M&T Bank
M&T Bank Personal Checking
Northeast community-style banking with a free entry tier
Insurance: FDIC insured up to $250,000 per depositor (M&T Bank)
Plan Options
EZChoice Checking
$0, no conditions
- ▸No maintenance fee and no balance requirements
- ▸Full checking feature set with checks and Zelle
- ▸The default choice for most M&T customers
MyChoice Plus Checking
$14.95, waived with $2,500+ average daily balance or $1,500+ in direct deposits per cycle
- ▸Discounted personal checks and some service fee waivers
- ▸Small relationship discounts on M&T loans
MyChoice Premium Checking
$24.95, waived with $7,500+ average daily balance or $25,000+ in combined deposits, loans, and investments
Token interest
- ▸Interest-bearing with M&T's best relationship rates
- ▸Non-M&T ATM fee refunds and free standard checks
- ▸Free wires and premium service fee waivers
- ▸Periodic $350+ opening bonuses target this tier
Features
- ▸About 950 branches across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, strong in upstate NY, MD, and New England post-People's United
- ▸EZChoice is unconditionally free
- ▸Overdraft grace period to cure before fees finalize
- ▸Zelle and a steadily improving mobile app
- ▸Recurring $200-400 checking bonuses
- ▸Community-bank-style service reputation with big-bank scale
Pros
- +Free entry tier with zero conditions
- +Deep branch coverage in markets the megabanks underserve
- +Premium tier waivers are reachable for mass-affluent customers
- +Consistent bonus offers
Cons
- −No interest until Premium, and trivial even there
- −Regional only, nothing west or south of the Mid-Atlantic
- −Digital experience trails national banks
- −MyChoice Plus offers little over free EZChoice for its fee risk
Our Take
M&T's lineup is easy to navigate: take EZChoice, which is free with no games, and ignore MyChoice Plus, which charges $14.95 for perks that barely exist. MyChoice Premium only earns its keep if you hold $25k+ at M&T anyway and want the ATM refunds and wire waivers. This is a relationship branch bank for the Northeast, and on that basis it's dependable rather than exciting.
Best for: Northeast and Mid-Atlantic customers who want a free community-style branch account
Open at M&T Bank →Last verified 2026-06-11
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