Checking Account Promotions

A checking account offers the holder many more services and facilities than a traditional savings book account. You could compare a savings account to a long haul truck and a checking account to a fully fitted recreational vehicle, with all the bells and whistles. The checking account, being the banking facility which you use for your day-to-day and living expenses. There are many bank checking account promotions which will offer the right package for you.

Once your checking account is open, you will receive a check book and a check card which you will use to perform transactions on your account. You will use your check book when you wish to pay a person face-to-face or by mail, by writing a check for the desired amount. Your check card you will use to withdraw cash from the ATM or to pay for goods or services, by swiping your card at the till point – exactly like a credit card. The difference between a check card and a credit card, is that you are using funds which you already have in your account, whereas a credit card is a short term loan facility. You may also write a check and cash it over the counter at your bank, should you prefer.

If you write lots of checks, look for checking account promotions, which offer free or discounted rates on paper checks. Alternately, if you will be making more electronic transactions then look for a special offer on electronic transactions as a possible checking account promotion.  Or perhaps a great rate for a money market account you’re considering in lieu of a checking account.

In this day and age, when honor and honesty is a long forgotten aspiration of many people, it is simply not safe to leave your check book unattended for even a moment. It is very easy for someone to tear a check out of your checkbook and to then use that check to pay for goods or services. It will then be up to you to prove that you did not make that transaction, especially if the fraudster made a good counterfeit of your signature.

Make sure to watch out for repeated overdrafts, which can potentially add hefty overdraft fees to your account. You don’t want to waste money on those overdraft fees, and get into an unpleasant debt situation, where you are getting debt collection calls everyday – wishing you could stop creditor harassment then and there.

The same goes for your ATM card, be very careful when keying in your pin number and never accept any assistance from strangers who may swap your card and then steal your money. When paying for goods at the till point, never let your card go out of your site as unscrupulous clerks may carry a device in their pockets, which is used to clone your card. Some checking account promotions include insurance against this type of fraud, which is a necessary protection in these modern times.

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