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Below you’ll find our top picks for the best banks and credit unions in California.

These institutions have stayed as our top picks for the last few months because they offer a variety of bank accounts with solid features and can be opened regardless of where you live in the state.

Savings rates at the largest banks in California

Here are the savings rates you’ll earn with the biggest banks in California. Two of these, Chase and Citi, made our list.

We didn’t choose others because they didn’t have branches in as many parts of California as some of our top picks, or they lacked distinguishing features, such as high APYs or sign-up bonuses.

However, you may still decide one of these California banks is a good fit for you, and you might like banking with a widespread institution you’re familiar with.

As of December 2022, the national average APY on savings accounts is 0.30% according to the FDIC.

Best bank for opening a savings account: Ally

Why it stands out: Ally pays 3.30% Annual Percentage Yield (APY), and doesn’t charge any monthly maintenance fees.

The Ally High Yield Savings Account has been a power player in the high-yield savings space for a few years now, and it consistently nabs top awards for online banking. Although it’s an online bank, you can use over 40,000 Allpoint ATMs for free around the US. 

Ally makes it easy to save for specific goals. You may decide to open a separate account for each goal, but Ally has a bucket feature that allows you save for multiple goals in one account. Assign each one a nickname, like “Emergency Fund” or “Travel Account” to track your progress and stay motivated. 

What to look out for: While Ally is extremely competitive, other banks offer similar online high-yield savings accounts. Ally is certainly one of the best out there, but depending on your needs and your existing banking, you may find you prefer a different bank, such as Capital One 360, Varo, or Discover.

Best bank for opening a checking account: Bank of America

Why it stands out: Bank of America is the third-largest bank in California by branch locations. You can receive a $100 sign-up bonus for opening a checking account with Bank of America. The bank also doesn’t charge any overdraft fees. 

What to look out for: The bank charges an out-of-network ATM fee and you won’t earn interest on the money you deposit.

Best bank for opening a checking and savings account: Citi

Why it stands out: Citi is the sixth-largest bank in California by branch locations. The bank pays large sign-up bonuses if you open certain checking and savings accounts together and meet deposit requirements.

Citi divides its accounts into separate “packages.” If you open a checking and savings account and meet the deposit requirements, you may receive a bonus. You can also receive a bonus if you choose to only open either a savings or checking account, like the Citi Priority Account, which offers a sign-up bonus of up to $1,500.

What to look out for: The package system can be confusing. Citi has six bank account packages, which can become overwhelming. Each package offers various benefits and charges different fees. You may decide to open accounts in the package that pays the highest bonus you qualify for, but make sure you won’t get stuck with high fees before you sign up.

Best credit union: Golden 1 Credit Union 

Why it stands out: Maybe you prefer a credit union over a bank. Each option comes with trade-offs — credit unions often have higher interest rates and better customer service, while brick-and-mortar banks may have more locations and adapt to new technology faster.

If you’re looking for a credit union in California, then Golden 1 is a good choice. It’s easier to join than some of the other major credit unions in the state, like SchoolsFirst. There are also more locations around California than other prominent credit unions, such as First Technology Federal Credit Union.

To join Golden 1, you just have to either live or work in California, and you can open a Golden 1 savings account with $1.

There are more than 70 branch locations around California, and around 240 Golden 1 ATMs. You also have free access to 30,000 CO-OP ATMs nationwide, which is convenient if you travel out of state.

Golden 1 pays lower rates on some accounts than online banks, but higher than many brick-and-mortar banks.

What to look out for: Like many credit unions, Golden 1 compounds your interest monthly rather than daily, which affects how much you’ll earn in the long run. If your biggest priority is earning a good rate, then you may want to use a bank rather than a credit union, or search for a credit union that compounds daily.

Are these banks and credit unions trustworthy?

The Better Business Bureau grades companies based on responses to customer complaints, advertising, and transparency about business practices. Here are the BBB scores for our favorite banks and credit unions in California:

 Citi has an F due to lack of response to customer complaints and government action against the bank.

In the last few years, Citi has dealt with the following public scandals:

• Citi had to compensate credit card customers for neglecting to change their interest rates (2018)
• The bank incorrectly sent $900 million to customers (2019)
• Citi was fined $400 million by the Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for failing to recognize money laundering by its customers (2020)

If any of these issues worry you, you may decide you’d rather bank with Ally or Golden 1.

Methodology: How did we choose the best banks in California?

We looked at the banks and credit unions with the most branches in the state. Then we zeroed in on those that offered appealing features, like sign-up bonuses or high interest rates. None of the biggest banks in California paid high rates on savings accounts, so we chose an online bank, Ally, as our top choice for a savings account.

For the best credit union, we chose one that is easy for California residents to join and has branches in multiple parts of the state.

Frequently asked questions

Why trust our recommendations for the best banks in California?

Personal Finance Insider’s mission is to help smart people make the best decisions with their money. We understand that “best” is often subjective, so in addition to highlighting the clear benefits of a financial product or account — a high APY, for example — we outline the limitations, too. We spent hours comparing and contrasting the features and fine print of various products so you don’t have to.

What is the No. 1 bank in America?

It depends on what you’re looking for. Wells Fargo has the most branches in the US, followed closely by Chase and Bank of America. If you’re looking for high savings rates and low fees, then you’ll probably want to go with an online bank. (See our picks for the best online banks here.)

What’s the safest bank to put your money in?

As long as an institution has federal insurance, then your money should be safe. Banks need to be insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and credit unions need to be insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

An individual account is insured for up to $250,000, and a joint account is insured for up to $500,000. This means you won’t lose all your money should the bank go under.

Experts’ advice on choosing the best financial institution

To learn more about what makes a good bank or credit union and how to choose the best fit, four experts weighed in:

• Tania Brown, certified financial planner at SaverLife
• Roger Ma, certified financial planner with lifelaidout® and author of “Work Your Money, Not Your Life”
• Mykail James, MBA, certified financial education instructor, BoujieBudgets.com
• Laura Grace Tarpley, associate editor of banking, Personal Finance Insider

We’re focusing on what will make a bank most useful, including customer service, fees, rates, and more. Here’s what they had to say about finding a bank. (Some text may be lightly edited for clarity.)

How can someone determine whether a bank is the right fit for them?

Mykail James, CFEI:

“The No. 1 thing about a checking account is you should know what provider the debit card is coming from. And a lot of people don’t think about that, because there are places that don’t accept MasterCard or don’t accept an Amex.”

Laura Grace Tarpley, Personal Finance Insider:

“I would look for the bank that charges you the least in fees. This means either no monthly fees, or you qualify to waive the monthly fees. If you never overdraw from your account, then a bank’s overdraft fees won’t matter much to you. But if you occasionally overdraw, then I’d look at the fees or overdraft protection options.”

What should someone look for in a brick-and-mortar bank?

Tania Brown, CFP:

“How can that bank grow with you? If you are 25, single or newly married, and all you need is a checking account, that’s going to look very different 15 years from now when you may have had a couple of jobs, you may have an IRA roll over, or you may want a financial adviser.”

Mykail James, CFEI:

“How accessible it is. So where are the branches? And if I am to go out of town or something, how accessible is my money to me?”

What should someone look for in an online bank?

Tania Brown, CFP:

“With an online bank, absolutely online customer service, because you do not have the advantage of walking inside and talking to a human being. How often are you able to get them? What are their hours?”

Roger Ma, CFP:

“How onerous the transfer process is, transferring money in and transferring money out. Is it same day, next day? Is it pretty easy to sync a brick-and-mortar checking account to this particular high-yield savings account?”

Mykail James, CFEI:

“When it comes to online banks, you want to be a little bit more strict about what type of interest rates they’re providing. That’s the biggest thing, because online banks are supposed to have the higher interest rate because they don’t have the overhead of the brick-and-mortar. You want to make sure that it’s well above the national average. What type of securities do they provide? Do they have two-factor identification? If it’s an online bank, they should definitely have — at the bare minimum — two-factor authentication in how easy it is to change your passwords and things like that, because you want to be a little more hypersensitive about the cyber security for a strictly online bank.”