Best Banks in Michigan

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Finding a good savings account is easier said than done, but Ally’s Online Savings Account makes things much simpler. There’s no minimum initial deposit required to become an account holder. This is a rare perk for a savings account, especially considering Ally offers an above average 4.25% APY with daily compounding interest. You won’t pay any monthly maintenance fees with the Online Savings Account either.

Most banking customers accompany their savings accounts with a checking account. Ally provides its Spending Account to help you do just that, while simultaneously maintaining an ability to earn interest. Accounts with a minimum daily balance above $15,000 get a 0.25% APY, and those underneath that threshold earn at 0.10%. Once you open your account, Ally will supply you with a debit card that you can use to make purchases or withdraw money from an ATM. The Allpoint ATM network is partnered with Ally, meaning you can visit its 55,000 U.S. and international ATMs for free.

As you might’ve realized from the “Online Savings Account” title, Ally is a branchless, online/mobile bank. In turn, Ally customers use the bank’s website and mobile app to attend to any of their needs, including depositing checks remotely, finding a nearby Allpoint ATM, viewing their account statements and more. Between the Apple and Android app stores, Ally’s mobile app holds an average rating of 4.35 stars out of 5.

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National banks like Chase offer banking customers the convenience and comfort of being able to find a branch or ATM almost anywhere. Certainly Michigan customers shouldn’t have a problem with around 240 Chase branches in the state. The bank has a physical presence in 25 other states. Otherwise, you can take advantage of the bank’s incredibly user-friendly website and mobile features. This makes banking with Chase even easier. 

Chase offers a decent spread of bank accounts from a couple simple savings accounts to long-term certificates of deposit. That way, you can find an account that matches your financial situation and habits. All Chase savings and checking accounts do charge a monthly service fee, ranging from $4.95 to $35 depending on the account. You can often have these fees waived, however, usually by meeting a minimum account balance or completing a certain number of transactions per statement cycle. 

As is the case with most banks of this size, Chase doesn’t offer the best rates on its interest-earning accounts. This is largely due to the cost of maintaining thousands of branches and ATMs around the world. Chase’s 120-month CD also carries a rate of 0.01%, with its basic savings account earning at a 0.01% APY. If you’re looking for the highest rates in the industry, you’ll want to look at online banks instead. 

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While Chase has the biggest national reach, Huntington Bank outdoes its Michigan numbers with over 330 branches in the Great Lake State. This makes it easy for you to find a branch or ATM no matter where you are in Michigan. Once outside of the state, however, you can only find the bank’s branches in Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Of course you can still access your accounts online and on the bank’s mobile bank app, too. 

If you choose to bank with Huntington, you’ll have access to some great bank accounts. You can choose from two savings accounts, a variety of CDs, a money market account, four checking accounts and IRAs. This means you could keep all your money together if you wanted. Just be conscious of the bank’s monthly service fees. You can usually get these fees waived by meeting certain requirements like an average daily account balance. You should also pay attention to each account minimum deposit requirement before opening. For example, the Huntington Relationship Savings account requires a large opening deposit of at least $2,500. 

Huntington Bank offers decent interest rates. However, the best rates are reserved for high account balances and when you link accounts together. For example, the Huntington Money Market Savings Account can earn at a 4.59% APY, but only when you link the account with a Huntington Platinum Perks Checking account and have a balance of $25,000 and over. Different rates will apply to other linked accounts and account balances. The Huntington Platinum Perks Checking account opens up earnings to more customers with a 0.02% APY on all account balances.

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It’s not uncommon for high interest rates to be paired with unrealistic minimums that place them far out of reach for anyone just beginning their savings journey. However, CIT Bank requires just a $100 deposit to open its Savings Builder account, which comes with a 1.00% APY. To maintain this rate, you need to either deposit $100 a month or keep your balance at or above $25,000. A decent, but unimpressive 0.40% APY awaits any customers that don’t meet these stipulations.

While the Savings Builder account is CIT’s primary offer, the bank has plenty of other savings accounts. Principal among these are its money market account, high-yield savings account and a collection of certificates of deposit (CDs).

CIT Bank does not operate any branches, meaning its customer base will interact with their accounts solely through the bank’s website and mobile app. These platforms have features like mobile check deposit, inter-account money transfers and digital account statements. Both Apple and Android users can download the app, which has an average rating of 3.85 stars out of 5 between the two competing app stores.

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Our Rating: 4.7/5

How we calculated this rating

The Independent Bank Eagle Savings account can help you grow your money at a solid rate in a standard savings account. Interest rates vary according to balance tiers, with the lowest rate at 0.01% and the highest at 1.10%. Account balances below $10,000 will earn at the 0.01% APY while you’ll need a balance of at least $250,000 to snag the 1.10% APY. 

You will need to open an Eagle Savings account with at least $50. This account does charge a $12 monthly service fee. However, you can easily waive that with a minimum daily balance of $500 or combined account statements. 

Independent Bank has 65 branches throughout Michigan, with residential loan offices in Akron and Columbus, Ohio. This small geographical reach makes this account better for customers who just want to put money into a savings account and let it grow.

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For the best banking customer service, Michigan residents can turn to Chase Bank. This bank comes in third behind Wintrust Bank and First National Bank of Omaha (neither of which has no Michigan locations) in overall banking customer satisfaction in the Midwest, according to a J.D. Power satisfaction survey. 

Certainly a big plus to Chase’s customer service ratings is its widespread presence. The bank has over 5,1000 branches and 16,000 ATMs worldwide with around 240 branches in Michigan. You can easily find the branch or ATM closest to you on the bank’s website and mobile app. You can also access your accounts online and mobile in the event there’s no nearby branch or you’re traveling. 

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For the best free checking account in the area, Michigan residents can turn to the best regional bank in the area for the Huntington Bank Asterisk-Free Checking® Account. This account offers a very simple approach to checking accounts. You won’t have to worry about a monthly maintenance fee nor a fee for your account statements, whether online or in writing. There is no minimum deposit for this checking account, which makes it easier for more people to open. 

The only fees with this account are easily avoidable. Using a non-Huntington ATM will cost $3.50 per transaction and overdrafts can cost you $15.

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The Huntington Platinum Perks Checking account offers Michiganians the best interest rate on a checking account in the state at a 0.02% APY. Plus, this rate applies to all account balances rather than reserving it for balances over thousands of dollars. Owning this account can also boost your Huntington Savings or Money Market account (if you have one) by 15% if you link the two accounts together. 

This checking account includes free checks, ATM fee reimbursements, and free text and mobile banking. You can also set up overdraft protection for free if you have a Huntington savings or money market account to link to. 

Unfortunately, this account does have a pretty high monthly fee of $25. You can avoid this fee if you maintain a total balance of at least $25,000 in a combination of deposits with the bank.

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Students from the Great Lake State and beyond stand to benefit from opening one of Chase’s student checking accounts. For starters, high school students from 13 to 17 years old can open a Chase High School Checking account to get their money management skills started. The account doesn’t come with any huge perks. The bank does make it convenient for students to access their accounts with online and mobile banking abilities. High school students will need an adult co-owner who also has their own Chase checking account. There are no monthly service fees with the Chase High School Checking account, provided the student opening the account is 13 to 17 years old and the parent or guardian co-owner connects their personal checking account to it. 

College students from 17 to 24 years old can open their own Chase College Checking account. However, there is a $6 monthly fee, but you can have this waived by making a direct deposit or maintaining a $5,000 average ending day balance each statement cycle. You can also waive this fee for five years while you’re in college.