GOBankingRates Study Finds Arizona is the Worst State for Affordable Banking

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May 29, 2014, 10:15 ET

LOS ANGELES, May 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading personal finance website GOBankingRates found that Arizona is the No. 1 least affordable state for banking. The study, which surveyed all 50 states and the District of Columbia, identified the 10 Best and Worst Places for Affordable Banking.

Arizona earned the worst ranking largely due to its extremely low average deposit yields and staggeringly high minimum balance requirements.

Arizona ranked:

51 out of 51 with an average savings minimum balance requirement of $2,836
44 out of 51 with an average savings APY of 0.075%
47 out of 51 with an average checking APY of 0.106%
50 out of 51 with an average checking minimum balance requirement of $5,193

Although Arizona's best category was its number of unique financial institutions – it has a total of 37 – the state performed just average, with a ranking of 26 out of 51.

Following Arizona, the least affordable places to bank are Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Nevada and South Dakota.

GOBankingRates found that states with consumer-friendly fees, higher yields and lower deposit requirements are primarily located in the Midwest.

CLICK HERE to see the best states for affordable banking:
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Jennifer Calonia, editorial manager of GOBankingRates, explained, "The best way to find affordable banking is to look for deposit accounts with high yields and low or no fees. Knowing whether their state has an affordable banking market helps consumers make more informed decisions, but it's important to read the fine print before opening any bank account."

About GOBankingRates

GOBankingRates (www.gobankingrates.com) is a leading personal finance and interest rate website specializing in helping consumers earn, save and grow their money. It aggregates over 11 million rates from more than 6,000 institutions in local and national markets, sharing these rates and other consumer banking information with top media outlets, including U.S. News, Forbes, Huffington Post, Yahoo! Finance and Business Insider.

Methodology: GOBankingRates evaluated all 50 states and the District of Columbia according to nine criteria, which were weighted equally: the number of financial institutions in the state, average checking and savings account rates, average checking and savings minimum balance requirements, average NSF returned check fees, average out-of-network ATM fees, and average monthly maintenance charges for checking and savings accounts. Information was pulled from the GOBankingRates database, which aggregates information from Informa Research Services, and RateWatch.

Contact:

Roxy Barghahn
GOBankingRates.com
[email protected]
(310) 297-9233 x202

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SOURCE GOBankingRates