Bank of America Advantage Plus Banking

Advantage Plus Banking is the middle tier of Bank of America's three consumer checking accounts, sitting between the $4.95 SafeBalance account and the $25 Advantage Relationship account. It is the one most working adults are steered into, and the Personal Schedule of Fees effective August 7, 2026 confirms it is a non-interest bearing account with a $100 minimum to open. The monthly maintenance fee is $12, and it goes to $0 in any statement cycle where you have at least one qualifying direct deposit of $250 or more, or you keep a minimum daily balance of $1,500 or more, or an account owner is enrolled in BofA Rewards at the Preferred Plus, Preferred Honors, or Premier tier. The $250 direct deposit trigger is the loosest waiver of the four big bank accounts, half of what Chase and Wells Fargo demand, and it only takes one deposit rather than a monthly total. One 2026 change is easy to miss. Preferred Rewards is now BofA Rewards, and its tiers are Member with no minimum, Preferred Plus at $30,000, Preferred Honors at $100,000, and Premier at $1,000,000 in combined balances. Enrolling at the free Member tier no longer waives the maintenance fee. You need Preferred Plus, which means $30,000 across deposit and investment accounts, so treat the rewards route as a perk for existing wealth rather than a way out of the fee. Overdrafts are unusually cheap here by big bank standards. The Overdraft Item Fee is $10, capped at two items per day, so the worst case is $20 against $102 at Chase and $105 at Wells Fargo. Bank of America also charges nothing on everyday non-recurring debit card and ATM transactions, nothing on items that overdraw you by $1 or less, and nothing when it declines or returns an item unpaid. Balance Connect can pull from a linked account instead. Out of network ATMs cost $2.50 in the US and $5.00 abroad, plus the operator's surcharge. Take this account if a $250 direct deposit hits reliably, you want branch access, and you occasionally overdraw, because the $10 capped fee is genuinely better than the competition. Skip it if you cannot fund $100 to open, if your balance would sit idle, since the account pays nothing, or if you are chasing the BofA Rewards waiver without $30,000 to back it. Free online checking removes the fee question entirely.