I was arrested at a walmart and taken to jail. I only stayed one night and did not see a judge but I was released the next day. All I got was a letter of restitution from Walmart. Does this go on my criminal record?

It's odd that you were put in jail for the night.. do you have priors?

Does it help if I pleaded not guilty? Would this hold against me if I applied for bank job? This incident happened when I was 17 and I'm turning 19 now.

If you plead not guilty, then there will still be a court trial, or a hearing,

You can not plead not guilty unless you see a judge or have a hearing of some sort.
Perhaps you have forgotten something that happened

If you spent night in jail, if you plead not guilty, then there is a record

I don't have any priors before this one. I've never have any encounter with the police for that matter.

I do remember having a hearing with a judge through a screen though, but that was it and I never saw a judge again. Then the next morning we lined up to see the judge again but then everyone was saying the judge had given us no contest or something just to get us out because there were so many of us