Why Capital One 360 could be a smart money move

Capital One offers credit cards, loans, commercial services, checking, and savings accounts. If you’re not near any of its branch locations, such as one of its 54 café locations, you can still bank online. Its online division is called Capital One 360, and that’s where you can find high-yield savings accounts, checking accounts, and certificates of deposits (CDs). 

This review focuses on the products you can find through its Capital One 360 service. All rates and fees are current as of February 14, 2024, and are subject to change.

Capital One 360 at a glance

• Checking accounts: Starting at $0 per month
• Savings accounts: Open with as little as $0
• CD rates: Earn up to 5.00% annual percentage yield (APY)

Who is Capital One good for?

Capital One is ideal for anyone who appreciates a digital banking experience so they can handle banking tasks anytime, anywhere, with few fees or minimum requirements. Its checking and savings accounts have no minimum account opening requirements, no minimum balance requirements to earn interest, and no monthly fees. Setting up multiple accounts is easy, and you can view these from a single dashboard, making it ideal for those who have specific goals set up for each account they have.

For people who travel frequently, having access to a large network of fee-free ATMs means easy access to cash. Additionally, if located near any one of its 50-plus café-style branches, customers can enjoy a coworking space and coffee shop all rolled into their banking experience. 

Who shouldn’t use Capital One?

Capital One uses a tool called Early Warning Services (EWS), which, similar to a credit score, assigns a deposit account score on a scale from 495 to 1,000, instead of evaluating traditional creditworthiness. This is a company co-owned by seven large financial institutions, including Capital One, who help detect and prevent fraud associated with banking transactions and make it easier for institutions to make account opening decisions. 

If you have a history of account defaults, first-party fraud, or other similar account issues, you may have a hard time opening a checking account with Capital One. However, you may still be able to open a savings account if you’re declined for a checking account.

Additionally, you must be a paperless customer to use any of its 360 banking products. If you prefer to handle all your banking under one company, from mortgages to student loans, consider an alternative option, as Capital One focuses heavily on its core products:; credit cards, checking and savings accounts, and business or commercial banking. 

Capital One 360 rates and products

Capital One 360 offers a variety of products, including high-yield savings accounts, checking accounts, and CDs. It also offers teen checking accounts and kids’ savings accounts, which is ideal for teaching children the value of money management. Here are your options. 

Checking accounts 

Capital One offers a free checking account, although it doesn’t offer an account opening bonus. You won’t pay a monthly fee nor will you pay any overdraft fees. Like many free checking accounts, you also aren’t required to keep a minimum amount in your account to avoid fees. 

Savings accounts

A high-yield savings account can help you earn a higher APY on the money in your account and typically is offered by online-only banks. Capital One 360 is no different, offering up to 4.35% APY, with no minimum requirement to earn interest. Compare this rate against current high-yield savings accounts.

Capital One 360 bank savings rates compared to current top rates*

While Capital One 360 is a great option, there are some banks may offer features that are more valuable to you. Compare the rates above to this list of competitors:

Certificates of deposit

A CD is a type of savings account that holds your money for a specified period of time in exchange for an APY typically higher than what you’d find in a traditional savings account. This is because, in exchange for a higher APY, you’re tying up that money for a specific time frame, known as a term. If you take your money out before the specified term, you’ll usually pay an early withdrawal penalty. 

Capital One 360 CD rates

Compare more CD rates:

Other services Capital One offers 

Capital One offers many products and services for its customers. These include:

• Credit cards: Whether you’re looking for travel rewards credit cards or business credit cards, Capital One has options to suit many different needs. 
• Loans: While it no longer offers mortgages, you can apply for pre-approval for auto loans online.
• Business and commercial services: Whether you need a business loan or commercial funding, there are several options available to you.  
• CreditWise: Whether you’re building your credit or looking to maintain it, CreditWise helps you monitor your credit and provides tips to help it grow.
• Capital One Shopping: Through its browser extension and mobile app, it will apply coupons at checkout automatically. You can also earn cash back for purchases.

Online banking

While you can open an account through a local branch, banking online with Capital One is easy. Each of its 360 products is exclusively online and requires you to sign up for paperless options. However, if you prefer to do all your banking in one place, from student loans to mortgages and everything in between, there are other online banks and credit unions that can help meet that need. 

The Capital One 360 platform and customer support 

Customers can access Capital One 360 customer support through its mobile app, where you can speak with its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot named Eno. However, for this review, we attempted to speak with Eno to ask what its customer support hours are. It gave us a line about there being long wait times for calls because of the COVID-19 pandemic and suggested other chat topics for us. When told that this wasn’t what we asked, it then gave an option to connect with a representative. When clicking that button, it took us to our mobile browser, which gave a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and phone numbers to call. 

It lists no hours of operation for credit card inquiries, although it does list hours for banking inquiries: live support is available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time. 

Is Capital One secure?

On July 19, 2019, Capital One discovered a data breach impacting 100 million individuals in the United States and 6 million individuals in Canada as well as small businesses who applied for credit card products from 2005 through 2019. This compromised approximately 140,000 Social Security numbers and 80,000 bank account numbers. For its Canadian customers, 1 million Social Insurance Numbers were compromised. 

A class action lawsuit awarded a $190 million settlement for this breach.

Capital One user reviews

Customer reviews of Capital One and its products are generally positive, with many commenters stating they appreciate its high-yield savings account APYs, no monthly fees or minimums, access to fee-free ATMs, early paycheck access, and no foreign transaction fees. However, some find the lack of physical locations to be cumbersome, especially when the need for depositing cash comes up. To do so, they must go to Walgreens or CVS. Additionally, some customers prefer to have all their banking products under one roof, which can’t be done with Capital One as it doesn’t offer mortgages, retirement accounts, or student loan products.

Compare Capital One 360 alternatives

Is Capital One 360 right for you?

Capital One 360 is best for users comfortable with online banking, drawn to fee-free accounts, and interested in high-yield savings and competitive CD rates. It may not suit those who prefer in-person banking or deposit cash frequently due to limited physical branches. Additionally, if you need student loans, mortgages, or retirement accounts, consider an alternative option. 

Frequently asked questions