GOBankingRates Study Finds California is One of the Worst States for Affordable Banking

News provided by

May 29, 2014, 10:15 ET

LOS ANGELES, May 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- With lower average deposit yields and higher fees, California ranked as the sixth most expensive state for banking, according to leading personal finance website GOBankingRates' latest study of the 10 Best and Worst States for Affordable Banking.

Despite ranking first for most unique financial institutions, with a total of 209, California fared among the worst in other categories GOBankingRates assessed, including banking fees, minimum balance requirements and deposit yields.

California ranked:

50 out of 51 for an average checking account monthly maintenance fee of $14
47 out of 51 for an average non-customer transaction ATM/debit fee of $3
46 out of 51 for a high average savings minimum balance requirement of $2,095
46 out of 51 for a low average checking APY of 0.109%

Neighboring Arizona came in last on the list, followed by Washington, D.C., Connecticut, Nevada and South Dakota.

The Midwest region of the country performed best, due to its consumer-friendly fees and more flexible minimum deposit requirements.

CLICK HERE to see the best states for affordable banking:
http://bit.ly/1tjtwg2

Although California is among the most expensive banking states, LA Financial Credit Union does its part to make banking affordable for its Los Angeles County member base.

"From free checking to free bill pay, we not only offer convenience, we do it affordably," Renee Amato, vice president and CMO of LA Financial Credit Union, said. "The CO-OP ATM network offers our members more surcharge-free ATMs than the largest bank in the nation."

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. LA Financial Credit Union is a client of ConsumerTrack, the parent company of GOBankingRates.

Contact:

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

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130926/LA86996LOGO

SOURCE GOBankingRates