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At The Motley Fool, we take our mission to make the world smarter, happier, and richer very seriously. That includes making sure the banks we feature on Motley Fool Money are heavily vetted by our team of experts, so you can feel confident the picks on our site are fantastic choices for most people.
When rating banks and credit unions, we consider the most important features for the average user, based on our digital banking survey of 2,000 Americans. We tend to favor banking products from trusted financial brands that offer competitive interest rates, low fees, and that are easy to use. Our core objectives for our recommended selections are:
Our methodology for scoring banks and credit unions revolves around evaluating key aspects such as annual percentage yield (APY), brand reputation, fees and minimum requirements, and additional perks.
These criteria are weighted differently across various account types, ensuring a comprehensive assessment that reflects the competitive landscape and economic conditions.
We strictly feature products that offer federal insurance and high customer satisfaction, keeping our recommendations unbiased by advertiser influence. This robust evaluation process helps us generate balanced, reliable best-of lists that guide consumers to top financial products.
We rate savings accounts on a 1–5 star scale, calculated in tenths of a point to show small differences between products. Our scoring is based on the factors that matter most to everyday savers, with higher ratings going to accounts that combine strong returns, low costs, and ease of use.
What we evaluate:
The interest rate on your savings account has the biggest impact on your money’s growth. We give the highest ratings to accounts offering rates several percentage points above the national average. Because the interest rate environment changes over time, we regularly revisit how accounts compare to ensure our ratings stay relevant.
We prioritize banks and credit unions that have earned customer trust through stability, transparency, and strong service. Top marks go to institutions with long histories and meaningful industry recognition. Accounts tied to recent controversies, instability, or short track records score lower.
The best savings accounts make it easy to start saving and avoid unnecessary costs. We award the highest ratings to accounts with no monthly service fees and minimal opening deposit or balance requirements to earn the top APY. Accounts that impose high minimums or unnecessary fees receive lower marks.
While not every saver needs bells and whistles, the best accounts offer flexibility and convenience. That may include digital tools like savings buckets or budgeting features, ATM or debit card access, strong mobile apps, or seamless connections to other accounts at the same institution. Accounts that lack these basics, or are difficult to use, score lower.
We may also make small adjustments for limited-time standout offers or, conversely, for excessive fees or hidden costs. This ensures our ratings reflect not just headline numbers but also the overall experience a saver can expect.
Checking account ratings primarily focus on brand and reputation, APY and rewards, fees and minimum requirements, and perks. We may apply a grading curve to our scoring, depending on the interest rate environment.
We prioritize banks and credit unions with a history of stability, transparency, and high customer satisfaction. Accounts from well-established and trusted institutions generally score higher.
Checking accounts that offer competitive interest rates or meaningful rewards for spending get higher marks.
Accounts that avoid monthly maintenance fees, overdraft fees, or high balance requirements are rated more favorably.
Extra features like branch or ATM access, digital tools, and seamless integration with other accounts improve the user experience and can increase a product’s score.
Unlike other banking products we evaluate, certificates of deposit (CDs) do not receive a star rating from us. This approach is due to the frequent updates in interest rates and terms associated with CDs. Instead, we highlight CDs on our best-of list pages based on their annual percentage yield (APY) and the fees associated with early withdrawals. Our top CD selections typically offer competitive APYs without complex qualification tiers, low early withdrawal penalties, reliable strong brand reliability, and user-friendly features.
Motley Fool Money focuses exclusively on standard CDs and does not review IRA CDs, bump-up CDs, callable CDs, or other specialized CD accounts.
We evaluate money market accounts based on four main criteria: annual percentage yield (APY), brand and reputation, fees and minimum balance requirements, and perks. We may apply a grading curve to our scoring, depending on the interest rate environment.
Higher interest rates are rewarded, but we also consider consistency and competitiveness relative to other money market accounts.
We focus on institutions with a track record of trust, stability, and strong customer service.
Accounts with low or no monthly fees and accessible balance requirements receive better scores.
Useful features like ATM access, check writing, and account integration can enhance an account’s score.
We combine the factors outlined above with an evaluation of brand reputation and customer satisfaction to ensure you're getting the best bank recommendations on each of our pages. Our aim is to maintain balanced best-of lists featuring top-scoring banks from reputable brands.
Ordering within our lists is influenced by advertiser compensation, including featured placements at the top of a given list, but our product recommendations are NEVER influenced by advertisers. Our Ratings team operates totally independently of our Partnership team.
