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Axos Bank review: Rewards account options and no monthly fees

Yahoo Personal Finance· Getty Images
Ivana Pino
·Senior Writer
Updated 7 min read

Axos Bank, founded in 2000, is a San Diego-based digital bank offering banking, lending, and investment products for individuals and businesses. Axos Bank’s digital-first approach means its products are tailored to customers who prefer the online experience. Axos offers online wire transfers, biometric identification, mobile deposits, and more to give customers a high level of convenience and security.

Axos currently offers the following products and account options:

Axos offers a rewards checking account with no monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements. Currently, this account offers an APY of more than 3%. However, customers who hope to qualify for this APY will need to meet specific requirements, including having a certain amount of direct deposits per month, maintaining an average daily balance of $2,500 in an Axos Invest account, using a debit card to make Axos loan payments, and more.

Axos offers a free standard checking account that doesn’t charge any monthly fees, has no minimum balance requirements, and offers early direct deposit.

Axos offers an account for younger customers between the ages of 13 and 17 who want to start learning to manage their personal finances with the help of a parent, known as the First Checking account. This joint checking account doesn’t charge monthly maintenance fees and earns a 0.10% APY. This account does have daily transaction limits of $100 for cash transactions and $500 for debit card purchases. Because this is a joint account, parents can monitor their teen’s spending, lock and unlock their debit card, set up account alerts, and more.

Axos Bank’s cash-back checking account rewards customers with 1.00% cash back on qualifying purchases. There are no monthly maintenance fees, however there is a minimum opening deposit of $50 to open an account.

The Golden Checking account is for customers 55 and over offering 0.10% APY on all balances, up to $8 in domestic ATM fee reimbursements per month, and no monthly maintenance fee.

Read more: Best checking account bonuses available today

Axos customers can earn up to 0.61% APY with its high-yield savings account option. This account does not charge any monthly maintenance fees or require a minimum balance, however, customers do need at least $250 to open an account.

Axos offers a high-yield money market account with a 0.25% APY. This account does not charge any monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance requirements and it provides check-writing privileges to customers who want easy access to their funds. This account does come with a higher opening deposit of $1,000 to get started.

Teen customers can also grow their savings with an Axos First Savings account. Customers can earn an APY of 0.10% and won’t be charged a monthly maintenance fee. This account has a daily transaction limit of $100 cash.

Axos’ CDs range from three months to five years, with a $1,000 minimum amount to open an account and CD rates as high as 0.20%.

Homebuyers can take advantage of a host of mortgage options offered by Axos with 0$ lender fees and up to 3% annualized cash back.

For customers hoping to finance a large expense, Axos offers personal loans of up to $50,000 with terms ranging from three to six years.

Axos’ auto loans can cover purchases and refinancing with no payment for up to 90 days. Terms can be as long as 96 months.

Axos’ investment products include managed portfolios and self-directed trading accounts that users can link to their mobile app to monitor in one dashboard.

Axos Invest offers traditional, Roth, and Rollover IRAs for customers who want to save for their golden years in a tax-advantaged account.

Axos Bank’s products aren’t limited to consumer accounts; it also offers banking products for small businesses, including a business checking account, business interest checking, business savings account, business money market account, and more.

Here’s a closer look at the account fees Axos customers can expect to pay:

Monthly maintenance fee for essential checking: $0

Monthly maintenance fee for high-yield savings: $0

Overdraft fee: $0

Non-sufficient funds fee: $0

Stop payment fee: $0

Bill pay fee: $0

Outgoing wire transfer fee (domestic): $35

Outgoing wire transfer fee (international): $45

There are a few major perks and drawbacks customers should note before banking with Axos Bank.

  • No monthly account fees for most accounts. Axos doesn’t charge fees for monthly account maintenance. It does charge a fee for its World Checking and World Savings account if your balance falls below a certain threshold.

  • Unlimited ATM reimbursement for most accounts. Axos offers unlimited domestic ATM fee reimbursements for its Rewards Checking, Cashback Checking, and Essential Checking accounts. Golden Checking account holders get up to $8.00 per month in domestic ATM fee reimbursements.

  • Rewards checking account option. Axos offers rewards and cashback checking account options for customers who want to maximize their money’s earning potential.

  • No physical branches. Axos is an online bank, meaning that there are no physical branches for in-person banking.

  • Does not offer Zelle. Axos is not currently partnered with Zelle and does not offer Zelle as an option for in-app, peer-to-peer transfers.

  • Higher opening deposits for certain accounts. Axos requires a higher minimum deposit for certain accounts, compared to competitors. It requires a $250 deposit to open a high-yield savings account and a minimum of $1,000 to open a new CD or money market account.

  • Strict requirements for rewards checking account. To qualify for the rewards checking account, customers must meet a long list of requirements that includes having a certain number of monthly direct deposits, maintaining an average daily balance of $2,500 in an Axos Invest account, and using your debit card to make Axos loan payments.

Customer support representatives for personal banking customers are available via secure messaging or telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (excluding Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day). For help with loan servicing, representatives are available Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT.

For questions regarding your Axos home loan, representatives are available Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. PT and 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. PT on Saturdays.

Personal loan and auto loan representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PT. Small business banking customers can reach a customer service representative on weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PT, and investment property lending specialists are available on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT.

Axos also offers an automated chat feature.

The Axos Bank mobile app is available for download on the App Store and Google Play and has a rating of 4.7 and 3.9, respectively. Customers can use the app to monitor their transactions, loans, and investments, transfer money between accounts, send money to friends, pay bills, and more.

How long has Axos Bank been around?

Axos was first established as Bank of Internet USA in July 2000. It transitioned to Axos in 2018.

Can I use Zelle to transfer money from my Axos Bank account

Axos is not currently partnered with Zelle and does not offer Zelle as an option when transferring funds within the mobile app. Axos customers can use the Axos Pay It Now feature for peer-to-peer payments. Money sent via Pay It Now is processed on the same business day if the request is sent before 1:45 p.m. PT.

How do I deposit money into my Axos account?

Deposits can be made via ACH transfer, wire transfer, mobile deposit, ATM deposit, and direct deposit.