Best Banks in Virginia
Knowing what you’re looking for in a bank can help you choose from among the many banking options available to you. Some customers might focus on banks with the best interest rates, whereas others might be more interested in mortgage rates, bank customer service or loan rates.
To help you choose from among the best in your state, GOBankingRates selected the top 10 banks in Virginia based on a methodology that considered bank asset size, accessibility, savings account interest rate, monthly checking account fee and available products.
Top 10 Banks in Virginia
This list highlights the features and benefits of the various banks ranked, such as high interest rates. Take a closer look at the Virginia’s best banks so you can more easily find the right bank for your needs.
Here are the 10 best banks in Virginia:
Capital One
Sonabank
United Bank
Burke & Herbert Bank
National Bank
John Marshall Bank
First Virginia Community Bank
Virginia Commonwealth Bank
WashingtonFirst Bank
HSBC Bank USA
Always check directly with the bank for current terms before you open an account or take out a loan.
Capital One
Capital One offers no-fee checking and savings accounts, both with high yields. The Capital One 360 Checking account is a fee-free online account that offers the following free services:
No minimum opening deposit or sustaining balance
Online banking and bill pay
Mobile deposit
Overdraft protection
Access to 39,000+ Capital One and Allpoint ATMs
The Capital One 360 Savings Account is an online account with the same pricing structure and requirements as the 360 Checking Account. The savings account also offers a 1.00% APY on any balance. Beyond checking and savings, Capital One also offers auto loans, mortgage loans, credit cards and investment services.
Learn: Insider Tips for How to Choose the Best Bank
Sonabank
Sonabank offers a free savings account known as the Kasasa Saver. The account comes free of charge, and when certain qualifications are met, it pays an APY of 1.00 percent, the highest rate offered on the GOBankingRates top 10 list for Virginia. The Kasasa Saver account offers free services including:
Online and mobile banking
Mobile deposits
E-statements
No minimum balance
To qualify for the Sonabank account, you’ll have to enroll in online banking and eStatements, make at least 15 debit card purchases per month, and have at least one direct deposit or ACH transaction. You’ll need a $25 minimum deposit to open the account.
Sonabank also offers three types of free checking accounts: Kasasa Cash, Kasasa Cash Bank and Kasasa Tunes. Each offers different benefits for no monthly service fee, just a $25 minimum opening deposit. The bank offers anl array of products including checking, savings, auto loans, mortgage loans, insurance and credit cards.
Learn More: Must-Have Features All the Best Bank Accounts Offer
United Bank
United Bank offers services across all five highlighted categories in this ranking: auto loans, mortgage loans, credit cards, investment services and insurance. United Bank also is one of the largest on the Virginia top 10 list, with 144 branches and over $14.5 billion in assets.
The United Free Checking account has no minimum balance requirement but does require a $50 opening deposit. It includes the following for free:
eStatements
United Visa check card
Mobile banking with check deposit
Online banking with bill pay
No minimum balance
Burke & Herbert Bank
Burke & Herbert Bank offers a free checking account, Convenience Checking, which has a hard-to-find perk: absolutely free, nationwide ATM access. The bank never charges customers for using other banks’ ATM, and if another ATM assesses a surcharge, Burke & Herbert Bank will reimburse all fees. The checking account offers additional free services:
Burke & Herbert Bank Visa debit card
No monthly or transaction fees
No minimum balance
Free ATMs nationwide
The bank also provides auto and home loans, credit cards, and investment services. The bank’s Statement Savings account pays a 0.05% APY, requires a $50 opening deposit, and is fee-free if you sign up for direct deposit or keep a balance of at least $100 in the account.
National Bank
National Bank offers a variety of services, from home mortgages and credit cards to insurance and investment services. The bank’s Free Checking account carries no fees if you order duplicate checks to open the account and pay the $25 minimum opening deposit. Although National Bank ATM transactions are free, the bank charges $2 to use non-National Bank ATMs. After opening, additional free services include:
No minimum balance
No service charges
ATM card or check card
John Marshall Bank
John Marshall Bank offers credit cards, auto loans and home mortgages but does not provide insurance or investment services. One of its standout products is its free savings account, which pays 0.20% APY on any amount after opening the account with at least $100. To avoid a fee, you’ll have to maintain a balance of at least $100.
The bank also offers a JMB Personal Checking account with no fees after an initial deposit of at least $100. Even if your balance falls below $100 after you open the account, there are still no fees. Although no interest is paid on the account, you have access to free services, including:
Mastercard debit card
Online banking and bill pay
Direct deposit
Surcharge-free access to over 55,000 Allpoint ATMs internationally
First Virginia Community Bank
First Virginia Community Bank has limited services compared with some of the other banks on this list. For example, First Virginia does not offer mortgage loans, insurance or investment services. It does, however, have a 0.30% APY on its free savings account, and the First Statement Savings requires only $5 to open.
First Virginia offers a Free Personal Checking account that requires a $50 opening balance and no minimum maintaining balance. Free services that come with the account include:
Mastercard check card
Online banking with bill pay
Mobile banking and eStatements
Unlimited check writing
Virginia Commonwealth Bank
Virginia Commonwealth Bank is the smallest institution in the GOBankingRates list of top 10 banks in Virginia, with about $863 million in assets. The bank offers mortgage loans and credit cards, but it doesn’t provide auto loans, investment services or insurance.
Virginia Commonwealth does offer six checking options. For most accounts, there either is no fee or account holders can avoid the fee with direct deposits. The First Free checking account has no fees or balance requirement and offers unlimited check writing, as long as you open the account with at least $100. All of the bank’s checking accounts provide the following for free:
Debit card
Online banking with bill pay
Mobile deposit
Overdraft protection
WashingtonFirst Bank
All of the checking accounts from WashingtonFirst Bank — even the Free Checking account — provide a number of valuable services,. Personal checking accounts, for example, include the following free benefits:
Visa Check card
Online banking with bill pay
Mobile check deposit
Notary services,
ATM transactions worldwide, including the reimbursement of eight fees per month charged by other institutions’ ATMs.
The free features are provided on top of the more traditional free checking account services, such as online banking, bill pay, a Visa debit card, mobile check deposit, and unlimited check writing. The minimum opening deposit for the Free Checking account is $50.
HSBC Bank USA
The other national bank giant on this top 10 list, HSBC Bank USA, boasts over $191 billion in assets and a range of services, including mortgage loans, credit cards, insurance and investment services. The bank does not offer auto loans, however.
The HSBC basic checking account offers free services, but it comes with a $3 monthly service fee that cannot be waived. Free services offered with the basic checking account include:
HSBC debit Mastercard
Online banking
Eight checks or withdrawals per month, with additional transactions being assessed a $0.35 fee each
Read On: What Is the Best Bank or Credit Union?
Methodology: To determine the best banks in the state, GOBankingRates ranked the top 10 banks based on (1) asset-size, with $100 million minimum in assets held, according to the FDIC; (2) monthly checking account service fee; (3) savings account annual percentage rate, which was either a flat rate or the lowest tiered rate available from the bank for non-specialty savings account products; (4) bank accessibility, based on the approximate number of branches; and (5) products, with banks being scored on selection of products offered, including auto loans, mortgage loans, credit cards, investment services, and insurance.
Data for this ranking was compiled from and verified against the individual institutions’ websites between Sept. 21 and Sept. 26, 2017. Rates, terms and conditions are subject to change at the discretion of the individual financial institutions. APY was based on the minimum deposit required to open the account. Some interest rates might be short-term or promotional offers only, and it is possible additional terms and conditions must be met in order to obtain the interest rates listed. Rates and availability might vary by region. Please verify terms and conditions before opening an account.
GOBankingRates is a personal finance and consumer interest rate website owned by ConsumerTrack, Inc., an online marketing company serving top-tier banks, credit unions, and other financial services organizations. Some banks mentioned in this ranking are clients of ConsumerTrack, Inc., which serves more than 100 national, local and online financial institutions. Rankings are completely objective, and no institution, client or otherwise, paid for inclusion or specific placement.
Related: The Best Banks of 2018
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Best Banks in Virginia