Capital One vs. Wells Fargo: Which Bank is Best?

If you judge solely on interest rates, Capital One is the overall better option for banking due to its 4.00% (as of 10/28/24) APY on the Capital One 360 Performance Savings. The downside to Capital One is its limited product selection and limited number of branches (it has locations in just six states.

Wells Fargo makes sense if you want access to more in-person locations and a wider variety of banking services, including home loans, personal loans, and retirement accounts. It also has Clear Access banking, a second-chance bank account that is a good fit if you have a spotty banking history. If you value in-person banking or having all your financial accounts under one roof, Wells Fargo is a solid choice.

Capital One vs. Wells Fargo

	Capital One	Wells Fargo
Best for	Elevated interest rates	In-person locations, second-chance banking, and a wide range of banking services
Number of branches	Around 300	5,600+
Number of states with in-person locations	6	36
Number of fee-free ATMs	70,000+	12,000
Products offered	Checking accounts Savings accounts Certificates of deposit (CDs) Credit cards (31) Auto loans Small business services Commercial banking services	Checking accounts Savings accounts CDs Credit cards (11) Home loans Personal loans Auto loans Retirement accounts Brokerage accounts Wealth management services Small business services Commercial banking services Corporate and investment banking services

Checking accounts

	APY	Monthly fees	Account minimum to avoid fees	Minimum opening deposit
Wells Fargo Clear Access Banking	None	$5	None	$25
Wells Fargo Everyday Checking	None	$10	$500 daily balance	$25
Wells Fargo Prime Checking	0.01% (as of 07/01/24)	$25	$20,000 linked balance	$25
Wells Fargo Premier Checking	0.01% (as of 07/01/24)	$35	$250,000 linked balance	$25
Capital One 360 Checking	0.10% (as of 10/28/24)	None	None	None

How do their fees stack up?

Capital One is a solid choice if you want an easy-to-use checking account with little to no fees and no minimum account balance or opening deposit requirements. Wells Fargo has more checking accounts to choose from, but they all have minimum opening deposit requirements and come with monthly fees.

Fees can be waived, though, if you meet the requirements, which could include performing certain actions, such as having $500 or more in qualifying direct deposits or a $500 minimum daily balance on the Everyday Checking account. But you don’t have to worry about a monthly service fee at all with the Capital One 360 Checking account.

Second-chance banking availability

If Capital One has the best interest rate and no fees, why would you go with Wells Fargo? There are a few reasons. One is that you need a second-chance bank account.

Years ago, I got into a tough spot and was having trouble opening a checking account. I was sure Wells Fargo would reject my application too, but instead, I was able to open what is now the Clear Access checking account. Eventually, I was able to convert that to an Everyday Checking account that I still use today.

In-person banking options

There’s also something to be said for being able to walk into a branch and deposit cash or ask an actual human questions. Both Capital One and Wells Fargo have in-person branches, but Wells Fargo has a significantly larger footprint.

But the 360 Checking account strikes a better balance between interest rates and not having many fees. Over all, if you don’t care about branch access, or if you live in an area with Capital One locations, I would choose Capital One over Wells Fargo.

Savings accounts and CDs

	APY	Minimum deposit
Wells Fargo Way2Save	0.01% (as of 07/01/24)	$25
Wells Fargo Platinum Saving	0.05%-0.06% (as of 07/01/24)	$25
Wells Fargo CDs	1.51%-4.75% (as of 07/01/24)	$2,500
Capital One 360 Performance Savings	4.00% (as of 10/28/24)	None
Capital One 360 CDs	3.50%-4.50% (as of 10/28/24)	None

Wells Fargo can’t beat Capital One’s higher APYs

Savings accounts and CDs are designed to park your funds in low-risk, FDIC-insured environments, and both the Capital One and Wells Fargo products accomplish that. But the Capital One accounts simply provide better benefits — higher APYs and no minimum deposits.

You might want to go with Wells Fargo’s savings accounts over Capital One’s if you want an account to pair with a Wells Fargo checking account. You can move money easily between the two accounts and get a smidgen more in interest in savings vs. checking.

Overall, you can earn more interest on your savings with the available Capital One savings accounts and CDs. And it’s easier to get started because you don’t have to put down a minimum amount of money to open an account. In contrast, all the Wells Fargo products have minimum deposit requirements, and the requirements on the Wells Fargo CDs could be quite high for some people.

So, unless you have a compelling reason to go with Wells Fargo, Capital One is far and away the better choice for savings and a more accessible choice for CDs, with potentially higher rates depending on the term.

Credit card offerings

Both Capital One and Wells Fargo offer useful credit cards that offer a lot of value. But the cards are very different, so it’s a bit of an apples-to-oranges comparison. In broad strokes, Capital One has better travel cards, and Wells Fargo has a better balance transfer and flat-rate rewards card.

Wells Fargo credit cards

Wells Fargo credit cards generally don’t have annual fees and typically provide cell phone protection. Many of them also provide intro APR offers, which could be helpful if you want to do a balance transfer and avoid interest charges for a certain period of time.

Two Wells Fargo cards to take a close look at are the Wells Fargo Reflect^® Card(Rates and fees) and the Wells Fargo Active Cash^® Card(Rates and fees). The Reflect has one of the longest balance transfer offer periods I’ve seen — 0% intro APR for 21 months from account opening on qualifying balance transfers (then 17.74%, 24.24%, or 29.49% Variable); 5%, min: $5 balance transfer fee.

The Active Cash has a high rewards rate for a flat-rate cash back card. You can earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases.

Capital One credit cards

Capital One credit cards have a lot more variety, including some excellent travel cards. I’m a fan of the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card(Rates and fees), which offers luxury perks at a reasonable annual fee compared to other luxury cards — $395.

The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card(Rates and fees) offers excellent rewards and perks for a lower annual fee of $95.

Other products

If you’re looking to have your financial life with one bank, you’ll want to go with Wells Fargo. It provides more banking products and services than Capital One.

Both banks offer credit cards, checking accounts, savings accounts, CDs, and auto loans. But Wells Fargo also provides home loans, personal loans, retirement accounts, full-service financial advisors, brokerage accounts, and corporate and investment banking solutions.

If you use any of these additional services, it could be helpful to have all your banking needs under one roof. Then you can manage your finances from one location rather than having a credit card with one bank, a home loan with another bank, and a retirement account with a third bank — which is a possible scenario with Capital One because it doesn’t provide as many financial services.

FAQ

Is Capital One 360 better than Wells Fargo?

Yes, because Capital One 360 accounts generally have fewer fees and better interest rates than similar Wells Fargo accounts. Wells Fargo checking and savings accounts typically require a minimum opening deposit and have monthly fees. But Capital One 360 checking and savings accounts have no minimum opening deposit and no monthly fees.

Is Capital One bigger than Wells Fargo?

Wells Fargo is bigger than Capital One in terms of the number of branches and employees, but Capital One has a higher net income.

	Wells Fargo	Capital One
Number of branches	5,600+	Around 300
Number of employees	Over 283,000	Over 50,000
Net income	4.31 billion	4.58 billion

What is the difference between Wells Fargo and Capital One?

Wells Fargo has been around for more than 150 years, while Capital One was founded about 30 years ago. This makes Wells Fargo more established with in-person locations and a wide variety of banking services, including credit cards, loans, and investment accounts. Capital One has fewer in-person locations and banking services but provides better interest rates and more credit card options.

Bottom line

Wells Fargo is better if you prefer in-person banking locations or want a full-service financial institution for all your banking needs. This is because Wells Fargo has loads more in-person branches and provides services you won’t find at Capital One, including home loans and brokerage accounts.

But go with Capital One if you want better interest rates. The interest rates on Wells Fargo checking and savings accounts are generally quite low, especially compared with the higher rates on Capital One 360 accounts.

For our recommended banking options, check out our list of the best banks.