4 Best Banks and Credit Unions in California for August 2023

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Below you’ll find our top picks for the best banks and credit unions in California.

These institutions have stayed as our top picks for the last few months because they offer a variety of bank accounts with solid features and can be opened regardless of where you live in the state.

The Best Banks and Credit Unions in California

• Ally: Best bank for opening a savings account
• Bank of America: Best bank for opening a checking account
• Citi: Best bank for opening a savings and checking account
• Golden 1 Credit Union: Best credit union

All of the financial institutions on our list are protected by FDIC or NCUA insurance. Remember that 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 Financial Institutions in California

Why You Should Trust Us: Experts’ Advice on Choosing the Best Financial Institution

We consulted banking and financial planning experts to inform these picks and provide their advice on finding the best financial institution in California for your needs.

We’re focusing on what will make a bank most useful, including customer service, fees, rates, and more.

• Tania Brown, certified financial planner at SaverLife
• Sophia Acevedo, certified educator in personal finance, banking reporter, Personal Finance Insider
• Roger Ma, certified financial planner with lifelaidout® and author of “Work Your Money, Not Your Life”
• Mykail James, MBA, certified financial education instructor, BoujieBudgets.com

How do you know if a bank is right for you?

There are a lot of options when it comes to choosing a bank, and the right bank for any one person depends primarily on what they need and expect. If it’s important that you visit a bank in person, you’ll need convenient brick-and-mortar locations.

If you plan to access your account online, you’ll want strong security and a user-friendly site or app – and you might consider an online bank. You might also be concerned about fees: If there’s a monthly maintenance fee for checking or savings, would you qualify to waive it?

A few other things to consider:

• How much interest does the savings account earn? More than average?
• Which provider issues the debit card? Some places don’t accept MasterCard or Amex.
• How will this bank serve you in the future, when you have different goals and needs?
• How is their customer service?
• How tricky is it to transfer money in and out of your account?

Methodology: How Did We Choose the Best Banks in California?

Personal Finance Insider’s mission is to help smart people make the best decisions with their money. We understand that “best” is often subjective, so in addition to highlighting the clear benefits of a financial product or account — a high APY, for example — we outline the limitations, too. We spent hours comparing and contrasting the features and fine print of various products so you don’t have to.

We looked at the banks and credit unions with the most branches in the state. Then we zeroed in on those that offered appealing features, like sign-up bonuses or high interest rates. None of the biggest banks in California paid high rates on savings accounts, so we chose an online bank, Ally, as our top choice for a savings account.

For the best credit union, we chose one that is easy for California residents to join and has branches in multiple parts of the state.

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

Best Banks in California: Frequently Asked Questions

Best Bank for Opening a Savings Account

Ally

Why it stands out: Ally pays 4.25% Annual Percentage Yield (APY), and doesn’t charge any monthly maintenance fees.

The Ally Savings Account has been a power player in the high-yield savings space for a few years now, and it consistently nabs top awards for online banking. Although it’s an online bank, you can use over 40,000 Allpoint ATMs for free around the US. 

Ally makes it easy to save for specific goals. You may decide to open a separate account for each goal, but Ally has a bucket feature that allows you save for multiple goals in one account. Assign each one a nickname, like “Emergency Fund” or “Travel Account” to track your progress and stay motivated. 

What to look out for: While Ally is extremely competitive, other banks offer similar online high-yield savings accounts. Ally is certainly one of the best out there, but depending on your needs and your existing banking, you may find you prefer a different bank, such as Capital One 360, Varo, or Discover.

Best Bank for Opening a Checking Account

Bank of America

Why it stands out: Bank of America is the third-largest bank in California by branch locations. You can receive a $100 sign-up bonus for opening a checking account with Bank of America. The bank also doesn’t charge any overdraft fees. 

What to look out for: The bank charges an out-of-network ATM fee and you won’t earn interest on the money you deposit.

Best Bank for Opening a Checking and Savings Account

Citi

Why it stands out: Citi is one of the largest banks in California by branch locations. The bank pays large sign-up bonuses if you open certain checking and savings accounts together and meet deposit requirements.

Citi divides its accounts into separate “packages.” If you open a checking and savings account and meet the deposit requirements, you may receive a bonus. You can also receive a bonus if you choose to only open either a savings or checking account, like the Citi Priority Account, which offers a sign-up bonus of up to $1,500.

What to look out for: The package system can be confusing. Citi has six bank account packages, which can become overwhelming. Each package offers various benefits and charges different fees. You may decide to open accounts in the package that pays the highest bonus you qualify for, but make sure you won’t get stuck with high fees before you sign up.

Best Credit Union

Golden 1 Credit Union 

Why it stands out: Maybe you prefer a credit union over a bank. Each option comes with trade-offs — credit unions often have higher interest rates and better customer service, while brick-and-mortar banks may have more locations and adapt to new technology faster.

If you’re looking for a credit union in California, then Golden 1 is a good choice. It’s easier to join than some of the other major credit unions in the state, like SchoolsFirst. There are also more locations around California than other prominent credit unions, such as First Technology Federal Credit Union.

To join Golden 1, you just have to either live or work in California, and you can open a Golden 1 savings account with $1.

There are 70 branch locations around California, and around 240 Golden 1 ATMs. You also have free access to 30,000 CO-OP ATMs nationwide, which is convenient if you travel out of state.

Golden 1 pays lower rates on some accounts than online banks, but higher than many brick-and-mortar banks.

What to look out for: Like many credit unions, Golden 1 compounds your interest monthly rather than daily, which affects how much you’ll earn in the long run. If your biggest priority is earning a good rate, then you may want to use a bank rather than a credit union, or search for a credit union that compounds daily.

Are These Banks and Credit Unions Trustworthy?

The Better Business Bureau grades companies based on responses to customer complaints, advertising, and transparency about business practices. Here are the BBB scores for our favorite banks and credit unions in California:

Ally received an A rating from the BBB because it has four unresolved complaints. Citi has an F due to lack of response to customer complaints and government action against the bank. 

In the last few years, Citi has dealt with the following public scandals:

• Citi had to compensate credit card customers for neglecting to change their interest rates (2018)
• The bank incorrectly sent $900 million to customers (2019)
• Citi was fined $400 million by the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for failing to recognize money laundering by its customers (2020)

If any of these issues worry you, you may decide you’d rather bank with Ally or Golden 1.

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Savings Rates at the Largest Banks in California

Here are the savings rates you’ll earn with the biggest banks in California. Two of these, Chase and Citi, made our list.

We didn’t choose others because they didn’t have branches in as many parts of California as some of our top picks, or they lacked distinguishing features, such as high APYs or sign-up bonuses.

However, you may still decide one of these California banks is a good fit for you, and you might like banking with a widespread institution you’re familiar with.

As of August 2023, the national average APY on savings accounts is 0.42% according to the FDIC.