U.S. Bank Bank Smartly Checking

Guidance checked October 23, 2026. Full account terms last verified October 23, 2026; location-specific rates and eligibility still require confirmation with the bank.

Account Terms History

A dated record of APY, fees and opening requirements. New changes append to this table; prior terms remain visible.

Monthly fees and ways to waive them

Each row links to the official account details. Waiver requirements apply by statement period; other service fees may still apply. Checked 2026-10-23.

Features

• ▸Monthly fee waived for the first two statement periods, then through one qualifying waiver path
• ▸A $1,500 average checking balance or $1,500 in combined monthly direct deposits can waive the fee
• ▸Qualifying credit-card waiver covers Smartly Visa Signature owners and eligible State Farm Alliance card owners, not every U.S. Bank credit card
• ▸Automatic, no-fee Smart Rewards enrollment with five tiers based on eligible combined balances
• ▸Check writing, branch service and mobile/online banking; check orders and some services cost extra
• ▸Linked overdraft-protection transfer fees are waived; borrowing costs and paid-overdraft fees can still apply
• ▸Complimentary Greenlight Select with eligible checking as the preferred funding source; optional upgrades cost extra

Opening deposit, monthly-fee waiver and rewards balance are different

The account requires $25 to open. Its $12 maintenance fee is waived for the first two statement periods. After that, one route is at least $1,500 in combined monthly direct deposits; another is a $1,500 average account balance. The average adds each calendar day’s ending balance and divides by the number of days in the statement period, so briefly depositing $1,500 is not equivalent to maintaining that average. Other routes include ages 13–24 or 65+, eligible military or customer groups, an eligible small-business checking relationship, or Gold-tier Smart Rewards and above. For the card route, you must own an open, qualifying Smartly Visa Signature card in good standing; eligible State Farm Alliance cardholders have a separate route. Owning just any U.S. Bank credit card is insufficient. Twelve fee-charged periods cost $144, before other fees.

What interest rate does Smartly Checking pay?

Checking earns variable, tiered interest. The bank’s rate page asks for a ZIP code and did not expose a usable location-specific rate in this review. Its September–November public bonus disclosure lists 0.001% APY below $25,000 and 0.005% APY at $25,000 or more, effective August 31, 2026. Treat those as the rates attached to that offer, not a verified nationwide quote for every applicant. Check your own rate before opening. Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly; fees can outweigh earnings. Smartly Savings interest and Smartly Visa purchase rewards are separate products, not the checking account’s APY.

Smart Rewards tiers are different from Smartly card earning tiers

The five Smart Rewards tiers use eligible consumer deposits, CDs, IRAs, personal trust and U.S. Bancorp Advisors brokerage balances where you have a qualifying ownership interest. Business and commercial balances do not count. The bank compares daily qualifying balances with an average over up to 90 days; the higher determines the tier. Upgrades can occur during the month, while ordinary downgrades occur at month-end, generally taking effect within five business days. Joint accounts use the highest qualifying owner’s tier. By contrast, the Smartly Visa’s separate earning bonus requires Smartly Savings plus qualifying balances in consumer Smartly Checking and/or Safe Debit, calculated using its own 30-day averaging rules. The card also has eligible-purchase exclusions and a $10,000-per-billing-cycle bonus cap. Investment balances that count for bank perks should not be assumed to count for the credit-card bonus.

Two ATM charges to check before withdrawing

An out-of-network ATM can trigger a U.S. Bank transaction fee and a separate surcharge from the machine’s owner. The standard bank charge is $3 per transaction; multiple transactions in one visit can mean multiple charges. Bronze and Silver waive the first two bank transaction fees per statement period, while Gold and higher waive all of them. Platinum and Platinum Plus additionally reimburse the first domestic ATM-owner surcharge each statement period. Some customer groups have different allowances. MoneyPass removes the operator surcharge but does not necessarily remove the U.S. Bank fee. For example, a third non-U.S. Bank transaction in a statement period can still cost $3 for a Bronze customer without another waiver, even at a surcharge-free MoneyPass ATM.

Overdraft protection and fee forgiveness have different rules

A paid item of $5.01 or more can incur a $36 overdraft fee when the end-of-business-day available balance is or would be at least $50.01 overdrawn. The maximum is three such fees per day; an overdraft of $50 or less does not trigger that fee. Linked protection can transfer available funds first, and Smartly waives the transfer fee, but linked credit advances can still incur cash-advance fees and immediate interest. For fee forgiveness, bring the available balance, excluding the overdraft fees, to at least zero by 11 p.m. Eastern on the business day the fees are charged. Deposit availability matters: mobile check deposits and funds on hold generally do not qualify in time. Payment of an overdraft is not guaranteed.

Bonus enrollment is separate from the monthly-fee waiver

The verified offer runs September 10 through November 10, 2026. Use the promotion page’s Apply button so the offer is attached, or have a banker activate it at opening by branch or phone. Within 90 days, enroll in mobile or online banking and receive at least two qualifying direct deposits. Combined deposits of $2,000–$4,999.99 earn $250, $5,000–$7,999.99 earn $350, and $8,000 or more earn $450. That cumulative bonus test is different from the monthly fee’s $1,500 direct-deposit route. Ordinary transfers and person-to-person payments do not qualify as bonus direct deposits. The linked bonus page covers owner exclusions, funding and payout timing.

Greenlight Select is included only while the funding rules are met

The complimentary family benefit is Greenlight Select, not every paid Greenlight upgrade. An authorized transactor age 18 or older must be enrolled in online banking and use eligible U.S. Bank checking as the preferred funding source throughout the partnership. Adding an ineligible funding source or removing eligible checking as the preferred source can lead to Greenlight fees. Optional in-app upgrades cost extra, and Greenlight’s identity checks still apply. This benefit is separate from opening a joint Smartly teen checking account.

Frequently asked questions