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11. Monzo
Monzo is an online bank that’s based in London and serves as one of the most popular digital banks in all of the UK.
In 2019, the bank announced that it would be expanding to the US. That process is still ongoing, and Monzo recently abandoned its push to get a US banking license.
Instead, Monzo has partnered with Ohio-based Sutton Bank. The US platform is unfortunately still in Beta, so your only option at the moment is to sign up for the waitlist.
With this in mind, we’re still waiting on a lot of the details about what the US version of Monzo will look like once it’s open to the public.
Here’s the rundown of what Monzo has said will be available so far:
- Categorized spending tools
- Savings “Pots”
- Round-Ups
- No account fees
- No minimum balance requirements
- No transfer fees
- No overdraft fees
- Network of 38,000+ free ATMs
- No foreign exchange fees
The UK version of Monzo has more than 5.5 million users, so we can expect more value adds once it’s widely available in the US. I’ll keep you posted as more information comes out.
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What is Chime?
Chime is a financial technology company, or fintech, that provides FDIC-insured bank accounts through partnerships with Bancorp Bank and Stride Bank.
Like most online banks, Chime doesn’t charge fees typical of traditional banks and uses its lack of overhead to pass on higher-than-average annual percentage yield (APY) rates to its customers.
Chime’s two flagship financial products are the Chime Savings Account and the Chime Spending Account. Chime Savings currently comes with a 0.50% APY, no fees, and automated savings Round Ups that round your checking purchases to the nearest dollar and drop the change in your savings.
Chime’s Spending Account is also fee-free and comes with a debit card and early payday deposits. Chime is part of both the MoneyPass and VisaPlus ATM networks, so you can make free ATM withdrawals from more than 60,000 locations. It also allows for cash deposits at Green Dot locations.
On top of its product offerings, Chime also boasts one of the best mobile apps in all of banking. The Chime app currently has an impressive 4.8-star rating (out of 5) in the App Store and a 4.6-star rating (out of 5) in the Google Play Store.
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Banks Like Chime FAQs
What’s another app like Chime?
There are a lot of apps like Chime, but its biggest competitors are other neobanks, including One, MoneyLion, Current, and chartered online banks like Ally and Axos.
What is the best online-only bank like Chime?
The best online-only bank for you is the one that meets your specific financial needs. The online banking industry is massive, and you have a bunch of different options to choose from.
To narrow it down, think about what you want and need from a bank, whether it’s a low cost-platform, high savings rates, or something else. Whatever it is that you’re looking for, chances are there’s a digital bank that can provide it.
What is the best banking app?
Again, it all depends on what works well for you. A good banking app should make your financial life easier and allow you to take care of your account needs wherever you are.
In terms of overall ratings and usage, Chase Mobile: Bank & Invest and Capital One Mobile are the top-rated mobile banking apps. With that said, online banks tend to focus a bit more on their tech.
Chime, Ally, Axos, and Discover Bank all have very highly-rated mobile apps that should do the job.
Which Chime Alternative is Best for You?
Chime is arguably one of the most attractive online banking options. But it’s far from the only one.
And, since you’re reading this post, the odds are that you like what Chime has to offer, but something is missing. Your next step is to identify what that something is.
Maybe you want a broad range of product offerings like Ally has, or you want cash back opportunities from a bank like Discover.
Or maybe you’re looking for accounts for the whole family, which would make Current and Revolut stand out.
Whatever your preferences are, you’re on the right track to finding an online bank that can service them.
Now that you know what’s up for grabs from Chime and its competitors, it’s as simple as taking that next step.
Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by, and debit card issued by, The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank, N.A.; Members FDIC
