Discover Debt Freedom!

When people think about all the ways that they could be saving money, changing their checking account is not typically at the top of the list but it is possible that checking account fees are depleting the checking account by hundreds of dollars each year.  In most cases, the checking account fees are considered to be part of the cost of doing business with a nationally accessible banking institution but it is easy to get the same type of checking power with a free, no fee checking account.  There are several criteria that must be met for a truly free checking account.

No Minimum Balance

The best free checking accounts will not have a minimum balance that must be met for the checking account to remain free.  For example, some banks have a rule that the checking account must contain more than $2,500 for the account to remain free.  As soon as the balance of the account dips below the $2,500 mark, the account is hit with fees and the fees continue to accumulate until the balance of the account rises above $2,500.  Having a checking account that does not have a minimum balance ensures that you will not have fees levied against your account if you must withdraw a significant portion of the money in the account.

No Maximum Number Of Transactions

Some banking institutions hold down the costs of their checking accounts by limiting the number of transactions that an account holder can have each month.  The types of transactions that are limited can include deposits, withdrawals, transactions made by teller, or number of checks written.  The philosophy behind the transaction limitations is that the less the account is used, the less work it will take the bank to maintain the account which allows the bank to save money. 

Conducting more transactions per month than the checking account allows will cost the account holder a significant amount of money.  If the person goes over the transaction limit, fees are levied against the account as a lump sum fee or a per transaction fee.  The best free checking accounts will not have a maximum number of transactions for the account per month.

Forget About Accruing Interest

One of the biggest hooks to get a person to sign up for a checking account that is going to cost them money is to tell the person that the account is interest bearing.  In many cases, the balance that will have to be left in the checking account to accrue interest will have to total thousands of dollars in order for the amount of interest earned to offset the fees that are charged by the bank for the account.  Unless you are able to keep a large balance in your checking account untouched for a long period of time, you will pay more in checking account fees over the year than you will earn in interest.