How to Get the Best Interest Bearing Checking Accounts
–> Does your money just sit in a checking account that pays no interest, and possibly even costs you to maintain it? Why would you leave your money there when it could be working for you in an interest bearing checking account? High interest checking accounts are easy to find these days. You only have to know where to look to find the best deals.
You may have left your money sitting there all this time because of complacency. It is always easier to just leave everything as it is. However, these days banks and credit unions are really competing for your idle cash. They are offering great rates on interest checking to lure you away from competitors, and they are making it as easy as possible. Most banks will set you up with free checks to get you started. They may also offer high rates of interest on an introductory term to make it worth your while to switch banks.
One of the best sources for interest bearing checking is internet only banks. These banks do not have the overhead that traditional bank branches have. They have no buildings to pay for, real estate taxes, or overlapping teller positions. Internet banks can pass their savings on to the consumer to widen their customer base. These banks can often afford to pay 1 or 2 percentage points higher in interest than traditional banks. Most internet banks will reimburse you for atm withdrawals. One negative to internet banks is the fact that you can not send in cash through the mail, but you can combat this by keeping a free local checking account and linking the two together to transfer money between them.
Traditional banks have started to come up with ways to fight the online banks by getting creative with their accounts. Many banks are offering high rates on checking accounts by requiring the account user to make a minimum amount of purchases on their debit card. These banks are using the businesses that accept these cards to subsidize the higher interest rates they are paying.
So make sure you shop around for banks and do not assume just because you have been a long time customer of your bank that you are getting their best rate on your checking account. Especially consider an internet only bank that pays high rates of interest. These banks can be a little more inconvenient, but the rates you can earn on your money are well worth the hassles you may encounter.
