A deposit account or, in simple terms, a bank account kept in a financial institution or a bank enabling easy withdrawals and deposits is a checking account. With easy access to the funds, this account lets you pay your bills and carry out other financial transactions.

Banks these days, offer a full-service checking account that includes checks, debit cards, direct deposits mobile banking facilities, and online bill payment options. There are quite a few ways to get the maximum out of your checking account. Most banks offer a number of options for checking accounts. You need to consider the features you need while choosing the right checking account. This should be in line with your requirements.

You should make complete use of basic checking services. These basic services can be divided into three categories, namely:

Depositing money in the account: This feature includes paper check deposits and direct deposits. And now, the latest feature to be added to this category is mobile check deposits. A smartphone app scans a check used for depositing money into the checking account.

Withdrawal of money: Paper check payments and debit card swipes are the common features of this category. It’s more convenient for customers with ATM withdrawals and enhanced services like mobile and person-to-person payments that make for a more personalized experience. In this category, you can just wave your smartphone at POS systems in retail stores and other places. The revolutionary person-to-person feature enables the transfer of funds with only an email address or mobile number of the recipient. The fact that you don’t even need the recipient’s account number makes the transaction all the more easy and convenient.

Money management: Enjoy online budgeting features and alerts with the money management facility. Whatever direct deposits, online payments, and withdrawals happen on your account, the bank sends you an alert via text and email instantly.

Make the most of add-on services
One of the leading tips for optimizing a checking account — the add-on features give account holders a distinct edge. Customers can enjoy unique facilities like foreign currency exchange, remittances, and safe-deposit boxes conveniently without hassles.

Furthermore, customers can also benefit from reloadable prepaid cards and cashier’s checks. The remittance feature allows customers to send money to people overseas in different forms of currency.

With increasing online facilities, customers can also enjoy the services at physical branches in person. This also offers a wider ATM network for customers wherever they travel to. This proves to be very useful and important to complete a number of transactions when the branch is closed.