With a yield of 4.05% on balances up to $25,000, Eastern Financial’s high-yield checking account offers a competitive return. In fact, one Web site recently ranked the account as among the top five in Florida. However, don’t base a decision on where to put your money just on one number. You need all the details when comparing accounts.

For example, GMAC Bank offers its Money Market Savings Account that was paying 1.90% on the first dollar. That was nearly five times the national average, the bank said on its Web site. The account includes a debit card, waives ATM fees and comes with a free first order of checks. But there’s a difference between that and a regular checking account. You can write no more than six checks per month on the GMAC account because it is a money market account, or MMA. Regular checking accounts, regardless of return, usually have no restrictions on the number of checks you can write.

Likewise, Capital One pays an attractive 1.50% on all balances of its Money Market Account. It comes with an ATM card and checks. And like the GMAC account, you are limited to six checks per month. To be sure, both accounts are attractive. But theymay  have limitations that are not apparent at first.

Here are some questions to ask when comparing accounts:

• What is the minimum amount to open the account?
• What are the minimum and maximum balances that earn the high yield? (Eastern Financial caps its high yield at $25,000.)
• How many checks per month can I write on this account? (If the answer is zero, then it’s a savings account.)
• What is the minimum balance to avoid monthly and per-check charges?
• Can I access my money  at an ATM and is there a charge for that?

To keep earning the exceptional return (currently 4.05%) on High Yield Checking at Eastern Financial, you must use your MoneyPlus debit card at least a dozen times a month for purchases.

That’s once every two or three days. That may seem a little difficult to do, but if you are like most people, it should be quite easy. Here is a quick rundown of places where debit cards come in handy:

• Supermarkets. Swipe your card to pay for groceries.
• Drugstores. Pay for medicines, health care products, and other goods with your MoneyPlus card.
• Gas stations. Every time you fill up, use your debit card at the pump.
• Restaurants, coffee shops and movie theaters. Going out with friends and family? Use your MoneyPlus card to pay for meals, drinks and entertainment.
• Post offices and shipping stores. Use your card to buy stamps and send packages.
• Convenience stores. Even if you’re getting only milk and bread, don’t pay cash, use your card.
• Clothing stores. Instead of reaching for your credit card, take out your card at the register. Your MoneyPlus card can be used wherever MasterCard is accepted.
• Parking garages. Many garages, especially those at airports, accept card payment instead of cash. It’s safer and easier to pay by card.

• What is your average account balance? If an account requires that you keep $1,000 or $2,000 on hand at all times to avoid fees, but you normally have $900 in between paydays, then look for another account. The charges will add up to much more than any interest you might earn.
• Does the account pay interest? For those that do, the national average is under 1 percent, according to Bankrate.com, but you can find much better deals. Eastern Financial Florida Federal Credit Union has a high-yield account paying 4.05%.
• How many checks do you write monthly? If you are writing 20 or more checks, look for an account with unlimited check-writing privileges in order to avoid fees.
• Does the account come with a combination debit-ATM card? If you’re like many people, you use your debit card to pay for groceries, gas and meals. You want a card that’s good in a store and at an ATM machine.
• Can you pay bills online with the account? You may find it more convenient to click electronic payment boxes on a Web site than to write checks and put them in the mail.
• How is your monthly statement delivered? Almost every institution offers an online version, but some people prefer to have a paper copy delivered by the post office.
• Are canceled checks returned with the monthly statement? Fewer and fewer institutions send originals. Some have mini-versions on a printed page. Others will send you a copy, but for a fee.

Or, if you have money tucked away in a Savings account or Money Market account somewhere gathering dust you could keep up to $25,000 in the High Yield Checking account and EARN that $1,000 instead. Just for keeping your money in a checking account and using your debit card.

Whoa.

I personally don’t have 25K laying around but I do have the account. I’ll take 4% over “no percent” every day.

If you use your debit card on a routine basis and do any online banking at all, you should consider the High Yield Checking account from Eastern Financial. It currently pays 4.05% annual percentage yield plus pays up to $20 a month in ATM fee rebates from non-EFFCU ATMs.

All you have to do is use your debit card for purchases 12 times or more a month (Hello….Starbucks?), have one electronic transaction such as Direct Deposit or in many cases common Bill Payer transactions, and enroll in Online Statements. That’s it. Do those few things and get 4.05% on your Checking Account. All of our checking accounts pay interest (Student Checking age 15-25, Free Checking and 50-or-Better Senior Checking) so you really can’t go wrong. But High Yield Checking is the one that pays the high rate. It adjusts from time to time depending on the overall deposit market but it’s designed to ALWAYS pay well above the market so while it may change, it’s not a teaser rate at all.

We have enrolled over 16,000 new HYC accounts since February 2008. You might as well take advantage, too. The easiest way to find more is to go to the special web site at www.highratechecking.com.

Deposits are federally insured up to $250,000 by the NCUA. Twenty branch offices in South Florida, six in Tampa and three in the Jacksonville area.

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