Here are the best brick-and-mortar savings accounts of May 2024

Editor's Note: APYs listed in this article are up-to-date as of the time of publication. They may fluctuate (up or down) as the Fed rate changes. CNBC Select will update as changes are made public.

Brick-and-mortar banks — as opposed to online-only banks — are traditional banks with hundreds (sometimes thousands) of physical branches scattered across the U.S. They're usually the place to go when you want to open your first-ever checking or savings account and, later in life, the bank you call when you need a loan.

When you have an account at a local brick-and-mortar bank, you can easily deposit or withdraw cash either at a nearby physical branch or at one of the bank's ATMs at no cost. The bigger brick-and-mortar banks tend to offer expansive ATM networks that customers can access around the country, making processing money transactions quick and free.

Where brick-and-mortar banks fall short, however, is with their high fees and low interest rates on savings accounts compared to online-only banks. The national average annual percentage yield (APY) on savings accounts is just 0.47%, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and most brick-and-mortar savings account rates fall below even that.

To determine which brick-and-mortar savings accounts are best overall, CNBC Select analyzed and compared dozens of savings accounts offered by the largest banks and credit unions. Because savings account APYs at the big banks are low across the board, when rating our top six, we focused on their convenience, including the number of ATM and branch locations, their savings account fees, opportunities to earn higher interest rates, customer service and any other special offerings or programs. (See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best brick-and-mortar savings accounts.)

Who's this for? The Bank of America Advantage Savings account stands apart from other brick-and-mortar offerings because of the special rewards programs you can access if you use a Bank of America credit card or open a Bank of America checking account in tandem with your savings account. Account holders can earn up to 15% cash back on select eligible purchases at stores, restaurants and more with BankAmeriDeals® when using a Bank of America debit or credit card.

The Bank of America Advantage Savings account requires a $100 opening deposit. There is an $8-per-month maintenance fee that is waived for the first 6 months for new account holders.

Customers can avoid paying the monthly fee after the intro period by maintaining a minimum daily balance of at least $500, linking their savings account to their Bank of America Advantage Relationship Banking® checking account or becoming a Bank of America Preferred Rewards member. Students under 24 who are enrolled in school may also qualify for a waiver.

There are three tiers to the Bank of America's Preferred Rewards program, and your 3-month average daily balance across your Bank of America deposit and Merrill Lynch/Merrill Edge investment accounts determines which tier you qualify for. You must also have an eligible Bank of America personal checking account to qualify. The tiers include Gold, Platinum and Platinum Honors, and there's a $20,000 minimum balance required.

If you qualify and enroll in the Preferred Rewards program, you're also eligible for an elevated APY, ranging from 0.02% to 0.04% depending on which tier. Otherwise, the standard APY is 0.01%.

To improve your savings habits, consider enrolling in Bank of America's Keep the Change^® program, which allows account holders to round up their debit card purchases and deposit the difference into their savings account each day. Through the Bank of America mobile app, customers can access Erica^® for customized and real-time virtual financial assistance. 

The bank has over 4,000 branches and 16,000-plus ATMs throughout the country. A withdrawal limit fee of $10 is applied for each withdrawal over 6 per month, and there is overdraft protection when you link your savings account to your checking account.

Who's this for? With about 5,400 physical locations and over 13,000 ATMs, Wells Fargo Bank is the largest brick-and-mortar bank in the nation by the number of branches. For those looking to open an account at a bank with the most opportunity for in-person access, Wells Fargo is your best choice.

Wells Fargo offers two different savings accounts: the basic Way2Save^® Savings and the elevated Platinum Savings. CNBC Select chose Way2Save as the better savings account option because it has a lower minimum daily balance requirement to avoid the monthly service fee ($5 per month for Way2Save and $12 per month for Platinum).

To avoid these fees, account holders must either maintain a $300 minimum daily balance or set up their choice of automatic transfers from their checking to their savings: $25 in total, $1 each business day per month or at least one Save As You Go^® transfer.

With Save As You Go, it's easy to set aside cash. Wells Fargo automatically transfers $1 of a customer's funds from their linked Wells Fargo checking account to their Way2Save account for each qualifying transaction that is a non-recurring debit card purchase or online bill payment using Wells Fargo Online^® Bill Pay. To accelerate completing your savings goals, you can set up additional automatic transfers from your checking account each month.

There is a $25 minimum opening deposit for this savings account, and those who link a Wells Fargo checking account can opt for overdraft protection. The APY on this account is currently 0.15%.

Who's this for? If you are looking for a broad network of ATMs to avoid any out-of-network fees and want a chance to earn a slightly higher APY, consider the savings accounts offered by Chase.

Chase Bank has nearly 4,900 branches and 16,000 ATMs. Like Wells Fargo, Chase offers two brick-and-mortar savings accounts: the standard Chase Savings℠ and the Chase Premier Savings℠. The latter is stronger because you can earn better interest rates (what Chase calls "relationship rates") on higher balances by linking your savings to a Chase Premier Plus Checking℠ or Chase Sapphire℠ Banking and making at least five transactions in a month using your linked checking account.

If you don't link your Chase Premier Savings account to a Chase checking account, the APY is 0.01%. But the APY creeps up slightly if you do have a linked account. For example, you can earn 0.02% APY if you also have a Premier Plus Checking or Chase Sapphire Banking account.

By linking to a checking account, you also avoid the monthly $25 service fee that comes with the Chase Premier Savings. Otherwise, there's a daily minimum balance of $15,000 required. There is no minimum deposit required to open an account. 

If you choose to link a Chase Sapphire Banking account, you can take advantage of Sapphire℠ Banking perks, which include special access to sports and entertainment events and early ticket sales.

Chase also has an automatic savings program where customers can get help reaching their set savings goals in the bank's mobile app. 

There is a $5 savings withdrawal limit fee when you make over six withdrawals in a month, including those made at a branch or at an ATM. This fee is waived with a balance of $15,000 or more in the account at the time of withdrawal.

Who's this for? If you want a simple, no-frills and low cost savings account at a brick-and-mortar bank, U.S. Bank's Standard Savings Account is for you.

With about 2,700 branches and 4,500 ATMs, U.S. Bank has a smaller physical presence than the other national banks on this list, mostly across the Midwest and Western parts of the U.S. However, as its name suggests, the Standard Savings Account is a straightforward option if you live near a U.S. Bank location.

Potential savers can open an account with a $25 minimum deposit. The monthly maintenance fee is $4 a month. The fee is waived for account holders who have a $300 minimum daily balance, a $1,000 average monthly collected balance or are under 18.

The APY offered is 0.01% on all balances, and you can take advantage of overdraft protection when linking your savings account to your U.S. Bank checking account.

Who's this for? The Citi® Savings Account is ideal for those who appreciate robust digital banking features but still want access to physical branches.

Citibank is the nation's third-largest bank, but has far fewer branches than some competitors, with only about 700 branches in the U.S. Customers have access to over 65,000 surcharge-free ATMs in the U.S. and can take advantage of a range of online banking features, including mobile check deposit, hassle-free transfers and easy online bill payments.

Citi stands out for offering a higher APY than its brick-and-mortar competitors with a 3.85% APY.

There is no minimum deposit required to open an account. Customers can avoid paying the low monthly fee by maintaining a minimum daily balance of at least $500 or linking their savings account to their checking account and either making one enhanced direct deposit and one qualifying bill payment per statement period or maintaining a $1,500 average monthly collected balance.

Who's this for? PNC Bank is a large brick-and-mortar bank with approximately 2,300 branch locations and nearly 18,000 PNC and PNC Partner ATMs. It stands out on our list for its savings account option called Virtual Wallet®, which uses innovative online tools to make it easy to see how you're managing your money day to day.

The account is best for those who want to do all their banking in one place as it rewards you for combining your savings and checking into one. New account holders can earn a welcome bonus of up to $400 depending on what type of Virtual Wallet they open. The three choices include Virtual Wallet, Virtual Wallet with Performance Spend and Virtual Wallet with Performance Select. The simple Virtual Wallet has basic account features while the two other options offer more premium rewards. For those enrolled in school, there is also a Virtual Wallet Student option.

All of the above Virtual Wallet options include individual accounts that work together: Spend, Reserve and Growth. Spend is your everyday checking account, Reserve your interest-bearing checking account / primary overdraft protection account and Growth is your long-term savings account / secondary overdraft protection account. Higher "relationship" interest rates are available on your Growth savings account.

The monthly service charges range from $7 to $25, depending on the type of Virtual Wallet you have and can be waived depending on minimum balances in your Spend + Reserve checking accounts (required balances and minimum deposits vary according to the type of Virtual Wallet you have).

Virtual Wallet account holders can make free transactions at approximately 9,000 PNC-owned ATMs, and if you end up using a non-PNC ATM, some fees are reimbursed. 

Through the PNC Purchase Payback® program, customers can also earn cash back or points on purchases made using their PNC Bank Visa® Debit Card which is automatically issued when they sign up for Virtual Wallet. The customized rewards program has offers available from participating merchants depending on your shopping habits.

If you're looking for a more straightforward account, PNC Bank also offers a Standard Savings Account.

For current APY information, call 1-888-PNC-BANK (1-888-762-2265).

• Annual Percentage Yield (APY): The amount of interest an account earns in a year.
• ATM networks: ATMs can either be in-service or out-of-network, depending on which bank you have. When you make a transaction at an ATM that is outside your bank's network, then a fee will most likely be applied by both the ATM operator and your bank.
• Overdraft protection: Any negative checking account balances are automatically covered when linked to a savings account.

It's smart to open a brick-and-mortar bank for the personal, face-to-face experience it provides, but if you're just looking to earn the highest return on your money, then a high-yield savings account may be a better option. Whereas online-only banks don't have to pay high overhead costs to operate physical branches, brick-and-mortar banks have costly expenses that are usually passed on to their customers.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every brick-and-mortar savings account review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of banking products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best brick-and-mortar savings accounts.

To determine which brick-and-mortar savings accounts offer the most convenience, CNBC Select analyzed dozens of U.S. savings accounts offered by the largest national banks and credit unions. We narrowed down our ranking by only considering those savings accounts that come from brick-and-mortar banks with broad availability, offering access to at least 700 physical branches and over 4,000 non-fee ATMs in the U.S.

While the accounts we chose in this article are from the largest banks, we compared each savings account on a range of features, including its fees, opportunities to earn higher interest rates, customer service and any other special offerings or programs. We also considered factors such as insurance policies, users' deposit options, other savings accounts being offered by the same bank and customer reviews when available.

All of the accounts included on this list are FDIC-insured up to $250,000. Note that the interest rates and fee structures for brick-and-mortar savings accounts are subject to change without notice. Product and feature availability vary by market so they may not be offered depending on where you live. Most brick-and-mortar banks require you to enter your zip code online for the correct account offerings. Any return on your savings depends on the associated fees and the balance you have in your brick-and-mortar savings account. To open a savings account, most banks and institutions require a deposit of new money, meaning you can't transfer money you already had in an account at that bank.

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