Best Joint Checking Accounts for December 2025

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Key takeaways

Joint checking accounts let two people manage shared expenses with equal access to funds — ideal for couples, parents with teens, or adult children helping aging parents.
The best joint checking accounts offer no monthly fees, competitive APYs and features like overdraft protection and mobile banking tools.
Before opening an account, compare rates, overdraft policies and digital tools that fit both owners’ needs.

Joint checking accounts simplify shared finances, whether you’re splitting rent with a partner, helping an aging parent pay bills or teaching your teenager money management. The right account eliminates the hassle of splitting payments, Venmo-ing each other or tracking who paid what.

Here are Bankrate’s top-rated joint checking accounts for December 2025.

Want to compare more accounts? See Bankrate’s picks for best checking accounts

Best joint checking accounts

Note: Bankrate’s editorial team validates this information regularly. APYs may have changed since they were last updated and may vary by region for some products. Bankrate includes only FDIC banks or NCUA credit unions in its listings.

Bank	APY	Best for
Ally Bank Spending Account	0.10% APY on balances under $15,000 \| 0.25% on balances $15,000+	Managing everyday spending who also want tools to build savings habits
Capital One 360 Checking	0.10% APY on all balances	Online banking perks with occasional branch access
Discover® Cashback Debit	1% cash back on up to $3,000/mo	Debit card users who want cash back on everyday spending
NBKC Everything Account	1.75% APY on all balances	Those who want high-yield checking and integrated savings
SoFi Checking & Savings	0.50% APY on checking \| Up to 3.30% APY on savings (requires direct deposit)	Couples building savings alongside everyday spending
Chase Total Checking®	N/A	Those who prioritize branch and ATM access
Alliant Credit Union Teen Checking	0.25% APY (if requirements are met)	Maintaining transaction limits
Axos Bank First Checking	N/A	Joint owners who prioritize branch and ATM access
Capital One MONEY Teen Checking Account	0.10% APY	Starting kids off early on financial management
Connexus Credit Union Teen Checking	Up to 2% APY	Teaching kids the power of compound interest

Banks with the best joint checking accounts for adults

Ally offers 24/7 customer service, robust tech features and charges minimal fees. Plus, the bank is transparent about the fees it does charge. You’ll earn a bit of interest on your balance — 0.25% on balances $15,000 and above, 0.10% APY on lower balances.

If you open a savings account at the bank, you can take advantage of a round-up tool to encourage savings for you and your joint account holder. The tool rounds up the change from purchases made with your debit card and deposits it into your savings account. You’re building savings without thinking about it.
- No monthly maintenance fees.
- No overdraft fees; free transfers from a linked savings or CoverDraft, which covers up to $250 in overdrafting transactions for qualifying accounts.
- You’ll earn some interest on all balances.
- In addition to fee-free access to over 75,000 ATMs to pull out cash, you’ll also get up to $10 of out-of-network ATM fee reimbursements per statement cycle.
- Free cash deposits are available at Walmart.
- Includes budgeting and savings tools.
- Early direct deposit is available.
- 24/7 customer service.
- It is an online-only bank, so you’ll need to be comfortable handling all customer service issues over the phone or virtually.

Capital One 360 Checking offers the flexibility and perks of an online bank along with the option for in-person support at Capital One branches or cafés in select states. You’ll also earn 0.10% APY on all balances.

Unlike many online banks, Capital One offers the ability to deposit cash (and won’t charge you for the privilege) so if you or your co-owner deal with cash a lot, this could be one of the better options.
- This account has no monthly fees, no minimums, and access to over 70,000 fee-free ATMs.
- You’ll earn a small amount of interest on all balances.
- There are free overdraft protection options, such as free transfers from a linked savings account.
- Early direct deposit is available.
- You get one free order of checks.
- Fee-free cash deposits are available.
- To open a joint checking account, you’ll need to first open an individual checking and then add a joint owner. At other banks, you can open a joint account immediately.
- Capital One 360 doesn’t charge you a fee for using an out-of-network ATM but it won’t reimburse you the ATM fees charged by the ATM owner.
- Cash deposits are available but can only be made at Capital One ATMs or at any CVS or Walgreens. This might not be convenient if you frequently handle cash.

Chase can’t compete on interest rates, but it wins on access. With around 5,000 branches and more than 15,000 ATMs nationwide, Chase offers one of the largest banking networks in the country.

If you or your co-owner value in-person service or need frequent ATM access while traveling, that’s worth something. Plus, Chase regularly offers new account bonuses ($200-$300 is typical).

But unlike at many of the other banks on this list, you’re on the hook for a high monthly maintenance fee if you don’t meet the bank’s requirements. And you will pay a fee for overdrafting, though Chase does offer some flexible overdraft protection. You can get free overdraft protection transfers if you link a Chase savings account and all checking accounts, regardless of whether they enroll in overdraft protection, can overdraw by less than $50 for free.
- More than 5,000 branches and more than 15,000 ATMs for cash deposits, along with a sophisticated mobile app with built-in budgeting tools.
- Flexibility to overdraft by less than $50 for free.
- No interest and a $12 monthly fee if you fail to make electronic deposits of $500 or maintain a balance of at least $1,500.
- If you enroll in overdraft protection, you will be on the hook for an $34 overdraft fee if you overdraft by more than $50 and remain overdrawn by that much by the end of the next business day. And Chase can charge you that $34 fee three times a day – so you’re risking $102 a day in overdraft fees.

Discover’s Cashback Debit checking account gives 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in debit card purchases each month. If you and your joint owner are heavy debit card users, that means you can earn up to $360 in cash back every year. To help manage your money, the account offers free cash deposits at Walmart locations and fee-free overdraft protection. These features make this checking account a good option for managing joint finances.
- There are no monthly fees, no minimums and access to over 60,000 fee-free ATMs.
- You’ll earn 1% cash back on debit card purchases, up to $360 per year.
- Fee-free cash deposits are available.
- Free overdraft protection.
- Early direct deposit is available.
- You can’t deposit cash at ATMs. Cash deposits are only available at Walmart locations.
- If you and your joint owner don’t use your debit card often throughout the month, you could be better off with a different account that earns interest instead of cash back.
- No interest on balances, so this isn’t ideal if you keep a large cushion in checking.

Appropriately named, the NBKC Everything Account combines checking and savings into one product that pays 1.75% APY on all balances. There’s also a savings goal-setting tool, which can keep both of you on track (though you could earn a higher APY on savings elsewhere).

You’ll get a lot of the same features here as you do at other online banks, such as no fees, no minimum balance requirements and early direct deposit.
- For checking balances, the 1.75% APY is high and especially good because there are no requirements to earn it.
- No fees, no minimum balance requirements and access to over 90,000 fee-free ATMs (with reimbursements for out-of-network charges, too).
- Early direct deposit is available.
- The account offers savings and budgeting tools.
- 1.75% APY on your checking is a great APY, but you can earn more on your savings with a high-yield savings account or even with the bank’s money market account, which currently pays 3% APY.
- Combining “everything” in an everything account can get messy if you and your joint owner aren’t careful. In many cases, it’s smart to keep a more defined line between your spending and your saving accounts.

SoFi’s Online checking account automatically takes the next step in sharing finances for you: You also open a joint savings account at the same time. The checking account pays up to 0.50% APY — a competitive offer in today’s checking landscape — while the savings account pays up to 3.30% APY, which is a decent savings rate (though you can find higher elsewhere). Note that you have to have direct deposits set up or receive a certain amount of other qualifying deposits to earn that savings rate.

Like at Ally, you can take advantage of a microsavings feature that automatically transfers change to the nearest dollar with every debit card transaction to the savings account. If you and your joint account owner use your debit cards often, you could kickstart a savings habit this way. Plus, you can likely score an account opening bonus, too.
- There’s no monthly account fees or minimum balances.
- Over 55,000 fee-free ATMs.
- Early direct deposit is available.
- Savings features, like roundups, to help grow your savings.
- Fee-free overdraft protection for transactions that put you up to $50 in the negative.
- At publication time, you couldn’t have an individual and a joint account at the bank at the same time but the bank says that they’ll soon change this so that you’ll be able to have both.
- The bonus offer is impressive — up to $300 — but you’ll need to arrange a direct deposit of at least $5,000 during the qualifying period. You’ll earn $50 with direct deposits of $1,000 to $4,999 but if your direct deposits amount to less than $1,000, you won’t earn a bonus at all.
- If you don’t meet the requirements, you’ll only earn 1% APY on your savings. You can find a high-yield savings account with a much higher APY and fewer requirements.
- Cash deposits are available through the bank’s partnership with Green Dot, but they’ll cost you up to $4.95 and are only available at participating retail locations within the Green Dot network.

Best joint checking accounts for kids and teens

Alliant Credit Union’s Teen Checking Account is a great fit for parents who want to be a member of a credit union and introduce their teen to the basics of budgeting. The account is available for teens aged 13 to 17 and will earn 0.25% APY if you meet the requirements. If your teen has a job, they’ll be able to see their paychecks in their account a few days early.

To make sure nothing goes awry, the adult on the account gets full access to be able to track spending from the account. The account comes with somewhat of a rarity — free checks — to help your kids learn about the old-school method of writing and signing checks.
- No monthly maintenance fees.
- Free checks
- Massive fee-free ATM network (and up to $20 in reimbursements for out-of-network fees).
- You’ll earn 0.25% APY if you can meet the requirements.
- You and the joint owner will need to become members of Alliant before you can open an account. But Alliant makes that easy — ownership is open to anyone.
- To earn interest, you need to opt out of paper statements and set up a recurring direct deposit or transfer.

Axos Bank provides a teen joint checking account designed to introduce money management skills to kids aged 13-17. To help with responsible account usage, the account offers spending controls and daily transaction limits ($100 for cash and $500 for debit transactions).
- There are no monthly maintenance or minimum balance requirements.
- overdraft fees.
- There are no overdraft or non-sufficient funds fees.
- Parental oversight tools.
- If your teen has a part-time job, they won’t see their paycheck early in this account. This isn’t a huge con, but it’s something to note.

Capital One’s MONEY Teen Checking Account is a great option for parents who want to help kids who are at least eight years old begin to understand how to manage their money. Each party gets login credentials, and parents have control to lock the debit card if it’s lost (or if the child happens to be overspending). The child is the only one who receives a debit card — not the parent — so this account is designed to help kids learn more about money.
- There are no fees or minimum balance requirements to open the account.
- Parents can track spending from the account and lock the debit card, if needed.
- Money in the account will earn a little bit of interest — 0.10% APY.
- The adult co-owner does not have to have a Capital One account to open this account for their teen.
- Your child can send money via Zelle if you enable the feature. Since Zelle transactions cannot be canceled, you need to be mindful they understand the rules and don’t send cash to the wrong person.

The Connexus Credit Union Teen Checking account is another good option for parents who want to enjoy the benefits of banking at a credit union for themselves and their kids aged 10-17, who are eligible for this account. The account offers up to 2% APY on balances up to $1,000 and pays 0.25% APY on balances above $1,000.
- There are no monthly maintenance fees.
- A healthy APY on smaller balances.
- Unlimited free transactions at Co-op and MoneyPass ATMs.
- No fee for overdrawing the account by less than $10 (but an $18 fee if you go over).
- Free overdraft transfers from a linked savings account.
- There are no advertised spending limits for this account but if you call the credit union, you can ask a customer service representative to set a limit allowed for debit card transactions and ATM cash withdrawals.
- No reimbursements for out-of-network ATM fees.
- APY is lower for balances over $1,000.
- Membership requires a one-time $5 donation to the Connexus Association, though there are ways to join for free, including being a family member of an existing member.
- For ACH transfers, checks or bill pay that overdraw the account by more than $10, you’ll pay a fee of $18 if the credit union covers the transaction and $4 if they decline it.

Why open a joint checking account?

Joint checking accounts streamline shared financial responsibilities. Instead of splitting every bill, Venmo-ing your partner constantly, or maintaining complicated spreadsheets, joint accounts put shared money in one place where both owners have equal access.

The practical benefit: immediate access. If one account owner becomes unable to manage finances (due to illness, injury or death), the other owner can still access funds and handle financial obligations without legal complications.

Risks of having a joint bank account

Joint accounts come with shared risk. Both owners have full legal access to all funds — which means either person can withdraw the entire balance at any time without the other’s permission.

If a relationship ends or you and the joint owner are involved in a dispute or disagreement, one owner could legally empty the account before the other realizes what’s happening. If this occurs, your recourse is limited. You could sue in small claims court, but there’s no guarantee you’ll recover your money.

Only open joint accounts with people you trust completely. For relationships that aren’t committed long-term, consider alternatives like splitting bills manually, using payment apps or maintaining separate accounts with a shared expense tracking system.

What to look for in a joint checking account

When you’re comparing joint checking accounts, make sure you’re considering these key features:

Fees and minimum balance requirements: Some banks charge hefty monthly service fees if you fail to maintain a certain average balance in the account. However, it’s easy to avoid these pesky costs by focusing your search on free checking accounts.
Flexible overdraft policies: With two people spending money from one account, you might find that overdrawing could be an issue, at least until you get the hang of things. Find an account that has forgiving and flexible overdraft policies to avoid incurring fees.
Budgeting tools: In many cases, a joint checking account is the first step toward marrying finances. With that in mind, it’s smart to find a bank that includes helpful mobile tools to manage your monthly budget. Some banks also offer useful round-up features to link the account with a savings account to store cash for the future. If you’re married — or planning to make that major life decision down the road — that early effort to save can lay the foundation for successful money management.
Perk opportunities: Banks want your business, so shop around for opportunities to earn interest on your money, cash back or even a bonus that can score you a few extra hundred bucks with your new account. If you can get $200 or $300 for setting up direct deposit, that’s free money to help you cover some expenses.
Safety: Make sure that whatever account you open, it offers protection to you in case of a bank (or credit union) failure. That means finding a bank that’s insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) or a credit union that’s insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

Pro tip

Don’t let an upfront bonus get in the way of thinking about the bigger picture. Make sure the account will be a good fit long after that bonus cash is gone.

Requirements to open a joint checking account

Opening a joint checking account feels similar to opening an individual checking account, but instead, you’ll need to share personal details — name, address, date of birth, phone number, email address and Social Security number, for example — for both parties on the account. Depending on the institution, you may need to be able to meet a minimum opening deposit requirement.

Pros and cons of joint checking accounts

Pros

Limits the need for constant transfers between individual accounts
Offers a chance to create a shared budget
A helpful step in understanding a partner’s approach to money
Helps children learn money management skills

Cons

Can lead to arguments over spending patterns
Limits one’s sense of financial independence
Both owners have legal access to all the funds, not just the amount they personally contributed, which could become an issue in case of a breakup or disagreement

Joint checking account FAQs

Yes. Joint accounts — just like individual accounts — may pay interest. It’s up to individual banks and credit unions to determine whether an account earns interest.
Many banks and credit unions use bonus offers to attract new customers, and these promotions may vary throughout the year. As you compare options for joint accounts, do your research to compare offers for bonus cash. In most cases, you’ll need to perform some sort of qualifying activity to qualify such as setting up a direct deposit.
Overdraft protection is an optional service that many banks and credit unions offer that authorizes transactions that would put your account in the negative. Some overdraft protection programs link a customer’s checking account with a savings account or a line of credit. If the balance of the checking account drops to zero while trying to make a payment, funds from the linked account will automatically transfer to make sure that the transaction clears. Some banks may charge for these services, though there are ways to avoid overdraft fees.
Call the bank or credit union to learn about their policies for making changes to accounts. In some cases, you may be able to remove your own name from the account. In others, the two account holders may need to close a joint bank account entirely and set up individual accounts. Because both names are on the account, you’re both legally entitled to the funds, which can create some challenges in attempting to remove one name.

Research methodology

Bankrate researches and reviews over 100 banks, including some of the largest financial institutions, online-only banks, regional banks and credit unions with both open and restrictive membership policies.

To find the best joint checking accounts, we looked at which of our highest-rated checking accounts allow joint checking as these accounts are equally great options for sharing with someone as they are for an individual. Most of the highly-rated checking accounts were from online-only banks, so we also included Chase as an option for those with a joint owner who may not be comfortable banking online and wants access to a brick-and-mortar bank. We chose Chase as it has branches in 48 states and Washington, D.C.

To find the best joint checking accounts for kids and teens, we looked at which of our broadly-available banks and credit unions offered an account specifically for kids or teens. Then, we looked at the features each one provided, such as APY and parental controls and spending limits, to determine which accounts were best for kids and teens to use and learn money management skills.

Learn more about how we choose the best banking products and our methodology for reviewing banks.

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