Bank Account Minimum Balance And Deposit Requirements – Forbes Advisor

When you open an account at a bank or credit union, you may come across minimum requirements. Some banks and credit unions require you to deposit a minimum amount of money to open a checking, savings, CD or money market account. These financial institutions also may require you to meet certain minimum balance requirements to qualify for an APY or avoid a fee.

Here’s what you need to know about bank account minimum deposit and minimum balance requirements.

What Is a Minimum Deposit?

Generally, a minimum deposit is a set amount of money that a bank or credit union requires you to come up with to open an account or obtain certain benefits.

Below are two common minimum deposit types you may see.

Minimum Opening Deposit

A minimum opening deposit is a certain amount of money—usually $25 to $100—that a bank or credit union requires you to deposit to open a checking or savings account. Some financial institutions do not require a minimum opening deposit. For certificates of deposits (CDs), minimum opening deposits could be considerably higher.

To make a minimum opening deposit, you typically can transfer money from another financial institution or transfer money from another account at the same financial institution. You also may be able to make an opening deposit with a debit card, check or money order. Typically, you can initially deposit more money than is required.

Minimum Monthly Deposit

In some cases, a bank or credit union might require you to make a minimum monthly deposit to qualify for certain account benefits. For instance, a minimum monthly deposit may be required to earn a higher APY on a savings account, or a minimum monthly deposit may be required to avoid a monthly fee for a savings account.

Do Minimum Deposit Amounts Vary?

Minimum deposit amounts vary among banks and credit unions. Here are some examples of minimum opening deposit requirements across four different banking products:

Checking Accounts

Savings Accounts

CDs

Money Market Accounts

What Is a Minimum Balance?

Many banks and credit unions require that you keep a minimum amount of money in a checking or savings account. This is generally known as a minimum balance requirement. In some cases, maintaining a minimum balance may let you reduce or eliminate fees or earn a higher APY.

The amount required for a minimum balance may differ from that required for a minimum deposit.

Different Types of Minimum Balances

Minimum balances requirements come in different forms, and your financial institution may require any one of these three:

• Minimum daily balance. Financial institutions may require that you keep a daily minimum amount of money in an account to avoid fees or earn interest.
• Average minimum balance. A financial institution calculates an average monthly balance by taking the amount of money in your account at the end of each day during a statement period and dividing it by the number of days during the statement period.
• Minimum combined balance. To come up with a minimum combined balance, a financial institution averages the amount of money you have each month in various accounts such as checking and savings accounts.

How Is the Minimum Balance Calculated on Bank Statements?

There are various ways to calculate the minimum balance on a bank statement. Some banks use a straightforward minimum balance calculation method, where anytime your balance dips below that threshold, you’re automatically charged a fee for the month.

Other institutions use a “daily minimum balance” calculation that tracks your balance at the end or beginning of each business day and uses that amount to determine whether you’ve dipped below the limit. If a bank includes the word “average” in its requirements, it probably adds all your daily minimum balances for the month and divides that by the number of days in the month.

What if You Don’t Maintain the Minimum Balance?

Sometimes, you can face consequences for failing to maintain a minimum balance. For instance, you may be hit with a monthly maintenance fee if your balance falls below the minimum. Or, you may need to keep a minimum balance to earn a certain amount of interest.

How To Avoid Minimum Balance Requirements

You can take a number of steps to avoid minimum balance requirements. Here are six of them:

1. Know your financial institution’s minimum balance requirements. Typically, you can find balance requirements on the financial institution’s website.
2. Look for accounts that don’t come with minimum balance requirements. Some banks and credit unions don’t have these requirements for certain accounts.
3. Set up direct deposit. Having your paycheck automatically deposited into one of your accounts might prevent you from dipping below the minimum balance.
4. Establish recurring transfers. Let’s say you have a checking account and a savings account at the same financial institution, and the savings account comes with a minimum balance requirement. To sidestep the minimum balance requirement on the savings account, you might create recurring transfers from your checking account to your savings account.
5. Open more than one account at the same financial institution. Some financial institutions eliminate account fees if you maintain more than one account with them.
6. Be careful with your debit card. If you don’t pay close attention to your debit card transactions, you may find your account has dropped below the minimum balance required before you even know it.

Bottom Line

Banks impose several different types of minimum balance requirements. If you don’t meet them, you may get charged a fee, lose any interest you were set to earn that month or forgo other perks. The best way to avoid minimum balance requirements is by opening one of the best fee-free bank accounts.

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