Monthly Maintenance Fees by Bank in 2026, and How Each One Is Waived

As of October 27, 2026, 11 of the 60 savings and checking accounts we read charge a monthly maintenance fee, from $4.50 to $15 a month. All 11 print at least one way to waive it, and four of them accept a deposit as a waiver on its own. Citi Accelerate Savings has the lowest fee in the table. The table below gives every waiver with its threshold and its document date.

FinanceRadar data: of the 60 savings and checking accounts whose fee documents we read on October 27, 2026, 11 charge a monthly fee, 39 state none and 10 do not mention one. The median of the 11 fees is $8 a month, and four of the 11 list a deposit amount as a waiver on its own, the lowest at $250. Each account's fee lines are in our bank fee dataset (CSV). That dataset counts Robinhood Gold's subscription as a monthly fee, so it shows 12 charging accounts where this page, like our fee study, leaves the subscription out.

Monthly maintenance fees at the 11 accounts that charge one, lowest fee first. Read October 27, 2026, with each document's own date in the last column.

Easiest means the lowest dollar figure among a bank's listed waivers. Options with no dollar figure, such as an age limit, a tier or a linked account, appear only in the waivers column.

Which accounts charge a monthly fee, and how is each one waived?

Chase has two rows, and they show how much a waiver can change the bill. Chase Total Checking charges its fee unless one of four things applies: qualifying electronic deposits in the statement period, a balance at the start of each day, an average beginning-day balance, or a linked qualifying checking account. Chase's Total Checking fee page prints no effective date, so the date we can give is the day we read it. The electronic deposit route is the one a paycheck can meet on its own.

Chase Savings charges its fee unless one of five routes applies: the start-of-day minimum balance in the table, the automatic transfer level in the table from Chase checking, a linked qualifying checking account, a linked Chase College Checking account enrolled in Overdraft Protection, or an owner under 25. The Chase savings fee page lists all five and also prints a banker-assisted outgoing domestic wire at $35, a separate charge from the monthly fee. Chase Premier Savings has its own page, and we did not include it.

Citi Regular Checking charges its fee unless the owner is in a Relationship Tier or receives direct deposits or other qualifying transactions at the level in the table during a calendar month. The Citi fee page prints a change: from January 1, 2027, the deposit route requires $1,000 or more, and the Relationship Tier stays as the other route. If your deposits sit near the current level, plan for the higher one next year.

Citi Accelerate Savings is priced in Citi's Consumer Deposit Account Agreement, effective November 20, 2025, with its fee chart amended July 18, 2026. That chart lists $4.50 a month, waived when the average monthly balance meets the table's level or when any owner also owns a Checking account. Customers with Citi Priority, Citigold or Citigold Private Client Relationship Tier status also avoid it, the same route Citi prints for Regular Checking.

Bank of America charges its Advantage Plus fee unless the account gets the direct deposit in the table, keeps the $1,500 minimum daily balance or sits in a BofA Rewards Preferred Plus, Preferred Honors or Premier tier. Its Advantage Savings account waives the fee with the minimum daily balance in the table, an Advantage Relationship Banking account, a qualifying BofA Rewards tier or an owner under 25, and it is waived for six months on new accounts. The bank's fee schedule is dated August 7, 2026, and the Advantage Plus row comes from that schedule.

Wells Fargo has two rows. Everyday Checking charges its fee unless one of five routes applies: qualifying electronic deposits, a minimum daily balance, deposit and investment balances, a primary owner aged 17 to 24, or a qualifying military direct deposit. Its account fee summary is effective July 28, 2026. Way2Save charges its fee unless one of five routes applies: a $300 minimum daily balance, one automatic transfer of $25 or more per fee period from a linked Wells Fargo checking account, one automatic transfer of $1 or more each business day from linked checking, one or more Save As You Go transfers from linked checking (Wells Fargo's option that moves $1 to savings with each debit card purchase or Bill Pay payment), or a primary owner aged 24 or under. The Way2Save page prints no date for these criteria.

Truist One Savings charges its fee unless one of four routes applies: a minimum daily ledger balance, a recurring transfer at the table's level each statement cycle, a minor under 18 as the primary owner, or a related Truist checking product. Truist's disclosures page prints a date only for its rates and fees, and the fee lines carry none of their own.

Axos has two business accounts. Business Savings charges its fee below a $2,500 average daily balance, and Business Interest Checking charges $10 below $5,000. Both come from one agreement effective September 28, 2026, and both waivers are balance-only. The only waiver we found for either one is a balance, so a paycheck deposit alone does not waive either account.

What does a monthly fee cost over a year?

A fee looks small for one month and adds up over a year. At $4.50 a month, the Citi row costs $54 a year. At the fee level that four accounts share (Axos Business Savings, Chase Savings, Truist One Savings and Wells Fargo Way2Save), a year costs $60. At $8 a month it costs $96, and at $10 a month it costs $120. At $12 a month, Bank of America Advantage Plus costs $144 a year, and twelve months at the top rate in the table come to $180.

The waiver is worth more than the fee it removes. One qualifying direct deposit or electronic deposit route each statement period removes the whole annual bill, so check whether your own deposits already clear the threshold before you pay for a month.

Which accounts in our catalog state no monthly fee?

Thirty-eight accounts in our catalog state no monthly fee in the documents we read on October 27, 2026. Robinhood Gold Cash Sweep is the thirty-ninth. Its monthly charge is tied to a Gold membership rather than to the account itself, so we file the account with the no-fee group and keep it out of the 11 that charge one.

Checking accounts with no monthly fee: Ally Interest Checking, Axos Bank Basic Business Checking, Grasshopper Bank Small Business Checking, OnePay Cash, Quontic High Interest Checking, Schwab Bank Investor Checking, SoFi Checking and Upgrade Rewards Checking Preferred.

Savings and money market accounts with no monthly fee: Ally Online Savings, American Express High Yield Savings, Apple Card Savings, Axos Bank Business Premium Savings, Axos ONE, Barclays Tiered Savings, Bask Interest Savings, Betterment Cash Reserve, Bread Savings, BrioDirect High-Yield Savings, Cash App Savings, CIT Bank Platinum Savings, Elevault High-Yield Savings, EverBank Performance Savings, Fidelity Cash Management Account, GO2bank Savings Vaults, Ivy Bank High-Yield Savings, Happen Bank LevelUp Savings, Openbank High Yield Savings, Pibank Savings, Poppy Bank Premier Online Savings, Quontic Bank High Yield Savings, SoFi Checking & Savings, Synchrony High Yield Savings, TAB Save High Yield Savings, UFB Portfolio Savings, Varo Savings, Vio Bank Cornerstone Money Market, Wealthfront Cash Account and Zynlo Money Market.

No monthly fee does not mean no fees. The fee study lists the wire, stop payment and overdraft charges for the same accounts. If you want a checking account with no monthly fee and no minimum, the best free checking accounts guide ranks them on the other fees too.

Which accounts do not say whether they charge a monthly fee?

Ten accounts say nothing about a monthly fee in the documents we read: BMO Alto Online Savings, Capital One 360 Checking, Capital One 360 Performance Savings, Chime Checking, Chime Savings, Current Checking, Current Savings Pods, E*TRADE Premium Savings, Vanguard Cash Plus and Varo Bank Account.

Not disclosed is not the same as free. Capital One 360 Checking's agreement fee list names cashier's checks, outgoing domestic wires and foreign checks, and no monthly fee. The other nine documents say nothing about one, so ask the bank for its full schedule before you rely on a zero.

How to pay less than the table shows

Start by matching the waiver to your cash flow. Chase Total Checking, Citi Regular Checking, Bank of America Advantage Plus and Wells Fargo Everyday Checking each accept a deposit as one route, so a steady paycheck can clear the fee each month without holding a balance. Check the figure against your own deposits, since Chase counts each statement period and Citi counts each calendar month.

Next, link accounts where the bank allows it. Chase Savings waives its fee through a linked qualifying checking account, and Bank of America Advantage Savings waives through an Advantage Relationship Banking account. A link removes the balance test, but it only works if you already bank with that institution.

Then check whether an age route applies to you. Chase Savings, Bank of America Advantage Savings and Wells Fargo Way2Save waive for owners under 25, and Everyday Checking waives for primary owners aged 17 to 24. Those routes stop at a birthday, so check the age limit before you count on one. Finally, recheck the Citi Regular Checking threshold in January 2027, when it rises to $1,000.

How we compared

Our fee study covered 60 savings and checking accounts from the 69 published on FinanceRadar, recording each monthly fee with the condition printed beside it. We read those documents on October 27, 2026, and each row's own date sits in the last column. Nine of the 11 charging accounts had their bank's own fee document read again that day. The Advantage Plus and Axos Business Savings rows come from the schedules read for the study.

The sources are Chase savings fees, Chase Total Checking fees, Citi's Consumer Deposit Account Agreement, Wells Fargo's fee summary, Way2Save's page and Bank of America's fee schedule. Truist's One Savings waivers come from its own disclosures page. Not disclosed means the documents we read do not mention a monthly fee. We did not open any account or test a fee by hand.

This is general information, not personalized financial advice. FinanceRadar may earn a commission from some links; it never affects rankings (how we make money). For the rate side of the same accounts, see the checking account statistics, the high-yield savings statistics and the best high-yield savings guide. For bank rankings, see the best checking accounts and the best savings accounts.

FAQ

Which banks charge the highest monthly fee in this table?

Chase Total Checking, Citi Regular Checking and Wells Fargo Everyday Checking charge the highest fee in the table, as their pages read on October 27, 2026. Each one waives its fee with a deposit or a balance, and Chase Total also waives with a linked qualifying checking account.

How many accounts charge a monthly maintenance fee?

11 of the 60 accounts we read charge one. 39 state no monthly fee, counting Robinhood Gold Cash Sweep, whose charge is a subscription. The remaining 10 do not mention a monthly fee in the documents we read.

Can I avoid a monthly fee with a direct deposit?

Yes, at four of the 11 banks. Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking waives its fee with a direct deposit, and Citi Regular Checking waives its fee with direct deposits or other qualifying transactions each month. Chase Total Checking and Wells Fargo Everyday Checking waive with qualifying electronic deposits.

What does it mean when a document says nothing about a monthly fee?

A document that states a fee is absent, or that the service is not offered, gives us a no-fee reading. A document that never names the fee gives us a not-disclosed reading, which says nothing about the amount. Ten of the 60 accounts fall in that second group, so for them the fee stays unknown until the bank confirms it.

Is Robinhood Gold's monthly charge a maintenance fee?

No. The charge is tied to Robinhood Gold membership, not to the account, so the account stays with the no-fee group and out of the 11 that charge one.

Will the Citi Regular Checking fee waiver change?

Yes. Citi's fee page shows that from January 1, 2027, customers must hold a Relationship Tier or have $1,000 or more in direct deposits or other qualifying transactions. Until then, the current threshold in the table applies, and the Relationship Tier waiver stays as it is.

Cite this: FinanceRadar, "Monthly Maintenance Fees by Bank in 2026, and How Each One Is Waived", October 2026.