Best Banks for Digital Investing
Banks traditionally offer a variety of products that often include high-yield savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, CDs and loans. Today, it's not uncommon for these financial institutions to also offer digital investing platforms.
In doing so, they afford customers the opportunity to centralize all of their finances in one place with access to a user interface they are familiar and comfortable with while growing their investments right alongside their savings.
But like any banking product, there are pros and cons to each digital investing platform. For example, not all of them offer fractional shares. Some offer free investing advice while others promote sign-up bonuses. And some make more sense for new investors, students or seniors.
Money used those criteria (and more) to compare the digital investment services of dozens of banks to determine the clear-cut winners for a handful of categories. Here are the best banks for digital investing for 2025:
- Wells Fargo - Best Overall
- Ally - Best for Sign-Up Bonuses
- Chase - Best for Seniors
- Merrill Edge from Bank of America - Best for Students
- Schwab - Best for Investment Advice
Figures are subject to change. All information provided here is accurate as of Oct. 8, 2024.
- Offers fractional shares
- No stock or ETF trading fees or account minimums
- Physical branch locations
- Termination and outgoing fees
- Lacks premium features
- High mutual fund fees
Why we chose it: Wells Fargo's WellsTrade offers a simple user interface and fractional shares, permitting new investors to get acclimated with the investment landscape while allowing seasoned investors plentiful resources on the platform. With 70 million Americans already using Wells Fargo for their banking needs, WellsTrade offers a way to centralize banking and investing in one place through the financial institution's digital presence. The platform offers fractional shares beginning at a $10, removing a barrier for new investors to purchase stocks trading at high share prices.
WellsTrade doesn't offer futures trading, cryptocurrencies or over-the-counter stocks (OTC, or "penny stocks"). However, its easy-to-use app and desktop platforms are simple for newcomers, and its offerings for fixed-income instruments (e.g., Treasurys, municipal and CDs) and mutual funds (10,000 in total) provide experienced investors with a large sampling of asset classes. Additionally, WellsTrade features zero stock and ETF trading fees and doesn't impose any account minimums.
- Intuitive platform
- Easily accessible $100 cash bonus for new members
- No stock or ETF trading fees or account minimums
- No fractional shares
- No physical locations
- Charges closing and transfer fees for IRAs
Why we chose it: Ally Bank’s investing platform, Alley Invest, offers a $100 cash bonus for new members who are able to meet the certain criteria.
The online-only bank has grown rapidly since its founding in 2009, reaching $186.1 billion in assets by the end of Dec. 2023. That ranks it as the 21st largest bank in the U.S. Now, it's Alley Invest platform is broadening its appeal by offering a $100 sign-up bonus to investors who open a Self-Directed Trading or Robo Portfolio account, and set up and complete at least three consecutive automated monthly $50 minimum recurring transfers. The bonus is then deposited into your account no later than 30 days after your third recurring transfer.
Ally Invest's Robo Portfolio account has a starting minimum balance requirement of $100, so the cash bonus can entirely offset the minimum balance requirement for its automated service (learn more by comparing Ally's Robo Portfolio to Money's list of Best Robo-advisors). There is no minimum balance requirement for the bank's Self-Directed Trading accounts.
For investors with at least $100,000 in their accounts, Ally offers its Personal Advice plan, which assigns you one dedicated financial advisor who will construct a personalized plan based not only on your investments, but on all of your finances. Ally Invest charges a blended annual advisory fee for these services, which is no more than 0.85%.
- Numerous fixed income instruments
- No stock or ETF trading fees or account minimums
- Physical branch locations
- Transfer, termination and annual account fees
- Doesn’t offer as much third-party research as other platforms
Why we chose it: Chase offers a blend of investment vehicles that are ideal for meeting the needs of retirees and those nearing retirement.
While many platforms offer a mix of asset classes that can help seniors make the most of their investment portfolios, Chase features a wealth of fixed income instruments — like bonds and annuities — in addition to the usual offerings of stocks, ETFs and mutual funds.
The bank's investing platform also includes tools such as six retirement calculators, various retirement guides and tutorials for rollovers and transfers. Chase offers unlimited $0 commission online trades as well as one-on-one advisory services through J.P. Morgan Advisors.
J.P. Morgan, which merged with Chase Bank in 2000, monitors the annuity landscape and track trends within the industry to provide Chase members competitive annuity products, and the Chase website offers an annuity calculator to help you determine how much fixed income you can expect from certain products.
- Top-rated client experience
- Physical branch locations
- Access to Bank of America’s Global Research for market insight and investment opportunities
- No stock or ETF trading fees or account minimums
- $200,000 balance required for $600 cash sign-up bonus
- Minimum investment requirements of $1,000 to $50,000 for Merrill Guided Investing
- Annual program fee for Merrill Guided Investing of 0.45% and 0.85%
Why we chose it: Merrill Edge offers an award-winning platform that is easily navigable and welcome to new investors.
Merrill Edge is an investing platform offered by Bank of America. It allows unlimited, no-cost stock and ETF trades, and customers can get in-person customer support at its nearly 6,000 branch locations.
The platform's self-directed investment account was awarded No. 1 Overall Client Experience in the 2024 StockBrokers.com 2024 Online Broker Review, which evaluated 17 online brokerages using 181 variables across eight categories. The award recognized that Merrill Edge's platform was the best user experience for typical U.S. retail investors. Other criteria included satisfying user intent, design, customer support, platform responsiveness, convenience, workflow, education and transparency, all of which benefit young investors.
- No stock or ETF trading fees or account minimums
- Offer fractional shares
- Physical branch locations
- Charges a transfer out fee
- Fractional shares limited to companies in the S&P 500
Why we chose it: Schwab doesn't charge investors to work with a financial consultant, and every member can receive a personalized, complimentary financial plan.
While Schwab doesn't charge any account fees and doesn't have a minimum deposit requirement for its investment accounts, what stands out the most is how accessible the bank makes financial planning for its customers, and the resources it offers at no charge.
According to its website, "every client can get a complimentary financial plan to help reach their retirement goals," and this plan doesn't cost a thing. Beyond the personalized plan, Schwab also offers no-cost tailored product recommendations and direct access to its specialists via phone, chat, video or in-person at any of the bank branch locations, which number more than 300 in the U.S.
Schwab's financial consultants can provide professional guidance to help you stay on track with your financial goals, and they cover three core areas: financial planning (e.g., retirement planning, estate, tax, etc.), investment management (e.g., specialized strategies for specific portfolio needs) and dedicated specialists (e.g., fixed income, trading, insurance).
How We Chose Money’s Best Banks for Digital Investing
Our selections for the best banks for digital investing involved consideration of both brick-and-mortar and online-only institutions offering investment platforms in addition to their traditional banking products. To determine the winners, we focused primarily on the institution’s basic platform functionalities, associated fees and minimum balance requirements, asset class offerings, sign-up bonuses, physical locations, access to financial consultants, availability of research and trading tools and more. The Money editorial team also reviewed each institutions standing with accrediting bodies, the Better Business Bureau and the Business Consumer Alliance.
When possible, we considered customer service rankings from the JD Power 2024 U.S. Retail Banking Advice Satisfaction Study. Money’s editorial team collected and analyzed the data in August and September 2024. All figures and bonuses quoted are valid as of Oct. 1, 2024, and are subject to change at any time.
You can read our full methodology here.