Turbocharge checking with high-yield accounts
Page | 1 | 2 |

Few requirements
Other accounts have few, if any, requirements and still offer a decent rate.

Provident Bank, based in Baltimore, created Provident-Direct, a micro Web site, specifically to offer online, high-yield products. Its online savings account pays 4.5 percent, has no minimum balance requirement, no monthly fees and no online transaction requirements.

"It's been a success in keeping customers," says Lillian Kilroy, managing director of emerging businesses. "We're retaining some balances, we're broadening and deepening the relationships -- and that's where the lion's share of the growth is coming from -- and we're bringing in new customers.

"We've only been offering the online high-rate savings product since September. We look at the rate regularly, but we'll definitely maintain a market leader position from a rate standpoint."

Citibank's Ultimate Money Account pays 4 percent if you pay at least two bills online each month. A lower rate, currently 3.25 percent, applies during months when the bill-pay requirement isn't met.

Washington Mutual's Online Savings Account pays 4 percent. You must link it to a WaMu checking account and maintain a minimum balance of $300 daily to avoid a $4 monthly service fee.

Representatives from both Citibank and Washington Mutual say the accounts are very popular and that they too expect to remain in the competitive high-yield market.

Rates driving accounts
Industry analysts say that high-yield checking, the most recent entrant to the high-yield lineup, is gaining traction.

"I think we'll see more of these accounts and that we'll see the checking market bifurcate into two extremes -- one being rate-driven and the other will be accounts that are free and have no strings attached," says Michael Perlman, director of financial services at Compete Inc.

One of the easiest ways to find some of the better-yielding offers is to search Bankrate's high-yield money market and savings account rates. You may find additional offers using a search engine to look for reward checking or high-yield accounts.