Chase Total Checking® account review

Deal

$300 signup bonus when you open a Chase Total new account with direct deposit

Expires 24 Jul 2024

Offer valid for new Chase Total Checking customers through July 24, 2024, when you set up direct deposit within 90 days of opening your account.

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Who is Chase Checking best for?

The Chase Checking best suits consumers looking for a checking account back by one of the four major banks on the market. The caveat? It’s $12 monthly fee. Although the fee is avoidable as long as you meet one of three requirements, there’s a risk that the fee will eat into your hard-earned money if you’re not careful.

What makes Chase Checking shine

The main strengths of Chase’s Total Checking account are simplicity and established support. Open the account with as little as $0, which keeps signup straightforward. Chase also has more than 4,700 branches across the US, meaning its simple to contact a Chase representative near you in the event you need support.

Chase is also one of a few checking accounts on the market to offer a signup bonus for opening an account. Get a $300 bonus when you open this account and set up direct deposit within 90 days. However, you shouldn’t open this account for this reason alone. This is just an extra incentive to throw your hat into the ring with Chase if you like the other aspects of the account.

Also worth noting is Chase’s Overdraft Assist feature, which lets you bypass Chase’s insufficient funds fee if you overdraw on your account by $50 or less. This comes standard on all Chase checking accounts except Chase First Checking, Chase High School Checking and Chase Secure Checking. If you enroll in Overdraft Protection, your Chase savings account gets linked to your checking account and funds are pulled from there to use as backup to cover any larger overdraft transactions.

Where it falls short

Chase’s main drawback is its $12 monthly service fee, which is avoidable when you meet one of the following requirements:

Receive direct deposits totaling $500 or more per month;

Keep a balance of $1,500 or more at the beginning of each statement period; or

Maintain an average balance of $5,000 or more at the beginning of each statement period, including qualifying linked deposits and investments.

Chase products also tend to go heavy on fees and the Total Checking account is no different. Depending on what you need to do with your account, you may incur a variety of fees.

Chase Total Checking fees and access

Type of fee	Fee details	How to avoid it
Monthly service	$12	Receive direct deposits totaling $500 or more each month Have a balance of $1,500 or more at the beginning of each statement period Have an average balance of $5,000 or more at the beginning of each statement period, including qualifying linked accounts
Opening deposit	$0
ATMs	Domestic: $3 for Non-chase ATM International: $5 for withdrawals and $3 for transfers or inquiries
Debit card fees	Cash withdrawals Foreign transactions Card replacement: $5
Overdraft or nonsufficient funds	$34 per transaction, maximum of 3 fees per business day	$0 with Chase Overdraft Assist and when you overdraw less than $50
Wire transfers	Incoming Domestic:$15 International: $15 Outgoing Domestic: $35 International: $50 Online domestic: $25 Online consumer USD international: $40 Online consumer FX international: $5 if amount is $5,000 or less	Incoming wires are $0 if wire was sent with help of a Chase banker or using Chase.com or Chase Mobile

Chase Checking customer experience

Chase is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which gives it an A- rating based on its handling of 3,612 complaints in the past three years. However, there are 322 customer reviews for Chase on the BBB’s website, with an average rating of 1.1 out of 5. And among the 551 customer reviews for Chase on Trustpilot, the bank earns a dismal rating of 1.4 out of 5.

On both Trustpilot and the BBB’s website, customers complain about Chase’s banking, mortgaging and auto financing services. But we didn’t find any reviews specifically about the Total Checking account.

If you have questions or need help with your account, contact Chase customer service in the following ways.

• Visit a local Chase branch to speak with a banker in person.
• Call 800-935-9935 for automated and live support with your account.
• Send tweets to @ChaseSupport or message the bank via Facebook.

Frequently asked questions

Does Chase Total Checking have a minimum balance requirement?

Technically, no, the account doesn’t have minimum balance requirements. However, if you’re not doing direct deposits of at least $500 per month, or you’re not maintaining an average balance of at least $5,000, or have a balance of $1,500 or more at the beginning of each statement period, you’ll be subject to the monthly service fee of $12 per month.

What are the withdrawal limits for Chase Total Checking?

For most consumer accounts, Chase has a daily withdrawal limit of $500 for non-Chase ATMs, in most states. That limit is $1,000 for Connecticut, New Jersey and New York.

The daily withdrawal limit for Chase ATMs is $1,000, a daily $3,000 limit for in-person withdrawals, and a daily limit of $3,000 for debit card purchases.

Which is better: Chase Total Checking or Chase Secure Banking?

Chase Total Checking and Secure Banking both have monthly service fees. Total Checking has a monthly fee of $12, but it can be waived with direct deposits or maintaining a certain balance.

The Chase Secure Banking checking account has a lower $4.95 monthly fee, but the fee can’t be waived at all. So if you can’t waive the $12 monthly fee with Total Checking, Chase Secure Banking is technically the cheaper option.

Both accounts can also get you a signup bonus. The Chase Total Checking account currently offers $300, and the Chase Secure Banking has a $100 one. So if you can waive the $12 monthly fee with Chase Total Checking and get the higher bonus, it’s the winner.

Compare Chase Total Checking with other checking accounts