When you open a checking account, you usually ask how many ATMs the bank has. In the case of First Republic Bank, you may not care as much, since you can use any bank’s ATM and First Republic will refund you the ATM fees charged.
If you live in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Santa Barbara or San Diego, where the bank has branches, this is quite an attractive offer. Some other banks offer to pay ATM fees, but they usually limit the number of such transactions to 3-6 per month.
To open the account, you need $500 minimum opening balance. However, to avoid monthly fees, you have to maintain an average balance of $2,500 (otherwise, you get hit by $15 monthly fee).
The interest rates are low, as is usual with checking accounts: 0.05% for balances of between $2,500 and $500,000.
>>If you’re interested in savings rates check out CD Rates from First Republic Bank
