High-Yield Checking Accounts Are Out There, But Experts Urge Diligence to Capture Yield

High-yield checking accounts are in the news today, emerging as one of the few ways your average banking customer can earn a small but tidy sum on checking funds in a still-quite-rough economy.

In the past, returns like those you can now earn on high-yield checking accounts would have been considered paltry, but nowadays, the average of about 2% yield is- for most customers- not to shabby. But even the small amount you can earn on a high-yield checking account doesn’t come cheap, and experts advise you to stay on the ball when finding and maintaining a high-yield checking account.

Bankrate.com’s 2012 High-Yield Checking Survey is out, and the banking site has learned that the average yield on high-yield checking accounts nationally works out to about 2.05%. Greg McBride is a CFA and senior financial analyst for the site, and McBride explains that high-yield checking accounts represent a safe way to earn a bit on you money… if you keep an eye on terms an make sure you adhere to them.

McBride explains:

“For consumers who can routinely meet the requirements, high-yield checking accounts are a slam-dunk cash investment… where we have seen greater flexibility is on the permissible interchangeability of things like direct deposit, bill payment and ACH withdrawals, rather than having firm requirements that you have to do a certain number of bill payments and direct deposits.”

He continues:

“Increasingly, it is an either/or situation… Investors should calibrate the balance they plan to hold in the account with an APY offering that maximizes their return.”

Looking for a high-yield checking account? Bankrate posted the full survey along with the top high-yield checking account banks and credit unions over on their site.