Choosing the right bank accounts can be a difficult task... after all, you're making major decisions that can directly affect your finances. Unfortunately, there isn't a catch-all way to look at choosing different types of bank accounts... chequeing and savings accounts have different considerations and should be looked at from different viewpoints before making your decision on either. This article is intended to provide you with some of the things that you should keep in mind when looking for either a chequeing account or a savings account, and will hopefully be helpful in making your final decisions. Differences in Chequeing and Savings Because they deal with your money in different ways, you need to make sure that you don't look at chequeing and savings accounts as though they're the same type of account. Savings accounts pay you interest on the amount of money that you keep as a balance, whereas chequeing accounts generally do not of course, some do; others may charge account maintenance fees, however. On the other hand, cheques allow you to easily access the money that you keep in your account multiple times (until you run out of cheques or run out of money), while most savings accounts charge you fees for exceeding a certain number of withdrawals each month. It's important to keep considerations such as these in mind while looking at potential accounts... decide what you want the account to be used for and the features that will be beneficial to that use, and then look for the best account whose features meet what you're looking for. What to Look For in Chequeing Accounts In order to find the chequeing account that best suits your needs, you should look for one that allows you to write unlimited cheques while not charging you additional service charges for doing so. If possible, you may also want to try and find an interest-bearing chequeing account... though the interest rate is likely going to be less than that of a savings account, even a little bit of interest will pay you more than you had previously. You should also make sure that you know whether your cheques are provided by the bank, or whether they have to be purchased separately. What to Look For in Savings Accounts One of the most important things to look for in a savings account is the interest rate that is paid on your account balance. Take the time to shop around at different banks and compare the interest rate that each offers, making sure that you're also finding out additional information such as the number of withdrawals allowed each month and any other fees or charges that might be incurred with the account. You may also wish to find out whether or not the account can be linked to a chequeing account to help you avoid overdraft charges, or if the savings account that you're considering offers additional features that you might not initially be aware of. Accounts at Multiple Banks Just because you have an account with one bank doesn't mean that all of your accounts have to be with that same bank. Feel free to shop around at different banks and open accounts at more than one of the banks in your area. You should check with the various banks that you're considering and see whether they offer any bonuses for loyalty of having multiple accounts with them... not all banks do, but those who choose to offer them can make your banking experience much more pleasurable. |
