A bank is an institution where deposits of many people are handled. People deposit their money, their earnings and their company finances. Banks usually operate on many levels they lend money at rates which are higher than the cost of money they lend. Mostly banks provide loans to people and different organizations at some interest which vary from bank to bank. Modern banking system solely operates on software and internet banking. Modern banking system is flexible and faster than the conventional banking system. Most of the money in the world is now in digital form. Which is safer than the tangible form but it has its own disadvantages.

Every person who is eligible and can meet the criteria of the banks can open an account in a bank. They have their own rules and regulations. Today many banks provide the services for elderly and senior people.

Today the main concern of the people is, the security what banks provide. With the advancement in technology, however, saving and transferring money made easy but yet there is a threat of theft of money. Seniors are not niche in the banking market but they are the banking market. That is why many banks provide and promote some premium products for the seniors. Banks solely promotes some products and services for the seniors according to their needs.

First of wall you have to decide what you really want and what are your needs and what you really do with your money? Do you need a visit to the bank or you write a lot of checks or you receive cash every month? According to recent surveys many senior people like conventional banking system, they like the comfort of their check books. They want their money in their hands. They don’t want to rely on computer systems.

Most of the seniors are not familiar with the new and smart technology or we can say that they are not tech savvy. As we know that banking system is now digitized so we don’t have to wait in queues, we can pay bills with a light weight computers or with mobile phones these days. It’s been seen that many seniors according to a recent survey prefer services with no external fees and ATM charges.

For typical seniors as they prefer, in case of emergency to visit the banks and to access the checks. They prefer low amount which they have to pay for maintenance fee. The action plan for an account should be like, you have to look for an offering of 60 plus and compare it to other offerings. For eligibility criteria some banks have set the limit from 60 and above but some are offering 55 and plus. In senior account you will have to look for free checks while the conventional system charges a fee for them. It also comes with free money orders and official bank checks. But sometimes the other accounts provide better services than senior accounts.

Just because it is marked as a senior account and some of the banks are ideal for this, doesn’t mean that they are better than the other accounts. Sometimes if a bank is charging you $10 for a service it can be $5 for other accounts.

Best Banks for Seniors

These banks for senior accounts offer the best services which are easily accessible and carry low maintenance fees as well. They provide best checking accounts with extra benefits for the customers which are in their retirement.

Following are the banks which are rated according to a research which includes their services which they provide for senior banking, number of branches which are easily accessible, annual interest rates which will be applied and minimum requirements to open an account. Other services with extra benefits like 24/7 customer care and service.

Charles Schwab Bank[i]

Charles Schwab bank provides high yield investor checking account with minimum $0 opening deposit. They pay highest rate for checking accounts to the seniors. They provide truly a free checking account to the retirees with no monthly fees. Their services like minimum opening deposit, 24/7 phone services and live chat with an administrator might be appealing for the seniors. Seniors who travel a lot then this bank might be very beneficial for them because they have no foreign transaction fee. They also provide free ATM services worldwide. Their interest rate is 0.15% which is very reasonable.

Citizens Bank[ii]

Their minimum opening charges to open an account is $0 with an interest of 0.02%. They provide high end accounts. Their monthly charges are $25 but this can be waived off if a you maintains an amount of $25,000 combined all of your citizen accounts. Their platinum accounts include free and personalized financial advices and they provide free money orders and foreign currency which you purchase and free check services.

TD Bank[iii]

Seniors which are 60 years old can open a senior account in TD Bank with minimum interest rate of 0.05%. Their Minimum opening amount is $0. You can take an advantage of their services like free checks, online banking, mobile banking and 24/7 customer care services. They provide free money orders and free paper statements as well. They also provide a rate of 0.25% reduction on home loans. If you maintain to keep $250 a month in your account you can avoid their monthly service charges of $10.

U.S Bank[iv]

They open an account for $25 for premium checking. The seniors with the age of 65 and above can enjoy the services like no ATM fee, free money orders, free cashier’s check, free online and mobile banking 24/7 and customer care services. They provide an e-statement with monthly charges of $10.95 but if you are a senior of 65 or plus you can easily avoid it. In this case you have to maintain an amount of $5000 monthly. They have 3000 plus branches across 25 states of America. Their interest rate is 0.01% which is nothing as compare to their services.

[i] https://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending

[ii] https://www.citizensbank.com/learning/senior-citizen-banking.aspx

[iii] https://www.td.com/us/en/personal-banking/checking-accounts/60-plus/

[iv] https://www.usbank.com/bank-accounts/checking-accounts/premium-senior-checking-account.html