Topping our list of the best checking accounts with no overdraft fees are ones that do not allow you to overdraft your account, period. Instead, your transaction is simply declined.

While the experience of having your card declined might be frustrating, being incapable of overdrafting is the easiest way to avoid getting hit with overdraft fees. While your checking account does not affect your credit score, if your overdraft amount is ultimately sent to collections, that could appear on your credit report and ding your credit score.

That’s why the best checking accounts that avoid overdrafting altogether outrank ones that offer overdraft protection plans. If you struggle with self-control and find yourself overspending time and time again, a checking account that does not allow you to overdraft could be a good match.

To make the cut, checking accounts had to have zero overdraft or insufficient funds fees, zero minimum balance requirements and zero monthly maintenance fees. While offering an APY was not a requirement, it was an added bonus we considered when developing this list.

Aspiration Spend & Save Account

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on Aspiration’s secure website

Aspiration is an alternative financial firm geared toward the socially-conscious consumer. Aspiration’s cash management account, the Spend & Save Account, operates in the same way as similar products offered by other fintech firms – by “sweeping” deposits into banks it partners with. By doing this, Aspiration is able to offer FDIC insurance on its deposits, up to $2 million.

When it comes to overdrafting, Aspiration says it’s designed to not allow transactions to process with insufficient funds. However, it does say that there is no fee for any accidental overdrafts and there are no non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees.

What really sets Aspiration apart, though, is its “pay what is fair” model, meaning you pay what you want for fees. Essentially, you could pay $0 on fees like monthly maintenance fees and inactive account fees. The minimum amount needed to open a Spend & Save account is $50.

In addition to not being able to overdraft on your account, other features of the Aspiration Spend & Save Account include:

• 1.00% APY on your ‘Save’ funds.
• Cashback rewards on purchases, plus bonus rewards for socially-conscious businesses.
• Five free ATM withdrawals a month.
• Unlimited transfers between ‘spend’ and ‘save’ accounts.
• An Aspiration Impact Measurement Score that allows you to track your impact on socially-conscious businesses based on your spending habits.
• Aspiration donates 10% of its earnings to American charities.

Simple Checking Account

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on Simple’s secure website

Fintech firm Simple’s Checking Account is exactly as its namesake suggests — simple. Funds deposited with Simple are held by its FDIC-insured partner bank BBVA USA, and customers can spend their funds with a Visa Debit Card. Simple offers an APY of 0.01%, no minimum balance required to open an account and no fees, making it very competitive amongst the myriad of other fintech companies offering similar cash management products.

Simple says that transactions that will exceed your available balance will “normally” be declined, and also clarified that it does not charge any overdraft fees, NSF fees or interest.

Simple’s most noteworthy features are great for budgeting beginners. Those include:

• A ‘Protected Goals’ feature that allows you to save for specific goals. You choose the amount you’d like to save, the frequency you’d like to save and a completion date. You can set up multiple Protected Goals. Simple offers an APY of 0.80% on Protected Goals funds.
• An ‘Expenses’ feature, which will automatically save money for recurring expenses.
• A ‘Safe-to-Spend’ feature that shows you your total balance minus Protected Goals and other scheduled payments.

Chime Spending Account

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on Chime’s secure website

Chime is another fintech firm that offers attractive incentives along with its no-overdrafting policy. Those incentives include no fees, such as monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance fees, and access to 38,000 fee-free ATMs.

The company doesn’t just offer a no-overdrafting policy, but it goes one step further with its SpotMe feature. With SpotMe, Chime will allow you to overdraft up to $100 without a fee and instead, just apply your next deposit to whatever amount Chime covered when you were in the red. You then have an option to leave a “tip,” although it is not required. SpotMe limits range from $20 to $100, dependent on factors like your account history and activity. In order to be eligible for SpotMe, you must have received a minimum of $500 in direct deposits in the preceding 31 days.

Other noteworthy features of Chime’s Spending Account include:

• An early direct deposit feature, which allows you to get paid up to two days before your direct deposit hits your Spending Account.
• A built-in, automatic savings feature along with a Save While You Spend tool. This tool automatically rounds up your transactions to the nearest dollar and deposits the difference into your savings account.

Moven Smart Banking Account

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on Moven’s secure website

Rounding out our ranking of the best checking accounts for no overdraft fees is another fintech firm, Moven. Moven’s Smart Banking service utilizes an app and MasterCard debit cards to take a budgeting-first approach to money management. Like the other fintech firms mentioned above, Moven enlists the help of other banks to hold your deposits and provide FDIC insurance up to the legal limit. Moven requires no monthly fees or minimums and offers access to 42,000 ATMs.

Moven takes a simple, straightforward approach to overdrafts; it doesn’t allow them. Instead, any transaction that would send your account into overdraft is simply declined.

Moven’s standout features include:

• A visual Spending Meter that illustrates how fast you’re spending money compared to previous months.
• A feature that categorizes your expenses into three categories: “wants,” needs” and “other.”
• Spending Spikes which show you when you start to spend more money than usual.

While checking accounts that don’t allow overdrafting are ideal, there are other accounts great for those who find themselves often going overboard. A number of checking accounts—many of which are offered by traditional brick-and-mortar banks—offer overdraft transfer protection plans with no fees.

There are a number of benefits associated with accounts like this: You’re protected from overdrafting and any fees or interest that might come with it but you are also safe from embarrassment or inconvenience of having your card declined if you have insufficient funds.

There are drawbacks, though, that come with overdraft protection plans. In some cases, they come with strings attached, like needing to have sufficient funds in any accounts you link to cover the costs of a potential overdraft. If you aren’t careful, they can also drain the savings you worked so hard to build up.

We identified the best checking accounts that offer free transfers for overdraft protection if certain conditions are met. To be included on our list, accounts also had to have no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements. While offering an APY was not a requirement, it was considered as an added bonus.

Axos Rewards Checking

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on Axos Bank’s secure website

Member FDIC

With a generous APY and no fees, online bank Axos offers a checking account that stands apart from the pack. Axos’ Rewards Checking account boasts an APY ranging from 0.42% to 1.25%, depending on your balance and how many monthly transactions you make with your debit card. The account has no maintenance fees and no monthly minimum balance requirements, however there is a required $50 to open an account.

Axos says it does not charge overdraft or NSF fees for customers of its Rewards Checking account. The bank also offers overdraft protection, and will transfer available funds from a linked account, up to a maximum of six times per month.

The Axos Rewards Checking account’s other standout features include:

• Unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursement.

Capital One 360 Checking

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Capital One’s 360 Checking account offers a number of attractive incentives that make it one of the most competitive checking accounts among traditional, brick-and-mortar banks. It offers the peace of mind that comes with stashing your cash in a big bank, no fees and no minimums required in order to open an account. Other noteworthy features include an APY of 0.10% and access to over 39,000 free ATMs.

When it comes to overdraft protection, Capital One’s 360 Checking account gives you multiple options:

• Auto-decline: Automatically declines your transaction if you do not have sufficient funds in your account.
• Free savings transfer: Automatically transfers funds from your savings account to cover the cost of your overdraft.
• Overdraft line of credit: Loans you the funds to cover an overdraft. You have to pay interest on the overdrawn amount for the length of time you borrow funds.
• Next Day Grace: You have one business day to replace the amount you’ve overdrawn, or face a $35 fee.

Ally Bank Interest Checking Account

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Ally Bank is often touted for the relatively high interest it offers on its savings products, but it’s Interest Checking Account is worth highlighting, too. The Ally Bank Interest Checking Account has no monthly maintenance fees and no minimum required in order to open an account. It also has an APY of 0.10% to 0.25%, depending on your balance.

Ally Bank does charge an overdraft fee of $25, although it is not charged for a one-time debit card transaction or ATM withdrawal and is limited to one fee charge per day. However, you can easily waive this fee by enrolling in Ally Bank’s free Overdraft Transfer Service, which links your checking account to your online savings or money market account to cover overdrafts. Funds will be automatically transferred in $100 increments, and overdraft transfers are limited to six per statement cycle.

The Ally Bank Interest Checking Account also offers attractive features such as:

• Reimbursement of ATM fees nationwide, up to $10 per statement cycle.
• Ability to transfer funds through the Ally Skill on Amazon Alexa.

Discover Cashback Debit Checking

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Discover Bank's website is secure

Discover’s online checking account takes a different approach to banking; instead of offering an APY, the Discover Cashback Debit Checking account features 1% cash back on purchases made with your debit card. The checking account also touts more standard features such as no monthly maintenance fees and no minimum deposit required in order to open an account.

For overdrafts, the Discover Cashback Debit Checking account is eligible for enrollment in a fee-free overdraft protection service, which uses funds from a linked account to cover overdrafts.

The Discover Cashback Debit Checking account also offers the following features:

• 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month (Terms Apply).
• Free withdrawals at over 60,000 ATMs nationwide.
• Ability to freeze your debit card via its app.

What is an overdraft?

It’s essential to understand exactly what an overdraft is. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an overdraft is when you don’t have enough money in your account to cover a transaction but the bank pays for that transaction regardless. Overdrafts often occur with products linked to checking accounts like debit cards, ATM withdrawals and automatic bill payments.

Financial institutions vary widely when it comes to how they approach overdraft charges. Some will automatically decline all transactions that would make an account overdraft, while others will cover the overdraft but charge a fee. Sometimes the overdraft transaction is covered by a linked account (such as a savings or brokerage account), either for free or for a fee, while other times funds are provided by a line of credit you have to pay interest on.

How many overdraft fees can you get charged in a day?

Overdrafts are certainly a slippery slope. Not only do they push your account further into the red, but the fees stacked on top of them can rapidly get out of control. Some financial institutions will limit the number of overdraft fees you can be charged in one day, but others allow multiple overdraft fees to be charged in a single day. Ally Bank, for example, caps its $25 overdraft fee to a maximum of one per day, while Wells Fargo limits its $35 overdraft to three per day.

In 2010, the Federal Reserve passed an overdraft protection law banning banks from automatically enrolling customers in overdraft protection for one-time debit or ATM transactions. Previously, banks could automatically enroll customers in overdraft protection plans that sometimes came with steep, overdraft fees. Now, customers have to opt-in to such plans, or their card will be declined — although they still might face a NSF fee.

NSF fees vs. overdraft fees

Many financial institutions treat NSF fees and overdraft fees interchangeably, but the two have nuanced differences. An overdraft fee is charged when the bank pays for that debit that plunged your account into a negative balance. With an NSF fee, the bank does not cover the debit amount.

Almost all banks have the same NSF and overdraft fee, and they will not charge you both for the same transaction. However, some banks differentiate the two towards your daily fee maximum. So, if a bank has a maximum of four overdraft fees per day but counts NSF fees separately, you could end up paying over four penalties in a single day.