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Free Checking Accounts — National / Regional

Free checking accounts at brick-and-mortar banks in the United States. These are completely free, meaning that there is never a monthly fee, without minimum-balance or direct-deposit requirements or anything else.

Unfortunately, many large banks that previously offered free checking stopped doing so. This list collects the larger national or regional banks that still do. I also have a separate list of local banks and credit unions with fee-free accounts.

The information in the table below was last verified in January 2012.

Bank Account-opening bonus? ATM rebates? Notes
Ameris Bank
Branches in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
First Bancorp
Branches in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
Fulton Bank and affiliates
Network of banks run as effectively one bank (customers can use any branch, and all banks have identical products): FNB Bank, Fulton Bank, Lafayette Ambassador Bank, Skylands Community Bank, Swineford National Bank, The Bank, and The Columbia Bank. Branches in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Hudson City
Branches in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. (Scroll down to "Free Personal Checking".)
Huntington Bank
Branches in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
M&T Bank
Branches in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia.
PNC Bank
unlimited if $2000 balance
Branches in Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Have ATMs in most other major U.S. cities.
RBC Bank
Branches in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
United Central Bank
Branches in California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Virginia.
Washington Trust
Branches in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Disclaimer: I'm not a finance or investment professional (I'm a PhD student in computer science). I believe this information to be accurate, but you should verify it for yourself before doing anything important with it.

Contact: mark@pfstuff.com