Here are the winners of Finder's 2024 Bank Account Awards. All of these accounts have no monthly fees and also no fees for using ATMs on the bank's own network.
The Finder Banking Awards use a rigorous methodology to select the winning transaction accounts. To qualify for selection, a bank account should have:
Then we scored each account based on rates, other fees and features like cashback. 50% of the final score comes from the fee component.
If you have a bank account with a $5 monthly account keeping fee, that's $60 a year gone to fees. And if you're charged $2.50 each time you withdraw cash, and you visit an ATM just once a week, you can say goodbye to another $130 a year. Adding foreign transaction fees and overseas ATM fees to the mix, you could easily be wasting over well over $200 a year on fees.
Aside from account keeping fees, ATM fees and international transaction fees, many banks charge:
Bank accounts will charge some types of fees but not others. The best way to avoid fees is to figure out the fees you're most likely to be charged, and look for an account that doesn't charge these (for example if you regularly use ATMs you'll want to avoid ATM fees the most).
| What fee do you want to avoid? | Some bank accounts that don't charge this fee |
|---|---|
| Monthly fees |
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| Domestic ATM withdrawal fees |
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| International transaction fees |
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| Overseas ATM withdrawal fees |
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The main thing you'll be looking at is the fees, but there are other features to consider when choosing an account too.
Most bank accounts charge no account keeping fees, so if your account does charge this fee know that it can be easily avoided with another account.
If you're often overseas, or you regularly shop online from international sites, look for an account that has no international transaction fees.
If you like to do some of your banking in branch, choose an account that doesn't charge extra fees for deposits in branch. It's also worth checking the bank has some branch locations near you.
It's convenient to have access to an account via a mobile banking app so you can easily and quickly keep an eye on spending and transactions at any time, wherever you are.
Some accounts, particularly business accounts, will require you to maintain a certain monthly deposit or balance to have the account fees waived. If you're considering an account that does this, make sure you can meet the requirements.
Some accounts offer things like cashback when opening the account or ongoing cashback offers when spending.
Choose an account that has payment options you want to use, for example, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
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