Why You Can Trust Us
Investopedia was founded in 1999 and has been helping readers find the best online bank accounts since 2021. Investopedia’s research and editorial teams conducted independent research into online banks, collecting and calculating over 700 data points on 19 banks and credit unions. Banks and credit unions were evaluated based on their product offerings (checking, savings, etc.), fees, APYs, accessibility, and customer ratings.
How We Find the Best Online Banks
Investopedia’s research and editorial teams conducted independent research into online banks in April 2025. 19 banks and credit unions were included; to count as an online bank, a financial institution had to have fewer than 300 branch locations. Each financial institution was evaluated on 39 criteria. Information was collected from bank and credit union websites. Information not used for scoring was collected for background.
Our evaluation criteria were categorized in the following way and given the accompanying weights:
- Account Terms: 38.00%
- Account Variety: 37.00%
- Customer Satisfaction: 10.00%
- Fees: 8.00%
- Availability: 7.00%
The resulting scores were used to objectively rank each bank and credit union. Investopedia’s full-time compliance team maintains the accuracy of information on this page to ensure our recommendations remain the best choices for their respective categories.