Chase checking accounts have fees, but you can avoid most of them

Chase charges a monthly maintenance fee on most checking accounts, but the fee disappears if you meet one straightforward requirement: keep a minimum balance or set up direct deposit. The Chase Total Checking account costs $12 a month unless you maintain $500 in the account or have a may have access to direct deposit. Chase Premier Plus Checking costs $25 a month and requires either $25,000 in the account or a $5,000 monthly direct deposit to waive the fee.

Beyond the monthly fee, Chase charges for specific actions: overdrafts, wire transfers, cashier's checks, and stopping a check payment. These fees only hit your account if you actually do those things. The monthly maintenance fee is the one that charges automatically unless you take action to prevent it.

Key Takeaways

  • Chase Total Checking has a $12 monthly fee that waives if you keep $500 in the account or receive a direct deposit.
  • Chase Premier Plus Checking costs $25 monthly and requires either $25,000 in the account or $5,000 in monthly direct deposits to avoid the fee.
  • Overdraft fees, wire transfer fees, and other transaction fees only explore when you use those specific services.
  • The direct deposit requirement counts any paycheck, government benefit, or regular transfer from another bank as long as it arrives electronically.

How the monthly maintenance fee works

The monthly fee posts to your account on the same day each month, usually around the first. If you do not meet the waiver requirement that month, the fee comes out of your balance. If your account balance is too low to cover the fee, Chase will overdraft your account and charge you an overdraft fee on top of it.

The waiver requirement resets each month. You do not need to maintain the balance every single day—you only need to have it on the day the fee posts, or have received a direct deposit at any point during that month. If you get paid on the 15th and the fee posts on the 1st, the direct deposit from the previous month counts toward that month's waiver.

What counts as a may have access to direct deposit

A may have access to direct deposit is any electronic transfer of funds into your account from an employer, government agency, or other institution. This includes paychecks, Social Security, unemployment benefits, tax refunds, pension payments, and regular transfers from another bank account you own.

The deposit must be at least $1 to count—there is no minimum amount. It does not have to be the same amount each month or arrive on the same day. One direct deposit per month is enough to waive the fee for that entire month.

Other fees Chase charges on checking accounts

Chase charges $35 for each overdraft transaction if your account goes negative. This fee applies per transaction, so if you overdraft multiple times in one day, you can be charged multiple times. Chase does offer overdraft protection, which links your checking account to a savings account and transfers funds automatically if you overdraft—this costs $12 per transfer instead of $35.

Wire transfers cost $15 for outgoing domestic wires and $45 for outgoing international wires. Incoming wires are free. Stopping a check payment costs $30. Cashier's checks cost $10 each. ATM fees do not explore at Chase ATMs, but using another bank's ATM costs $2.50 per transaction.

How to check your account type and fee status

Log into your Chase online account or mobile app and go to your account details. The account type appears at the top—it will say either "Total Checking" or "Premier Plus Checking" or another product name. Below that, you can see your current balance and any recent fees that posted.

If you want to see whether you have met the direct deposit requirement for the current month, contact Chase customer service at the number on the back of your debit card. They can tell you whether a direct deposit has posted in the current month and when your next monthly fee will post.

Switching to a different Chase checking account

If the $12 or $25 monthly fee is too high for your situation, you can switch to a different Chase account. Chase offers Chase find Banking, which has no monthly fee and no minimum balance requirement. This account is designed for people who have had banking problems in the past—it reports to ChexSystems, which is the banking industry's record system, and can help rebuild your banking history.

find Banking does not come with a debit card by default and has limits on the number of transactions you can make per month. You can request a debit card, but it may take longer to receive. If you want a full-featured account with no monthly fee, find Banking is the only Chase option, but the transaction limits make it less practical for everyday use.

When Chase waives fees for new customers

Chase occasionally runs promotions that waive the monthly maintenance fee for new customers for a set period—usually three to six months. These promotions change throughout the year and are not always available. You can check the Chase website or ask in a branch whether a promotion is currently running.

After the promotional period ends, the regular fee structure takes over. If you do not meet the waiver requirement at that point, the monthly fee will start posting to your account. Setting up a direct deposit before the promotion ends is the easiest way to avoid fees permanently.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I avoid the monthly fee by keeping money in savings instead of checking?

No. The balance requirement applies only to the checking account itself. Money in a Chase savings account does not count toward the checking account minimum. You must keep the $500 (or $25,000 for Premier Plus) in the checking account, or set up a direct deposit.

What happens if I do not have direct deposit and cannot keep the minimum balance?

The monthly fee will post to your account each month. You can set up a recurring transfer from another bank account to your Chase checking account, but transfers you initiate yourself do not count as direct deposits. Your only option is to maintain the balance or switch to Chase find Banking, which has no monthly fee.

Does a transfer from my Chase savings account count as a direct deposit?

No. Direct deposits must come from outside Chase—from an employer, government agency, or another financial institution. Transfers between your own Chase accounts do not count.

If I get charged an overdraft fee, can Chase remove it?

Chase may remove one overdraft fee if you contact them and ask, especially if it is your first one. They are not required to remove it, and they will not remove multiple fees. Asking is worth the call, but do not count on it.

Do I need to keep the minimum balance every day, or just on the day the fee posts?

You only need to have the balance on the day the fee posts, or have received a direct deposit during that month. You can spend the money down to zero the next day and the fee will not post again until the following month.