What is the Minimum Amount for Savings Accounts in 2024

Opening a savings account is an excellent first step towards responsible money management and financial security. While you don’t need much money to get started, most banks do require you to deposit a minimum amount to open a savings account. They also often have minimum balance requirements you’ll need to maintain going forward to avoid monthly fees.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about minimum balances for savings accounts, including:

Understanding the minimum amount requirements will help you pick the right savings account and avoid surprise fees.

What are Minimum Deposits and Minimum Balances?

When opening a savings account at a bank, you’ll usually need to make an initial deposit, known as the minimum opening deposit. This deposit allows the bank to activate your new account.

Banks also often have minimum balance rules you’ll need to follow going forward. This refers to the lowest amount of money they want you to keep in the savings account to avoid monthly maintenance and service fees.

There are a few key types of minimum balances:

Falling below the minimum daily or average daily balance threshold anytime during the month typically triggers a fee. Meanwhile, the monthly minimum balance is based solely on your end-of-month figure.

How Do Minimum Balance Requirements Work?

Banks make money when you keep your savings deposited with them. In exchange, they provide secure storage of your money, online and mobile access, ATM access, and pay you interest.

However, maintaining technology infrastructure and branches costs banks real money. So if you don’t keep enough money deposited, they may lose money on your account.

Minimum balance rules incentivize you to keep a baseline deposit with the bank. If your balance slips too low, they charge a monthly fee, typically $4-5.

Many banks waive this fee if you maintain other accounts with special status, utilize select features, or meet special exemptions. But the rules vary widely between financial institutions.

Typical Minimum Amounts

While specific minimum balance rules differ across institutions, banks tend to fall into some general tiers:

Basic Savings Accounts

Most basic savings accounts designed for everyday savers have minimum balance requirements between $300 to $500. For students and minors, the threshold may be lower.

Here are some current minimums from top national banks:

• Chase Savings – $300 minimum
• Bank of America Advantage Savings – $500
• Wells Fargo Way2Save Savings – $300
• Citibank Basic Savings – $500

High-Yield Savings Accounts

Banks typically demand higher minimum deposits for premium high-yield accounts that pay above average interest rates. Common requirements are $1,500 to $15,000 or more.

For example:

• Citibank Citi® Accelerate Savings – $500
• HSBC Premier Checking – $10,000
• TD Relationship Savings – $2,500

You’ll earn more interest with these accounts. But falling below the higher minimums also triggers steeper monthly service charges, often $12-25.

Online Savings Accounts

At online and neo banks that operate digitally, minimum balance rules are often lower or nonexistent. This allows them to pass on higher savings rates to customers.

Some popular online banks without minimum balance requirements include:

• Marcus by Goldman Sachs
• Ally Bank
• Synchrony Bank
• LendingClub

So if you don’t keep large deposit balances, online savings accounts allow you to avoid minimums while earning interest.

Minimum Balance Requirements at Top Banks

Now that you understand the key rules and ranges, let’s examine the specific minimum balance details, fees, and waiver policies at ten major US banks:

Bank of America

• Minimum Opening Deposit – $100
• Minimum Balance to Avoid Fees – $500 daily balance
• Monthly Service Fee – $8
• How to Waive Fee – Link account to Bank of America checking account or become a Preferred Rewards customer

Wells Fargo

• Minimum Opening Deposit – $25
• Minimum Balance to Avoid Fees – $300 daily minimum
• Monthly Service Fee – $5
• How to Waive Fee – Minimum $25 automatic transfer from Wells Fargo checking or primary account holder under 24 years old

Chase

• Minimum Opening Deposit – $0
• Minimum Balance to Avoid Fees – $300 daily minimum
• Monthly Service Fee – $5
• How to Waive Fee – Link account to Chase checking account or College Checking account, account owner under 18 years old

Citibank

• Minimum Opening Deposit – $0
• Minimum Balance to Avoid Fees – $500 average monthly deposit balance
• Monthly Service Fee – $4.50
• How to Waive Fee – N/A

U.S. Bank

• Minimum Opening Deposit – $25
• Minimum Balance to Avoid Fees – $300 daily balance or $1,000 average monthly balance
• Monthly Service Fee – $4
• How to Waive Fee – Be under 18 years old

TD Bank

• Minimum Opening Deposit – $0
• Minimum Balance to Avoid Fees – $300 daily minimum
• Monthly Service Fee – $5
• How to Waive Fee – Be 18 or under or over 62 years old

Synchrony Bank

• Minimum Opening Deposit – $0
• Minimum Balance to Avoid Fees – $0
• Monthly Service Fee – $0
• How to Waive Fee – No minimum balance requirements

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

• Minimum Opening Deposit – $0
• Minimum Balance to Avoid Fees – $0
• Monthly Service Fee – $0
• How to Waive Fee – No minimum balance requirements

Ally Bank

• Minimum Opening Deposit – $0
• Minimum Balance to Avoid Fees – $0
• Monthly Service Fee – $0
• How to Waive Fee – No minimum balance requirements

So while rules vary widely, you can often find top savings accounts with no or low minimum balance requirements if you shop around online.

Strategies to Avoid Minimum Balance Fees

Don’t let minimum balance fees eat into your savings. Consider these tips to keep your balance comfortably above the threshold:

• Find banks with lower minimums or waiver policies you can meet
• Set up a small, automatic, recurring transfer from checking to savings each month
• Submit payroll direct deposit into your savings account
• Consolidate accounts from multiple banks into one that you watch closely
• Use banking alerts to monitor balances and avoid excess withdrawals

A little planning goes a long way towards avoiding minimum balance fees!

Start Saving Smarter Today

While minimum balance rules may seem complicated at first, almost anyone can find a savings account to meet their needs with a little research. Online-only banks especially make it easy to start saving without large deposit requirements or account fees.

Remember, consistently adding to savings is what matters most. So don’t let minimum balance requirements deter you from choosing an account and taking that first step!

Frequently Asked Questions