3 Best Banks to Open a Savings Account for a Child Right Now

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If your goal is to teach your child how to manage money, then a kid’s savings account is the great place to start.

Below, you’ll find our picks for the best savings accounts for children. These institutions have stayed as our top picks for the last few months because they continue to stand out for their minimal bank fees and unique perks.

The Best Children’s Savings Accounts

• Chase First Banking℠ Account: Best Brick-and-Mortar Bank
• Capital One 360 Kids Savings Account: Best Online Bank
• Alliant Credit Union Kids Savings Account: Best Credit Union

All of the financial institutions on our list are protected by FDIC or NCUA insurance. Although First Republic Bank was recently shut down, bear in mind your money is safe at a federally insured financial institution. When a financial institution is federally insured, up to $250,000 per depositor is secure in a bank account.

Compare Kids’ Savings Accounts

Our Expert Panel for the Best Kids’ Savings Accounts

We talked to banking and financial planning experts to inform these picks and provide advice on finding the best banks and credit unions for your needs. 

Here’s what they had to say about bank accounts. (Some text may be lightly edited for clarity.)

How can someone choose a bank that’s the right fit for them?

Tania Brown, certified financial planner at SaverLife:

“Obviously, you want to make sure it’s FDIC insured. Also, your banking experience — do you like walking into a bank? Well, then you need someone local. Do you just not care if you ever see your bank? Then you’re okay online. Do you write checks? Do you not write checks? So it’s thinking through how your experience with it is going to be before you make that decision.”

Sophia Acevedo, certified educator in personal finance, banking reporter, Personal Finance Insider:

“I would create a list of what I prioritize most in a bank account. For example, some banks have accounts that charge monthly service fees. I would look to see what the requirements are for waiving the monthly service fee and whether I think I could feasibly meet those requirements each month. If I’m searching for an interest-earning bank account I’ll pay attention to interest rates. I would make sure the account pays a higher interest rate than the average bank account.”

What should someone look for in a brick-and-mortar bank?

Sophia Acevedo, CEPF:

“With a brick-and-mortar bank, I would review all the bank accounts and make sure there are options where I can waive monthly service fees. I would also factor in the overall banking experience. For example, I would see if a bank lets you exchange foreign currency — not all do —  and has a strong mobile app.” 

Mykail James, MBA, certified financial education instructor, BoujieBudgets.com:

“How accessible it is. So where are the branches? And if I am to go out of town or something, how accessible is my money to me?”

What should someone look for in an online bank?

Tania Brown, CFP:

“With an online bank, absolutely online customer service, because you do not have the advantage of walking inside and talking to a human being. How often are you able to get them? What are their hours?”

Roger Ma, certified financial planner with lifelaidout® and author of “Work Your Money, Not Your Life”:

“How onerous the transfer process is, transferring money in and transferring money out. Is it same day, next day? Is it pretty easy to sync a brick-and-mortar checking account to this particular high-yield savings account?”

Mykail James, CFEI:

“When it comes to online banks, you want to be a little bit more strict about what type of interest rates they’re providing. That’s the biggest thing, because online banks are supposed to have the higher interest rate because they don’t have the overhead of the brick-and-mortar. You want to make sure that it’s well above the national average. What type of securities do they provide? Do they have two-factor identification? If it’s an online bank, they should definitely have — at the bare minimum — two-factor authentication in how easy it is to change your passwords and things like that, because you want to be a little more hypersensitive about the cyber security for a strictly online bank.”

What makes a savings account good or not good?

Roger Ma, CFP:

“It might not be as seamless to get your money out of an online savings account as it is a brick-and-mortar, but you don’t want to have so much friction where it’s such a pain to get the money out when you need it.”

Our Methodology

At Personal Finance Insider, our goal is to create useful content that helps you make good decisions about your money. We recognize that every person has distinct preferences, so we provide ample options for you to find the most suitable financial product or account for you.

First and foremost, we wanted to provide you with options. We researched the biggest financial institutions to find the best brick-and-mortar banks, online banks, and credits unions in the US that offer kids’ savings accounts.

Then we compared different account features and bank services to find the standouts of each type of institution. For our best brick-and-mortar institution, we looked for an account that required minimal bank fees and came with a widely accessible branch and ATM network. For online banks and credit unions, we looked for an account that was easy to open, paid high rates, and charged little to no fees. 

See our full ratings methodology for checking, business checking, savings, and money market accounts »

Children’s Savings Accounts FAQs

Best Brick-And-Mortar Bank

Chase First Banking℠ Account

Why it stands out: The Chase First Banking℠ Account doesn’t require a minimum opening deposit or charge monthly service fees. The account also has useful management features for both kids and parents. Kids can create savings goals and track how much they’ve saved on the bank’s mobile app. Parents may set up alerts or limitations on how their child uses the bank account. 

Chase also has more than 4,700 branch locations and 16,000 free ATMs, which is beneficial if you’re looking to bank close to home.

What to look out for: The bank charges out-of-network ATM fees if you don’t use a Chase ATM. You also won’t earn interest on the account, so it’s better as a money management tool than a long-term savings option.

Bear in mind that to open the Chase First Banking℠ Account, parents must also already have a Chase checking account. 

Chase Bank Review

Best Online Bank

Capital One 360 Kids Savings Account

Why it stands out: The Capital One 360 Kids Savings Account embodies online banks’ strengths — no monthly service fees, a competitive interest rate, and 24/7 live chat customer support. This will be a strong contender if you’re looking for an online account that’s easy to manage since you won’t have to worry about standard bank fees.

What to look out for: The Capital One 360 Kids Savings Account is an online account that can be opened from anywhere in the US, but your banking experience may vary depending on where you live. The bank has branch locations in Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia, and Washington DC. If you don’t live nearby any of these areas, it might not be easy to deposit cash.

Capital One Bank Review

Best Credit Union

Alliant High-Rate Savings Account

Why it stands out: The Alliant Credit Union Kids Savings Account stands out from other children’s accounts because it pays a high interest rate if you keep a daily balance of at least $100. It also comes with an ATM card, so your child will be able to review their account balance or make transactions at Alliant ATMs. 

What to look out for: Opening an account with a credit union usually entails specific membership requirements. But Alliant lets you join online from anywhere in the US if you donate $5 to Foster Care to Success.

Alliant Credit Union Review

Other Financial Institutions We Considered

We researched many financial institutions to find banks and credit unions that offered kids’ savings accounts. The following are other banks and credit unions we considered for top picks but didn’t end up choosing. While these institutions weren’t picked, you may still want to explore them if one appeals to you.

Also, note that we narrowed down our choices for online banks and online banking platforms since many don’t have special kids’ savings accounts.

• Bank of America: Bank of America has a distinct checking account for students age 25 or under. But if you’d like to open a savings account for your child, it only lets you open one of the bank’s regular savings accounts as a joint bank account.
• Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo has several savings and checking account options for minors at least 13 years or older, but you’ll have to deal with monthly service fees.
• US Bank: US Bank only lets you open a bank account for a minor if they’re at least 14 years old. Other financial institutions featured have more lenient requirements.
• M&T Bank: The bank’s branches are mainly on the East Coast, and the kids’ savings account pays a low interest rate.
• KeyBank: The kids’ savings account doesn’t charge monthly service fees, but it has a smaller branch and ATM network than some of our top picks.
• Regions Bank: The savings account for minors doesn’t have a monthly fee, but Regions pays a low interest rate, and branches are mostly in the Southeast region of the US.
• PNC Bank: PNC Bank is available in several regions throughout the US but it has a smaller branch and ATM network than our top pick.
• Fifth Third Bank: Fifth Third Bank pays a low interest rate, and most of its branch locations are in the Southern region of the US. 
• America First: The credit union’s youth account doesn’t have monthly fees, and while it offers a solid rate, our top choice for the best credit union has 24/7 customer support and a slightly higher rate.
• Bethpage: Bethpage has a solid kids’ savings account that pays a high interest rate if you have a balance under $1,000. However, the rate drops substantially if your account balance is higher.
• Golden 1: The credit union’s savings account has a low minimum opening deposit and doesn’t have a monthly service fee. However, it’s only available to California residents.
• USAA: There’s no monthly service fees to open and kids and teen savings account, but there are specific membership requirements to become a part of the bank.
• First Internet Bank:  The kids’ savings account pays a solid interest rate and doesn’t charge any monthly service fees. However, some of our top picks offer a slightly higher rate and offer 24/7 customer service.

Bank Trustworthiness and BBB Ratings

The Better Business Bureau assesses businesses based on responses to customer complaints, honesty in advertising, and transparency about business practices. Here are the BBB ratings of our top picks: 

Capital One has received an A- rating from the BBB because it has a high volume of customer complaints on the BBB website. Chase has an A- rating because it has four unresolved customer complaints on the BBB website.

Chase has been involved in recent public controversies.

In 2020, the Department of Justice required Chase to pay $920 million in a settlement that accused the bank of being involved in wrongful trading.

In 2020, the US Department of Labor said JP Morgan Chase & Co. broke the law by underpaying women. The bank was required to pay $800,000 in back wages in the settlement and provide a total of $9 million for compensation adjustments over the next five years.