Best joint "checking" account these days?

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Topic Author
manlymatt83
Posts: 1287
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:23 am

Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by manlymatt83 »

My SO and I are looking to open a joint account to pay gas bill, electric bill, joint credit card bill, etc. We pay our rent via Zelle, but that's only until September, so Zelle isn't a strict requirement. I anticipate we'll be buying a house sometime soon, otherwise our next landlord will probably allow ACH so bill pay is fine. In the meantime, I am fine using an account with no Zelle as we can just each Zelle half the rent.

Originally, I thought about going with Alliant. That's where my main checking is. But I don't like the lack of equal joint access online, etc. Additionally, I know some people recently have had their Alliant accounts closed for no sane reason.

The next thing I considered (which is why I put "checking" in quotes) is Fidelity CMA. I love my Fidelity CMA and would be using it full time if I didn't have my Alliant checking already setup. I like the no ATM fees internationally (as when we travel, we often take out cash and have to keep track of who took how much out). Furthermore, most of our bills are joint, so I like how the cash we'd have sitting in the account to cover those would be earning 4%+ (manually bought MMF) until the billpay when through. But no Zelle kind of stinks... also, what will the account earn 3 years from now when interest rates are inevitably back to peanuts?

Third idea... Schwab. But not sure if Schwab has good joint checking accounts? Do both owners see them listed, with full access? And do the ATM fee refunds still apply? At least the .45% is something. And as a bonus, native Zelle support.

Appreciate any insight!
Tier1Capital
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Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by Tier1Capital »

We have all three. Moved just about everything to Fidelity recently with a smaller amount at Schwab for emergencies. Very easy to convert Alliant checking/savings to Fidelity. We use CMA with zero balance & overdraft from another Fidelity brokerage account to avoid manually purchasing money market funds in CMA.

Nothing is getting closed though. Who knows how long this environment will last and Alliant could be the best account sometime in the future.
Topic Author
manlymatt83
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Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:23 am

Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by manlymatt83 »

Tier1Capital wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:34 pm We have all three. Moved just about everything to Fidelity recently with a smaller amount at Schwab for emergencies. Very easy to convert Alliant checking/savings to Fidelity. We use CMA with zero balance & overdraft from another Fidelity brokerage account to avoid manually purchasing money market funds in CMA.

Nothing is getting closed though. Who knows how long this environment will last and Alliant could be the best account sometime in the future.
Thank you. Maybe I’ll start with the Fidelity CMA.
aristotelian
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Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by aristotelian »

Yes to all your questions about Schwab. I think I would still do Fidelity CMA though. They have everything Schwab does plus better interest on the core account, option to earn even better interest using MMFs, plus the ability to link to brokerage account for overdraft.
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CommitmentDevice
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Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by CommitmentDevice »

Ally Bank meet your criteria and I recommend them.
NYCaviator
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Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by NYCaviator »

manlymatt83 wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:15 pm
Third idea... Schwab. But not sure if Schwab has good joint checking accounts? Do both owners see them listed, with full access? And do the ATM fee refunds still apply? At least the .45% is something. And as a bonus, native Zelle support.

Appreciate any insight!
This. Schwab is great. Both owners have full access with their own log ins. We looked at Alliant, but the way they handle joint accounts is garbage.

We, as a married couple, have everything joint and accessible to both. Much easier that way. If you’re married, you should be on the same page financially so joint everything just makes sense. I’d caution you from opening any joint accounts unless you’re actually married or in a civil union. I know people who made that mistake.

EDIT: don’t worry about interest for a checking account. Unless you’re keeping large sums in there, the amount you will earn is negligible.
Katietsu
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Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by Katietsu »

manlymatt83 wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:15 pm. But I don't like the lack of equal joint access online, etc.
From experience, one issue with joint accounts is that pending and scheduled payments are not always visible from the “other” login. Be aware of this or look for an account that handles this differently.
Topic Author
manlymatt83
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Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 7:23 am

Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by manlymatt83 »

NYCaviator wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 9:27 pm
manlymatt83 wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:15 pm
Third idea... Schwab. But not sure if Schwab has good joint checking accounts? Do both owners see them listed, with full access? And do the ATM fee refunds still apply? At least the .45% is something. And as a bonus, native Zelle support.

Appreciate any insight!
This. Schwab is great. Both owners have full access with their own log ins. We looked at Alliant, but the way they handle joint accounts is garbage.

We, as a married couple, have everything joint and accessible to both. Much easier that way. If you’re married, you should be on the same page financially so joint everything just makes sense. I’d caution you from opening any joint accounts unless you’re actually married or in a civil union. I know people who made that mistake.

EDIT: don’t worry about interest for a checking account. Unless you’re keeping large sums in there, the amount you will earn is negligible.
We aren’t married yet but have been together for 7 years. Knock on wood but not worried about it.
muffins14
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Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by muffins14 »

manlymatt83 wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 4:22 pm
Tier1Capital wrote: Mon Mar 27, 2023 1:34 pm We have all three. Moved just about everything to Fidelity recently with a smaller amount at Schwab for emergencies. Very easy to convert Alliant checking/savings to Fidelity. We use CMA with zero balance & overdraft from another Fidelity brokerage account to avoid manually purchasing money market funds in CMA.

Nothing is getting closed though. Who knows how long this environment will last and Alliant could be the best account sometime in the future.
Thank you. Maybe I’ll start with the Fidelity CMA.
We use Fidelity CMA. How much do you really need to use Zelle? I have never used it, and assume some combination of wire transfer, ACH, bill pay, venmo, or cash app should get the job done
Crom laughs at your Four Winds
nonnie
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Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by nonnie »

We moved just about everything to Fidelity more than 6 months ago. We loved our five accounts at Alliant open-individual checking and savings for each plus a joint account and it's coming handy a couple times.
We only have brokerage accounts at Fidelity so I'm not sure if what I'm about to say is the same for CMA. We each have an individual account, retirement account (s) and a joint account. We completed the forms to give each other access and full trading for our accounts. The only hiccup is that I cannot transfer funds directly to his account nor he to mine without a full Fidelity POA which I keep forgetting to complete.

The only time this is a problem is when I was to transfer funds to him or vice versa. It can't be done online, it requires a phone call which is annoying but I don't need to do it that often. Last week I owed him $3k (I put a bunch of expenses on his new credit card to complete the spend). I decided to bypass that system and switched money from my account to the joint account and then out of the joint account into his account.

We each got special notifications from Fidelity highlighting the transaction double checking to make sure we had made them. I thought it was a bit unusual.

I love having everything in one place, individual bills are pulled from individual accounts, joint expenses from the joint account which gets replenished every 3 months via Treasuries maturing. The only thing I don't like is not having a "clean" record of expenses paid which I could do if I opened a CMA just to pay bills.

We also continue to maintain accounts at Ally, NASFCU and a few other places where we took advantage of CD rates in the past. These accounts are basically on autopilot. I spoke to Ally a couple weeks ago about Zelle and a CSR told me half of his calls were from customers with Zelle problems.
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cockersx3
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Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by cockersx3 »

Following this thread with interest. I currently have a "joint" checking account with Alliant, but my wife can't deposit checks to it (ie using the mobile app). The only thing she can do is deposit to her (individual) savings account, and then transfer from their to our joint checking.

Even though she is listed as a "joint" owner on the Alliant account, it almost seems like it's really an individual account (owned by me), with her as an authorized user. Not 100% certain, but if so that would be a big concern if something happens to me. We know from prior family experience that banks will immediately close all individually-owned accounts associated with a social security number when the SSN owner dies. So if this is really not a joint account, my death would immediately remove my wife's ability to pay her living expenses which is something I don't want her having to deal with.

Oh, and the service at Alliant isn't all that great either. Daughter had to call them to resolve some fraudulent activity on her account, and it took hours - literally - to speak with an actual human being. It's great if you never have issues, but when issues happen they are tough to deal with.

I was also looking at Fidelity, but they don't allow weekly transfers between accounts which Alliant does, and this fits well with our budgeting process in our family. Keep hoping they'll implement this feature, but so far no news yet.
jco
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Re: Best joint "checking" account these days?

Post by jco »

I have a Fidelity CMA and also an Alliant Checking (for the 2.5% rate on the Visa Signature).

Anyway, we choose to bank (primarily) with Liberty Financial Credit Union. They've been earning 3.3%+ on checking for many years, even when the interest rate is low. I do have to make 15 debit card transactions each month, but I just do that in $0.50 increments on Amazon at the beginning of the month.

I like Fidelity a lot, but I don't like the variability of the earnings. The CMA was earning close to 0% APY just a couple of years ago. Switching banks is really frustrating, so I like the dependability of Liberty FCU. Alliant has been fine, but their checking earns very little.
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