Huntington Bank Review: Pros, Cons, And Alternatives

Huntington Bank is a midwest full service bank with a lot of offerings for both consumers and businesses. If you're not from the midwest, you may not have heard of them, but they have a large presence in 11 states.

They're best known for solid checking account products, and solid business banking products. In fact, we've named Huntington Bank to our list of the best business checking accounts. 

Read our Huntington Bank review and see how they compare to the other best banks. 

Who Is Huntington Bank?

Huntington Bank is a full-service bank with branches in the Midwest. It was formed in 1866 and is headquartered in Columbus, OH. In 2021, TCF Bank merged with Huntington, which further expanded the bank's reach and customer base.

As of June 2021, the bank had approximately $175 billion in assets. It has 1,100 traditional and branches primarily across 11 states. There are also over 1,700 ATM locations. While Huntington offers plenty of loan products, investments, and insurance, we’ll focus on its deposit accounts in this article.

What Do They Offer?

Looking at checking, savings, and CDs, Huntington offers the following products.

Checking

There are three checking products to choose from. Which one you choose depends if you want completely free checking or the ability to earn interest. Mobile banking and online bill payment are available on all accounts.

For all checking accounts, overdraft and return fees are $36 each with up to four per day. But in the case of overdraft fees, Huntington's 24-Hour Grace® and $50 Safety Zone programs can help you steer clear of them. We explain both programs later in our discussion of Huntington Bank's fees.

Through its Standby Cash program, you can also qualify for a $100 to $1,000 line of credit. It's free if you set up automatic payments to pay it off over three months. Otherwise, a 1% monthly interest charge will be applied to the outstanding balances, which translates to 12% APR. You'll need to make a $750+ deposit to your checking account for three consecutive months to qualify for Standby Cash.

Asterisk-Free Checking

There is no maintenance and there are no monthly fees. Open an account with no deposit. This account doesn’t earn any interest. Non-Huntington ATM usage will incur a $3 fee. There are no checks included with the account, so you’ll need to buy checks.

None of Huntington’s checking accounts will earn you much interest. The following two checking accounts are the only two that do earn interest.

Huntington 5 Checking

There is currently a 0.02% APY and no deposit is needed to open an account. There is a $5/month fee if you have less than $5,000 in the account. Five non-Huntington ATM charges are waived per cycle. Checks are not included with this account, so will you need to order some.

Huntington 25 Checking

This has currently a 0.05% APY. A $25,000 balance must be maintained to avoid the $25/month fee. There is unlimited, no-fee, non-Huntington ATM usage with this account. The account also includes unlimited checks.

CDs

Huntington offers two types of CDs: accounts that have less than $100,000 and Jumbo CDs for accounts with $100,000 or more. They also run promotional rates, which is the best rate on offer. All CDs require a $1,000 minimum to open.

See how they compare on our list of the best bank CDs.

Money Market Accounts

Huntington’s money market accounts are tied to the Huntington 5 and 25 checking accounts or a private client account. If you don’t have any of those accounts, you’ll need to maintain a $25,000 balance or pay a $25/month fee.

Interest on money market accounts is tiered. You’ll earn more if you have an existing Huntington account. Check out the latest APY and deals here: Huntington MMA account.

Savings Accounts

Huntington Bank has two savings accounts: the Huntington Relationship Savings and Huntington Premier Savings. Neither are very exciting. The best APY for the Relationship Savings account is 0.02% (unless you're a Private Client), while the Premier Savings account pays a paltry 0.01% on all balances.

Are There Any Fees?

Yes — as with any full-service bank, you'll need to watch out for fees with Huntington Bank. The good news is that most can be avoided.

For example, you can avoid the $3 ATM fee by using one of Huntington Bank's 1,700 in-network ATMs. Overdraft fees can also be avoided in two ways. First, Huntington Bank will give you a 24-hour grace period after an overdraft occurs to make a deposit to avoid the fee. And it won't charge an overdraft fees if you overdraw your account by $50 or less.

Most accounts, other than the Asterisk-Free Checking, do have monthly maintenance fees. But, again, these can be avoided by meeting minimum balance requirements.

You can see the full list of Huntington Bank fees here.

How Does Huntington Bank Compare?

Huntington Bank can't keep up with some of the best online banks when it comes to its interest rates and fees. However, it does have a fairly extensive branch network in the states that it serves. The Standby Cash program provides a convenient way to access emergency cash and the bank is offering some nice bonuses right now too. 

Here's a quick look at how Huntington Bank compares:

How Do I Open An Account?

Checking and money market accounts can be opened online. You must be:

• 18 years old or older
• A U.S. citizen
• A resident of Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, West Virginia, or Wisconsin

You’ll also need a U.S. government-issued ID like a driver’s license or passport and a Social Security number. CDs must be opened at a branch.

Is My Money Safe?

Yes. Huntington is FDIC-insured, which means each depositor is covered up to $250,000. Huntington also uses bank-grade encryption.

How Do I Contact Huntington Bank?

There are multiple ways to access Huntington Bank support. You can use its automated assistant which is available 24/7, find a branch near you, or speak with someone over the phone.

Huntington Bank's operating hours for phone-based customer service is 7 AM to 8 PM (ET) daily. The phone number for general banking questions is 800-480-2265. Huntington Bank is accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and currently has an A+ rating.

Is It Worth It?

If you're seeking high yields, Huntington is not in that game. And if you're looking for deposit accounts with minimum fees, you’ll still need to look elsewhere. So whom is Huntington for?

Well, some people like a full-service bank where everything can be done in one location and branches are available as well. And with a range of wide range of deposit, loan, investment, and insurance products, Huntington seems to have it all. Plus, they're offering some solid bonus offers right now. 

If access to branches and a huge menu of financial products is important to you (and you live in one of the eleven states where Huntington does business) it could be a worthwhile choice. But for everyone else, we recommend choosing one of our top online banks instead.

Huntington Bank FAQs

Let's answer a few of the most common questions that people ask about Huntington Bank:

Can you open a Huntington Bank account online regardless of where you live?

No, you must live in one of the 11 states where Huntington Bank currently has a physical presence in order to open an account.

Is Huntington Bank changing its name?

No, it retained its name after its merger with TCF Bank. All former TCF banking centers are now Huntington Bank branches as of October 12, 2021.

Does Huntington have student banking?

Yes, minors and teens with an adult can open one any of Huntington's three checking account options.

Can you get a cash bonus with Huntington?

No.

Huntington Bank Features