Best checking account?

[nick__45]

With high yield and free checking and ATM use?

[GrimJack]

Check with your local credit unions - I have an account with one credit union (here in Seattle - it is BECU) that offers 6.1% interest on the first $500 their savings and checking for a total of $1,000 - any amount above that gets the standard 1.5%. The checking and atm use are free (anyone who pays an ATM fee has to learn to buy something cheap at a grocery store and get some cash back rather than pay ANY ATM fee) - the requirements are that you use the debit card at least x number of times per month and log into your account at least x number of times.

[KiwiJo09]

Check bankrate dot com. They have a search engine you can use.

[sneha03]

yes this is very sensitive thing, you will have to know about the interest rate because it is vary time to time.

[poorgradstudent]

Just saw that redneckbank is offering free checking with 3.25% interest rate. Probably going to be hard to beat that.

Edit: Just saw that they are no longer opening any new interest checking accounts.

[SeanH]

Give "checkingfinder" a try. I found a 5% payout awhile back (up to 25k). It is only 2.5% now, but I would still list that as competitive. I may not have spent enough time on bankrate, but the numbers didn't look very interesting to me. That said - I'm not sure the best rates are easily accessible anywhere. I saw a 4% on 25K account while driving past a savings and loan the other day (advertised on a billboard).

[thesmartnickel]

I would recommend to look at savings accounts for higher interest rates. In a checking account, just look for no fees and free checks. I do everything online, so it only takes a few days to move money from my savings to my checking from my computer and I just use my checking to pay off my credit cards.

[GrimJack]

In order for an account to qualify as a savings account, there is a limit to the number of transactions allowed per month so be careful where you park your money. As far as I can tell, it seems that currently checking accounts are paying higher interest than savings (ymmv).

[maat55]

My local bank offers 4.03% on checking up to 15k. But you have to come in in person to open an account.

[krantcents]

I would start with what is most important and how you use your account. For me, I rarely deposit to my account, however I use the ATM weekly. Convenience is somewhat important to me. I do not keep large balances in my checking account. My account is free because I have direct deposit. Under my circumstances I use other financial instruments to receive higher yields.

[thesmartnickel]

In order for an account to qualify as a savings account, there is a limit to the number of transactions allowed per month so be careful where you park your money. As far as I can tell, it seems that currently checking accounts are paying higher interest than savings (ymmv).

I am aware of the transaction limits and I usually just move the sum of my credit card balances for that month to my checking in one transaction. I believe it was 6 per month and now it might be 3 but I rarely do even 2 transactions for a month. What banks are you thinking of when you think about those high-interest checking? The highest I've found so far is about 1.25% with an online savings.