U.S. Bank offers a variety of personal and business accounts, including checking, savings, money market accounts and CDs. All accounts come with access to its online and mobile banking platform, which lets you manage your money and deposit checks for free. Account holders get eStatements and overdraft protection, or avoid overdraft fees altogether with its personal Safe Debit account. But there aren’t branches in every state, most accounts come with maintenance fees and the APY on the personal savings account is low.
Best for: Seniors, young adults, teens and military members in need of a full-service bank.
Pros
Large variety of accounts
40,000+ ATM network
High APY on personal savings
Cons
Monthly fees on most accounts
Poor customer reviews
Is U.S. Bank right for you?
U.S. Bank may be worth considering if you’re looking to do all your personal banking and borrowing in one place. With the Smart Rewards program — included for free with U.S. Bank’s Smarty Checking account — you may get extra perks like mortgage credits and new auto loan rate discounts.
The best perks with U.S. Bank are available for specific demographics: seniors, young adults, teens and military members (veteran or active duty). These groups are more likely to get monthly maintenance fees waived on select accounts and enjoy extra perks that come with U.S. Bank’s Smart Rewards program.
But if you don’t need a full-service bank and can’t waive the monthly maintenance fees on its personal accounts, consider other options. We’ve seen many other savings accounts with APYs as high as 5%. Also, there are many free checking accounts to compare that don’t require you to be a certain age or demographic or to hold a certain balance to avoid a monthly fee.
Where U.S. Bank shines
U.S. Bank is FDIC-insured with over 90 years in the industry. It serves well over 11 million customers and has over 2,000 full-service branches in 26 states.
Similar to many large banks, U.S. Bank is integrated with Zelle, so you can easily send money to friends and family with no fees on U.S. Bank’s end.
Smart Rewards program
With U.S. Bank’s Smartly Checking account, you can join the Smart Rewards program for free, which includes extra bonuses and more waived fees, depending on your account balance and tier (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum Plus). Some of the better rewards we saw include:
There are also exclusive rewards reserved for seniors, young adults, teens and military members in the program. If you’re in one of those demographics, you’re eligible to waive the monthly maintenance fee on the Smartly Checking account. You may also qualify for extra perks, like a 50% discount on personal check reorders and safe deposit box rental fees.
What could be better
While U.S. Bank has that industry prowess, it’s not the most affordable option out there.
Maintenance fees galore
U.S. Bank charges monthly maintenance fees on its checking accounts, and with the Safe Debit account, there’s no way to waive the $4.95 monthly fee.
The accounts that do offer the ability to waive the fee require you to meet certain criteria, such as:
Keeping the specified minimum monthly balance
Being under the age of 24 or over 65
Being a member of the military (veteran or active member)
Meeting direct deposit requirements
Having a U.S. Bank credit card
Read the fine print for overdraft program
The bank advertises an Overdraft Fee Forgiveness Program for its Smartly Checking account, but there are some things to know.
Here’s how the program works: If you overdraw by $50.01 or more, your overdraft fee is refunded as long as you restore your account balance before 11:00 p.m. ET. To avoid the fee altogether, you can set up automatic transfers from another U.S. Bank account to cover the overdraft.
So, while you can get the fee waived, U.S. Bank still charges you a fee unless you can resolve the negative balance before the end of the day. Plenty of other banks offer free checking accounts that waive the overdraft fee completely.
Still might run into ATM fees
U.S. Bank provides its customers with access to over 40,000 ATMs nationwide, but all fees are waived only at U.S. Bank ATMs. At other ATMs, such as MoneyPass, using a U.S. Bank card does avoid surcharge fees, but transactions may be subject to U.S. Bank ATM transaction fees.
So, technically, you do have access to over 40,000 ATMs, but not all are fee-free. To avoid ATM fees, use the bank’s ATM locator in the app to find U.S. Bank-branded ATMs (there are around 15,000 of them). With the ATM locator feature, you can filter for a list of nearby U.S. Bank ATMs and/or partner ATMs.
U.S. Bank’s personal accounts
With the major pros and cons covered, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what U.S. Bank has to offer.
U.S. Bank personal checking
There are three checking accounts to choose from, and one is for young adults.
Bank Smartly Checking. Offers overdraft protection if linked to a savings account and a few ways to waive the $12 monthly maintenance fee. Having this account also unlocks the Smart Rewards program, and your tier is determined by your account balance.
Safe Debit. This account has a smaller $4.95 monthly fee, but there’s no way to waive it. You can’t overdraw on the account, but you may get discounts on money orders.
Bank Smartly Checking for young adults. The $12 monthly fee is waived for account holders aged 18 to 24, and the account includes a few overdraft protection options.
Hot tip: Recently, U.S. Bank increased the cost of the Bank Smartly Checking account from $6.95 per month to $12 per month.
U.S. Bank personal savings
U.S. Bank offers one personal savings account (not counting the money market account): Bank Smartly Savings Account.
This account offers up to 3.5% APY — very competitive. To earn the highest rate, you must pair the Smartly Savings Account with either the Smartly Checking or Safe Debit account and have a combined $100,000 balance across the two accounts.
There’s a $25 opening deposit. There’s also a $5 monthly fee, which can be waived by either:
Being an owner of Bank Smartly Checking, Safe Debit or Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card
Being under the age of 18
Hot tip: To earn the highest rate on the U.S. Bank savings account, it used to only require a combined balance of $25,000. Now, the requirement is a Combined Qualifying Balances (CQB) of at least $100,000 across your U.S. Bank accounts.
U.S. Bank money market accounts
There are two personal money market savings accounts to choose from.
Elite Money Market Account. Can earn up to 1.00% APY on balances over $25,000. There’s a $100 opening deposit requirement and a $10 monthly fee (can be waived). Rates can vary based on zip code.
Retirement Money Market. Features no monthly maintenance fee for U.S. Bank individual retirement account holders. But it requires either a $100 minimum opening deposit or $25 in automatic monthly deposits upon opening. Rates vary by region, likely around 0.01% APY for all balances.
U.S. Bank CDs
Similar to U.S. Bank’s savings accounts, CD rates vary by area. U.S. Bank’s CD rates typically max out at 3.5% APY, but you may get a different rate depending on where you live. CD options include:
CD Specials. Likely the best offer, CD specials offer rates up to 3.5% APY in some areas with select terms, and current account holders may qualify for higher yields. Terms available are five months, nine months and 13 months. Requires a $1,000 minimum deposit.
Standard CDs. Offers a rate increase every seven months, starting at 0.05% APY and ending at 0.25% APY, depending on your zip code.
Step Up CDs. Offers a rate increase every seven months throughout its 28-month term, and requires a deposit of at least $1,000. Rates vary by area.
Trade-up CDs. Lets you increase your CD’s interest rate once before maturity by switching to a new CD with a comparable term. Terms are 30 or 60 months, it requires a $1,000 deposit and rates range from 0.1% to 0.4% APY, depending on your area.
Other U.S. Bank products
The bank also offers business accounts, including checking, savings and money market accounts.
Some business checking and money market accounts are interest-bearing, like the Basic business savings account, Platinum Business Money Market account and the Premium Business Money Market account. However, many require an opening deposit, and rates are low.
Aside from business accounts, other U.S. Bank products include:
Credit cards. Choose from eight options, all with different perks and benefits — including points, cash back and eligible travel reimbursements.
Loans. Take out a home, auto, boat, RV or personal loan. It also offers home equity options.
Investing. Watch your money grow with mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other portfolio options.
Wealth management. Get assistance planning for retirement and managing investments. Automated and self-directed investment options are available.
Compare with leading bank accounts
Narrow down top personal bank accounts by fees, APYs and opening deposits. Select the Compare box to view products side by side for easier comparison.
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To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of savings accounts against FDIC-reported national averages as a baseline. Accounts with rates well over the national average are scored the highest, while accounts with rates well below are scored low.
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To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of checking accounts against what we consider is the best option: no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, a large ATM network of 50,000 or more, additional features outside of typical banking services, and the optional perk of earning interest. Accounts that are nearly free to maintain and use are scored the highest, while accounts with costly fees and few features are scored the lowest.
We currently don't have that product, but here are others to consider:
How we picked these
What is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score crunches over 250 savings accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees, opening deposit and features - this gives you a simple score out of 10.
To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of savings accounts against FDIC-reported national averages as a baseline. Accounts with rates well over the national average are scored the highest, while accounts with rates well below are scored low.
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What is the Finder Score?
The Finder Score analyzes hundreds of CDs from more than 100 institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate for available terms and opening deposit requirements - this gives you a simple score out of 10.
Different banks and credit unions offer CDs for various lengths of time, ranging from as short as seven days to as long as 20 years. For our ratings, we consider the term lengths that the FDIC uses in its monthly updates on national rates.
If a bank or credit union doesn’t offer a CD for a specific term used by the FDIC, we don’t penalize it: Instead, we simply don’t rate it. Each of the standard term lengths has its own APY rating based on the FDIC’s average rates.
1.3 out of 5 stars, based on 1,422 customer reviews
Customer reviews verified as of
19 February 2026
Like most big banks, reviews aren’t the best for U.S. Bank.
Nearly all reviews on Trustpilot are 1-star ratings, with many customers reporting negative experiences at branch locations and long wait times on customer phone lines. Many others say there were holds and issues with large deposits, or unhappiness with credit card applications or credit limits.
Overall, none of these complaints are out of the ordinary for what we normally see, but we would like to see more positive reviews in general.
Bethany Hickey is the banking editor and personal finance expert at Finder, specializing in banking, lending, insurance, and crypto.
Bethany’s expertise in personal finance has garnered recognition from esteemed media outlets, such as Nasdaq, MSN, Yahoo Finance, GOBankingRates, SuperMoney, AOL and Newsweek. Her articles offer practical financial strategies to Americans, empowering them to make decisions that meet their financial goals. Her past work includes articles on generational spending and saving habits, lending, budgeting and managing debt.
Before joining Finder, she was a content manager where she wrote hundreds of articles and news pieces on auto financing and credit repair for CarsDirect, Auto Credit Express and The Car Connection, among others.
Bethany holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan-Flint, and was poetry editor for the university’s Qua Literary and Fine Arts Magazine.
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U.S. Bank’s Special CDs have decent interest rates overall.
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