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work, school, shopping, leisure, you name it—the pandemic is changing the way Americans bank. And those changes, in turn, are creating a new set of challenges and opportunities when it comes to picking the bank that best suits our needs.

For one thing, we have a newfound need and affection for savings accounts, evidenced by a more-than-doubling of the personal savings rate over the past several months, as the idea of building a solid emergency fund morphed from being an aspiration to an economic imperative. “The savings growth has been record-breaking,” says Ken Tumin, founder of the bank comparison site Depositaccounts.com. But it’s tougher than ever to find a suitable account to house those savings—one that doesn’t actually cost you money after factoring in fees, given that the average savings rate is now near zero.

Meanwhile, lockdown mode is pushing many of us to finally embrace online banking in a major way. Traffic at local banks is down substantially compared to last year, with about half of customers who previously relied on physical branches and ATMS saying they’ve increased their use of mobile apps and 35 percent making more use of their bank’s website, according to consultants Kearney. Experts believe the shift is likely to stick. “Once you get used to the technology and how easy and convenient it is to bank this way, it’s hard to go back,” says Tumin.

Customer service is also becoming a more important consideration, as complaints about financial services providers have surged, up 50 percent from March through July vs. the same time period in 2019, according U.S. PIRG. "The record level of consumer complaints is a blaring red light signaling the huge challenges consumers are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Gideon Weissman of Frontier Group.

To help you navigate this new financial landscape, Newsweek has partnered with Lendingtree, the financial services comparison site, for our first Best Banks rankings. From a universe of more than 2,500 Fdic-insured institutions, we assessed U.S. banks and the savings and checking accounts they offer based on 55 factors to come up with a best-in-class option in 18 categories. (Find the rankings online at newsweek.com/bb2021.) One or more of these winning bank may be the perfect choice for your family.

→ Diane Harris, Deputy Editor in Chief