Perhaps some of you are keeping it in your trusty piggy bank, under your mattress, or in your sock drawer. While I’m glad you’re saving, your money isn’t doing you any good locked up in your house. Consider a checking account where you can earn some interest on your money. And for those of you who already have a checking account, after reading this article you may want to switch banks.

Checking accounts are the most popular accounts that banks have. People use them to pay bills and expenses, but did you know that there is more than one type of checking account? To name a few, there’s Basic Checking, Free Checking, Interest Checking, Joint Checking, Express Checking, Lifeline Checking, Senior/Student Checking, and Money Market. To see a summary of them, go here (http://www.bankrate.com/brm/green/chk/basics1-1a.asp).

Choose a checking account

You should think more about getting a checking account. Why do you ask? Because some charge you for a transaction in person or have an insufficient high fee, or ATM fee, even when you use one of their ATMs, etc. When selecting the right account for your needs, you should consider all of your banking habits. Think about whether you bounce checks regularly, how many checks you write per month, whether you prefer to receive your statements in the mail or view them online, whether you prefer to bank online, by phone, at ATMs, or work with a bank teller in person , how much money do you usually have in your account, etc.? Knowing all these things in advance will make it easier for you to choose the right bank and checking account to keep your money in your account and not in the bank’s greedy hands.

Free checking account, really free?

Some banks say they offer free checks, but there are all these stipulations, for example, if you don’t maintain a certain balance, you’ll be charged X dollars a month until you reach the minimum. Other banks charge a fee to use the account. According to the Federal Truth in Savings Law, the free checking account means that there are no minimum balance requirements and no monthly activity and maintenance fees. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be charged for bouncing a check, stopping a payment, or writing more checks than you’re allotted for the month.

For those of you still writing checks, you can no longer count on having a couple of days before the money leaves your account. I just found out that there is a law that went into effect in October 2004 called the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21). This law was designed to speed up the payment of bills. If you write a check to the utility company, they can convert it to an electronic check and email it to your bank without having to mail the actual check. This may not concern twenty-somethings who manage to keep money in their account, but for those of you who live paycheck to paycheck, this could be a problem for you.

bounced checks

The banks want to pretend they are on your side. Look at this example taken from Bankrate.com.

“Let’s say you had $300 in your checking account and you wrote six checks for a total of $375. The six checks are for $200, $12, $50, $60, $23, and $30. If they all return to the bank on the same day, the bank will cash the check $200 and the $60 check and bounce the rest since the next larger check ($50) won’t clear. You would have to pay four insufficient separate fees. At my bank the insufficient fee is $30. It would be $120! Although the bank could have cleared the smaller checks first, their position is that the larger checks could be for something more important, like a mortgage or car loan.

To avoid those pesky undercharges, consider getting overdraft protection. To get it you have to have another account at the bank, be it a savings account, credit card or some other line of credit. So if you overdraw your checking account, the bank will pay the remaining balance and take the money out of your account. As long as you keep money in your other accounts, the bank guarantees that the checks will be paid. You will still be charged a fee, but it will be much less than the insufficient fee. But the catch is that you have to apply for overdraft protection. The bank will not automatically cover your checks because you have other accounts with them.

Well, I’ve just given you a rundown to get you started on choosing the right bank to store your money. The rest is up to you. In fact, I’m thinking of changing banks myself, while doing research for this article I realized that I was being scammed. For more information on checking accounts, visit bankrate.com.