Combining finances with a partner? Look into these 6 joint checking and savings accounts

A joint bank account can be a handy tool when combining or sharing your finances. Whether you're saving for a mutual goal with your significant other, sharing bills with your spouse, teaching money management to your kids or starting a business with friend, a well-picked joint bank account can be helpful.

CNBC Select analyzed dozens of joint checking and savings accounts to find the best options in various categories. We compared their fees, earning rates and other features to determine which accounts to include on our list. (Read more about our methodology below.)

• Best overall: SoFi Checking and Savings
• Best savings account: LendingClub High-Yield Savings
• Best from a major bank: Capital One 360 Checking® Account
• Best from a credit union: Alliant Credit Union High-Rate Checking
• Best for families with kids: Capital One Kids Savings
• Best for rewards: Discover® Cashback Debit Checking

Who's this for? If you're looking to share both a checking and savings account, SoFi Checking and Savings can offer the best of both worlds.

With SoFi, you can earn up to 4.60% APY* on your savings balances and 0.50% APY on checking balances if you set up direct deposit. Without the direct deposit, you'll earn 1.20% on savings balances (including Vaults). This allows you the opportunity to get returns on all the liquid funds sitting in your account. SoFi places no limits on transfers between your checking and savings accounts.

There are no account, overdraft, minimum balance or monthly fees. You'll also get fee-free ATM access to over 55,000 ATMs across the country.

SoFi Checking and Savings has a few additional features making it an appealing option. For example, you can automatically get your paychecks two days early. You can also take advantage of Vaults and Roundups where each transaction on your SoFi debit card will be rounded up to the next whole dollar and the difference will be transferred to one of your chosen saving account "Vaults", slowly but surely boosting your savings.

Who's this for? If you're only looking to combine savings, LendingClub High-Yield Savings can offer outstanding returns. In fact, CNBC Select ranked it as the best overall high-yield savings account.

LendingClub charges no monthly maintenance fees on its high-yield savings account and doesn't have a minimum balance requirement. All you need is a $100 deposit to open the account.

One of the account's prominent features is free ATM access. LendingClub offers free ATM cards and doesn't charge any ATM fees, which makes it easy to withdraw cash from your savings account whenever you need. You can also use an ATM to deposit money. Alternatively, you can add money to your account by transferring it from another bank, depositing checks via the mobile app, making a wire transfer or doing a direct deposit.

Who's this for? The Capital One 360 Checking® Account is worth considering if you and your partner would rather stick with a brick-and-mortar bank. CNBC Select ranked it as the best overall no-fee checking account as it charges no monthly or minimum balance fees and eliminated all overdraft fees.

To avoid overdrafts on your Capital One checking account, you can set up a free automatic transfer from your savings or money market account to cover the transaction. Capital One also provides a No-Fee Overdraft option where the bank won't charge any fees if it approves a check, electronic or recurring debit card payment that you can't cover. Otherwise, Capital One will generally decline transactions that cause overdrafts.

There's no minimum deposit required to open an account, and you'll earn 0.10% APY on all balances. You'll also get fee-free access to over 70,000 ATMs and a highly-rated mobile app with built-in CreditWise®, Zelle and mobile check deposit.

Who's this for? The Alliant Credit Union High-Rate Checking can be a great choice for those who prefer banking with a credit union.

The account currently offers a 0.25% APY if you enroll in paperless statements and set up a recurring monthly electronic deposit. You'll also get access to more than 80,000 in-network ATMs and up to $20 per month in refunds for out-of-network ATM fees.

There's no minimum balance required to maintain the account. Alliant also charges no monthly or minimum balance fees on the High-Rate Checking. Additionally, you won't pay any overdraft fees and will have a couple of options for overdraft protection. You can opt-in to transfer money from another account to cover your overdrafts or enroll in Courtesy Pay, where the credit union may cover qualifying payments and transactions when your account has insufficient funds.

Each account co-owner must be an Alliant member — otherwise, their access to the account will be limited. Anyone can join by supporting the credit union's partner charity Foster Care to Success. You won't need to pay the charity directly — Alliant pays the $5 membership fee on your behalf when you apply.

Who's this for? The Capital One Kids Savings account is a good option for parents looking to co-manage savings with their children so they can begin to save money and learn healthy financial habits.

While the account earns a relatively low APY, its child-friendly features are what make this account stand out. With the Capital One Kids Savings, you can link your bank account and set up a schedule for allowance and regular deposits. You can also create multiple accounts — one for each child in your family.

Kids can log in and check their balance at any time and make mobile deposits by uploading a picture of a check in the Capital One app. Alternatively, they can mail the check.

The Capital One Kids Savings account doesn't charge any maintenance fees and there's no minimum balance to open and maintain the account.

Who's this for? The Discover Cashback Debit Account is ideal for those looking to share a checking account that will earn rewards.

Unlike credit cards, there aren't many debit cards that earn cash back. The Discover Cashback Debit Account, however, offers a debit card that earns 1% cash back on up to $3,000 in purchases each month. If you maximize these rewards, you'll earn up to $30 cashback per month — or $360 annually.

With the Discover Cash Back Debit, you won't ever have to pay fees for monthly maintenance, overdrafts or bank checks. Additionally, you can get paid up to two days early if you set up direct deposit.

You'll also get fee-free access to over 60,000 ATMs and a top-rated mobile app where you can send and receive money through Zelle, deposit checks and freeze (or unfreeze) your card.

• How do you open a joint bank account?
• Are joint accounts FDIC-insured?
• Is a joint bank account a good idea for a couple?
• Who owns the money in a joint bank account?

The process of opening a joint bank account is similar to applying for an individual bank account. You can do so online or over the phone — in this case, you'll need the personal information for each account owner, such as their name, date of birth and Social Security number. If you're applying in person at a branch, each prospective account holder must be present.

Often, you can also add an additional owner to an existing account. You might be able to do it virtually, but if you're not seeing the option in online banking, give your bank or credit union a call.

Joint accounts enjoy the same insurance coverages as individual accounts. Most banks are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), while accounts at credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA). Each account holder is typically insured for up to $250,000 so a couple with a joint account that's FDIC-insured can receive insurance for up to $500,000 for the same shared account.

Note that individual accounts are insured separately from joint accounts. For example, if you have individual checking and savings accounts and a joint checking account at the same bank, you get $250,000 in combined coverage for your individual accounts and another $250,000 for the shared account.

Having a joint checking or savings account can be practical as it allows a couple to manage shared financial commitments easier and with increased transparency. At the same time, pooling your money together requires a great deal of trust and communication.

For instance, conflict may arise when one partner or spouse isn't contributing enough or spending on unplanned purchases or more than agreed. In more extreme cases, one account holder can decide to withdraw all the money as a way to retaliate. Further, if one of the account holders has unpaid debt, creditors can go after the money in the joint account to satisfy it.

Keeping such risks in mind, make sure you carefully consider the decision to open a joint account. Talk to your partner or spouse to see if you're on the same financial page and clarify the expectations.

Money in a joint bank account belongs equally to all account holders. Each account co-owner can withdraw, spend and manage the funds. If one of the account holders dies, the money and account ownership pass directly to the other account owner without having to go through probate.

If you're looking to open a joint bank account, make sure you and your account holder are clear about expectations and can openly talk about money. From there, it's all about choosing the account that best fits your needs. Compare multiple options so that you can find one that works for you.

To determine which checking and savings accounts are the best for joint ownership, CNBC Select analyzed dozens of U.S. bank accounts offered by online and brick-and-mortar banks, including large credit unions. We narrowed down our ranking by only considering those accounts that earn interest or rewards.

We also favored those accounts with zero monthly maintenance fees (or a simple way to waive them), no overdraft fees and low minimum balance and minimum deposit requirements.

All of the accounts included on this list are FDIC- or NCUA-insured up to $250,000. Note that the rates and fee structures for checking and savings accounts are not guaranteed forever; they are subject to change without notice and they often fluctuate in accordance with the Fed rate. Your earnings depend on any associated fees and the balance you have in your checking account. To open an account, most banks and institutions require a deposit of new money, meaning you can't transfer the money you already had in an account at that bank.

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* SoFi members with direct deposit can earn up to 4.60% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. There is no minimum direct deposit amount required to qualify for the 4.60% APY for savings. Members without direct deposit will earn up to 1.20% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 12/12/23. There is no minimum balance requirement. Additional information can be found at http://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet.