In a little less than a week, we’ll be moving to a new town.  Part of the move involves finding a new checking account.  We’ve been with a local credit union for the last couple years and it’s time to move on.

Our credit union had nice high returns on their checking accounts when we signed up, but those have steadily declined.  Plus, they only have a few local branches.  So, like the nerd I am, I’ve been researching new banks.  I had the following requirements in mind:

• No fees
• High return on checking account
• Free bill-pay
• ATM fee refunds

Here are the best resources I’ve come across for researching banks:

DepositAccounts.com

This is an awesome place to start. The site aggregates information from other sources about rates, fees, and pretty much everything you need to know about bank accounts.  I used this page which lists checking accounts by return to start my search.  Then I looked at a few of the top banks listed, checking out their health and any reviews.

GetRichSlowly.org Bank Rates Center

JD at Get Rich Slowly got tired of manually updating his site with the latest rate changes.  So he designed this dynamic page which displays the highest rates currently being offered by banks.

The real valuable part of this page is the comments.  There are over 1,600 comments from people who have experience with the banks listed, either as satisfied customers or ticked off ones.  The comments reveal what the financial numbers can’t.

BankRate.com

This site is nerd central for financial data.  They list tons of financial figures and ratios to determine the overall health of your bank.  Financial statements abound as well as conclusions bankrate.com has reached from those financial statements.  This site is for the nerd at heart.

Tags: bankrate, high-yield checking account, savings account

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