Associated Bank Review: A Regional Bank With Extensive Account Options
Written by
Allison Hache
Edited by
Susan Kim
Commitment to Our Readers
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GOBankingRates Score
Associated Bank
-
Checking Accounts
4.0
-
Savings Accounts
4.0
-
CDs
4.0
-
Money Market Accounts
4.0
-
Banking Experience
5.0
Pros
- Multiple options for personal, business and commercial accounts
- Surcharge-free access to more than 30,000 ATMs
- Fan debit and credit cards give sports fans extra perks
Cons
- Low annual percentage yields
- High fees
Associated Bank Overview
Associated Bank bills itself as the largest Wisconsin-based bank, with branches in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois and commercial services in a handful of other states. The bank has been in business since 1861 and today boasts over $41 billion in customer assets. It offers a full lineup of products and services, from personal banking and lending accounts to wealth management, business accounts and commercial services.
GOBankingRates has ranked Associated Bank among the Best Midwest Regional Banks of 2024.
Associated Bank Review
To earn its score of 4.2 out of 5 stars, Associated Bank was rated on the following features.
Checking Accounts
Associated Bank offers three checking accounts: Associated Choice Checking, Associated Balanced Checking and Associated Access Checking. All checking accounts come with free e-statements and overdraft protection transfer service.
Associated Access Checking is a no-frills account that has a $25 minimum opening deposit and no maintenance fees or balance minimums.
The Associated Choice Checking account is the flagship offering, and the only one of the three to pay interest and offer customers complimentary checks. Its minimum opening balance is $100, and it has a $25 monthly maintenance fee. The monthly fee can be waived with a combination of $10,000 in deposit accounts or a health savings account or an investment account with the bank.
Associated Balanced Checking also has a minimum $100 opening deposit and a $9 monthly maintenance fee. To waive this fee, customers need to maintain a $1,000 minimum daily balance; make direct deposits or mobile deposits of $500 or more per statement cycle; or hold $2,500 in combined deposit accounts with the same statement cycle date. Another option is to open and keep an HSA or investment account.
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Savings Accounts
Associated Bank also offers three types of basic savings accounts — Associated Savings, Zero Interest Savings and Relationship Savings.
The Associated Savings account has a $10 minimum opening deposit and a $5 monthly maintenance fee for all customers 18 years old and older. The monthly fee can be waived by maintaining a $300 minimum daily balance or making at least $25 in recurring automatic deposits. Associated Savings has a low standard APY of on all balances.
Relationship Savings gives customers preferred rates with a qualifying Associated Bank checking account, but this comes with a hefty $10,000 minimum opening deposit requirement. To avoid the $20 monthly maintenance fee, you’ll have to maintain a $10,000 daily balance. This account offers tiered interest rates.
As you might expect, the Zero Interest Savings account pays no interest at all. It has a $25 minimum opening deposit and a $5 monthly maintenance fee that can be waived by maintaining a $300 minimum daily balance or making at least $25 in recurring automatic deposits.
CD Accounts
Associated Bank offers CDs with terms from 30 days to 60 months, and the minimum opening deposit is $1,000. Its 26-month CD requires a $5,000 minimum deposit and offers a APY. The bank also offers seven-month and 13-month CD specials that offer significantly higher APYs.
Money Market Accounts
Associated Bank offers one money market account. The Select Money Market account requires a minimum $1,000 opening deposit. You must maintain a $1,000 minimum daily balance to avoid the monthly maintenance fee of $16. Standard rates range from to APY.
Banking Experience
Customers can download the Associated Bank app for Apple and Android devices. The apps have mixed reviews, with a 4.0 rating on Google Play and 4.7 on the App Store. Some customers praise the app, while others report problems using mobile check deposit and logging in.
What the bank lacks in the mobile app, it makes up for in its customer service. The bank has 205 branches in its tri-state service area, and customers can use a number of branded ATMs, as well as those in the MoneyPass network with no surcharges. Customer service is available via phone six days a week with generous hours: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Comparable Regional Bank Options
See how Associated Bank compares to similar banks that operate in its service area.
BMO Bank
Although Chicago-based BMO Bank is larger than Associated Bank in terms of assets and number of branches, it offers comparable products in Associated Bank’s service area. Its Smart Advantage checking account has no monthly service fees and requires a minimum $25 opening deposit.
BMO customers also have access to more fee-free ATMs, but they pay more to use a non-network ATM. The bank charges $3 for each transaction instead of the $2 Associated Bank charges. BMO’s standard savings account, the Savings Builder account, has a paltry APY, but the bank pays $5 for each month you save at least $200 for the first year you have the account.
Wisconsin Bank & Trust
Wisconsin Bank & Trust operates 11 branches in the state of Wisconsin and offers three checking accounts. Two of them earn interest, and the other is completely fee-free. To make sure the account is completely free, you’ll need to enroll in e-statements; otherwise, you’ll pay a monthly statement fee.
Wisconsin Bank & Trust’s standard savings account has a lower minimum balance requirement than Associated Bank — $100 versus $300 — to avoid fees.
Final Take
Associated Bank offers a wide range of products and services, and customers can pick and choose the account types that best serve their needs. The bank does come up short when it comes to APYs and fees, but it is still a solid option for those living within reach of one of its 205 branches in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Associated Bank FAQ
Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about Associated Bank.- How many ATMs does Associated Bank have?
- Associated Bank has 205 branch locations and offers surcharge-free access to more than 30,000 MoneyPass ATMs nationwide.
- Does Associated Bank have Zelle?
- Yes; Associated Bank offers Zelle services for no additional charge.
- Is Associated Bank a good bank?
- Associated Bank has been in business for more than 160 years and has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Its history, reputation for providing excellent customer service and range of banking options makes it a good bank for the right customer, which is part of the reason GOBankingRates named it a winner in the Best Midwest Regional Banks of 2024.
- Is Associated Bank safe?
- Associated Bank is a member of the FDIC. Your money is protected up to $250,000 in each ownership category. The bank also is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
- Is Associated Bank a real bank?
- Yes, Associated Bank is a real bank. The bank, headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has been in operation since 1861.
- What is the minimum balance for Associated Bank?
- For most accounts, the minimum balance to open is $25, though that varies by account type. The minimum balance you need to avoid paying a monthly service fee also varies by account.
Cynthia Measom, Vance Cariaga and John Csiszar contributed to the reporting for this article.
Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Dec. 13, 2023.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.
To discover the Best Regional Banks, GOBankingRates looked at the top regional institutions (excluding online banks and neobanks) located in under 25 states. To determine rankings, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors: (1) total assets as sourced from the FDIC; (2) checking product minimum deposit; (3) monthly checking fee ratio (percentage based on the minimum to avoid the fee compared to the monthly fee itself); (4) savings product minimum deposit; (5) savings product APY; (6) Bauer rating (out of 5 stars); (7) products/services offered (auto loans, mortgage loans, credit cards, investment services and insurance); and (8) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple app stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factors (1), (2) and (4) were weighted 0.5 times; factor (5) was weighted 2.5 times; and factor (7) was weighted 1.5 times.
For regional breakdowns, the same methodology as above was used. The regions were broken down into the following: West (AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY); Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX); Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI); Southeast (AL, AR, DC, FL, GA, LA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV); and Northeast (CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT). To be considered for a region, a bank had to have a branch in one of the states listed and be headquartered in that state/region.
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