Bank accounts are a part and parcel of everyone’s life and they serve numerous purposes for people. When choosing a checking account for yourself you must also have an insight to details.

There are a lot of banks operating all over the world and they also tend to have a huge clientele as well. These days many people look forward to get an account in the bank irrespective of their profession and age. There are so many utilities associated with bank accounts that that have made life of many people easy in terms of money management.

What Are Checking Accounts? (i)

There are numerous kinds of accounts when you head to a bank and take some information on this subject. Checking account is also one of a kind of bank account that offers immense ease. This is a basic account where an account holder deposits his money and withdraws when required. It comes with a debit card and it may be used anywhere to shop around, moreover it can also be used to withdraw money using ATM.

Checking accounts are popular for many reasons; you can pay your bills, transfer funds to someone, make online payments and also receive payments. Even people holding a checking account get their paycheck directly to their accounts and this is something incredible by all means.

Fee Payments Associated with Checking Accounts

When it comes to opening up a checking account there are certain fees that you might need to pay for the service you are using from the banks. The two kinds of fee required to be paid comprise of the following:

  • The very first kind of fee that you have to pay for operating your checking account is the monthly fee. There are many such no fee checking accounts too whose monthly fee has already been waived by the bank. This can be achieved by fulfilling certain conditions laid by banks like maintaining a minimum balance lay down by bank, or else you have to pay a monthly fee which is taken directly from your checking account.
  • Another kind of the overdraft fee, this is not a monthly or yearly fee you will be bound to pay. However, it has to be paid when you have no balance in your account but you have made withdrawals, this would the fee which is paid for using the money of bank.

Steps to Open a Checking Account

When it comes to opening a checking account you must follow some important steps because banks work under a particular standard operating procedure and everyone who wishes to get their accounts opened need to follow the same.

Initially you have to decide among the different choices that where would you like to open your account. Among the different checking account options for banks choosing one depend upon many things like credibility, nearness, services etc. You have to then pay a visit to that bank and take a form for accounting opening. After filling the form you are required to submit it with the required documents and also initial deposit. After a few days you receive an account opening letter from the bank and you are good to go.

Tips to Consider When Opening a Checking Account (ii)

When you plan to open up your checking account there are certain tips which you must consider in terms of choosing the right one, these may include:

Insurance for Your Money

When you have chosen a bank for opening your checking account first of all analyze whether the bank is insured or not. In case if the bank is not inspired your hard earned money may be at stake, so don’t choose such bank. Mostly banks have an insurance policy and they even mention up to what amount the account will be insured so make sure to consider this factor as one of the very important one since you have to trust the bank with your money.

Balance to Maintain

Every bank has some minimum balance requirements that need to be maintained and this means you can’t withdraw money from bank up to a certain limit. Make sure to consider this requirement and matched among different banks. Having a high scale of minimum requirement is always a big hassle so choose for the least so that you can at least always maintain that.

Fee Charged by Banks

Make sure you have kept yourself aware of all the charges your bank is going to take from you. Sometimes many banks show that there are two basic charges which comprise of overdraft fee and monthly fee, but they end up having many hidden charges too. These hidden charges may comprise of ATM service charges, bank statement charges etc. so, make sure to keep yourself well aware of all the charges so you don’t feel surprised when these tend to get deducted from your checking account.

Provision of Interest

A checking account may offer interest as well, many banks operate such checking account that requires you to deposit a certain sum of money and then you are paid back with interest. Although checking account interest rates can be low as compared to other kinds because this account tends to fluctuate a lot due to deposits and withdrawals, but may be a better earning potential.

Sign Up Bonus

Many banks come with an incentive of their new clients and offer them with checking account signup bonuses. This is a bonus given by the bank when you join them for opening up your checking account. This could be a very rewarding approach and allows a lot of people to open up their bank accounts.

Mobile Application Accessibility

The modern times require some technological upgrading on the part of bank accounts too; make sure to get you a bank account at a bank where mobile applications are available. It allows you to have your accounts maintained with a single tap; also you can access the entire information of your account using these apps.

Modern banking systems have taken over a massive change and bring about many utilities for the users, so opening a checking account with them is always a better approach.