You May Be Able to Earn Even More

As with all banking products, it can pay to shop locally. Our rankings focus on banks and credit unions open to customers nationwide, allowing for accounts to be opened online. But with credit unions being strong players in the rewards checking realm, it's possible that a credit union in your community or state, or that serves your employer, may pay as much or more than the best nationwide options we've laid out. Or perhaps you'll find one with slightly easier requirements. The nationwide leaders above will be hard to beat in most markets. But it's always worth checking the local and regional options available specifically to you before locking into a choice.

What Is Kasasa?

If you do only a little research on rewards checking accounts, you'll notice the word Kasasa popping up from time to time, and the odd word may leave you scratching your head. That's because is a fabricated branding word and the name of a company that offers checking account infrastructure to banks and credit unions. What all Kasasa accounts have in common is that they offer some sort of reward, whether exceptional interest rates, cash back on debit card purchases, or more unconventional perks, and they carry no fees.

Tips for Succeeding With High-Yield Checking

By now, you understand you have to actively earn your reward with a high-interest checking account. For most people, these are not accounts you can leave on autopilot and expect to receive the maximum interest payment each month. A little bit of due diligence—both upfront and monthly—is required if you want to maximize your earnings.

Be Sure You Thoroughly Understand the Requirements

As you research options, be sure you fully understand what each account will require of you. Thinking through how you normally use a checking account and what behavior modifications you're willing to make (if any) will help lead you to the best rewards checking account for your needs and style. Then, once you've chosen an account, make the time investment of a phone call to a customer service representative at the bank or credit union to ask questions about the specific rules of qualifying transactions. One of the most important things to clarify is what types of debit card transactions will qualify toward the minimum number. Do they have to involve a signature? Can they be PIN-based? Do they have to be at least some minimum dollar amount?

Don't stop at debit questions, though; familiarize yourself with any requirements about direct deposit or ACH transactions. Also, learn where to review the monthly qualification calendar, which will indicate the first and last days for posted transactions to count towards each monthly rewards cycle.

Set Some Monthly Reminders

Now that you know your marching orders for earning top dollar on your checking account balance every month, turn that information into some automated tasks that will help ensure you don't forget. Being deprived of a whole month of interest due to a single misstep can be frustrating. Adding a reminder to your phone or calendar for the same day every month, perhaps seven to ten days before the closing date for qualifying transactions, is a best practice that can help you complete any necessary actions while you still have time.

Watch Out for Account Maximums

If your account has a maximum that you may sometimes bump up against, regularly pay attention to your balance. If you go a few dollars over and it's expected to be a temporary surplus, don't sweat it. But since the interest rate many of these accounts pay on the portion of your balance that exceeds the high-APY threshold is zero, or close to it, you won't want to regularly keep more than the maximum in your account. To see how much difference this can make, take the example of an account with a $10,000 maximum for earning 3.00%. At amounts above $10,000, the account pays just 0.10% APY. If you were to keep a balance of about $20,000 in the account regularly, you'd essentially be lowering your APY on that account to just 1.55% APY (the average of 3.00 plus 0.10).

Pair Your High-Yield Checking With High-Yield Savings

For those who find they're being constrained by the maximum balance threshold on their high-yield checking account, a savvy move is to pair it with a high-yield savings account. The savings account can be at the same institution or an entirely different one. You can find our ranking of the top-paying national savings accounts here.

The key is simply to create an electronic link between your two high-yield accounts so that you can easily transfer surplus funds that exceed your checking account's maximum allowance into a savings account that may pay 10x as much as the surplus funds would earn in checking. Conversely, if your checking account balance falls below the high-APY threshold, you can transfer funds from savings back to checking to maximize your high-yield earnings.

Pros and Cons of High-Yield Checking Accounts

Pros Explained

• Offer a higher interest rate than traditional checking accounts: While traditional checking accounts offer an average of 0.07% APY, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), some high-yield checking accounts may offer APYs close to or beyond 5.00%.
• Give you easy access to your cash: Like other checking accounts, high-yield checking accounts are designed for high activity and generally come with a debit card. You can use these accounts to withdraw cash and pay your bills as needed. 
• May come with bonus perks and benefits: Some high-yield checking accounts come with additional perks, such as a cash-back debit card, reimbursement for out-of-network ATM fees, and zero monthly maintenance fees. 

Cons Explained

• May require a certain balance to earn the highest rate: Each institution sets its own rules, but some may require you to have a certain amount of cash in your checking account to access the best rates. 
• Could have rules around minimum balances or transactions per month: Along similar lines, some high-interest checking accounts may require you to maintain a minimum balance or conduct a certain number of transactions per month to earn a certain APY, avoid fees, or keep the account open. 
• Rate could decrease over time: Your checking account rate is not fixed and may fluctuate with market conditions. Over time, you may see your rate decrease and your interest earnings go down as a result. Browse the best CD rates for accounts with a guaranteed return at a specific APY.

Alternatives to High-Yield Checking Accounts

A high-yield checking account may not be the best fit for everyone. Here are some alternative options to explore. 

• Traditional checking account: Although they don’t earn much or any interest, traditional checking accounts may have other perks that appeal to you, such as no fees, ATM fee reimbursement, or early direct deposit. Browse the best free checking accounts to see if one would work for you.
• High-yield savings account: You can often find higher APYs on savings accounts than checking accounts. A savings account is a great place to store cash that you don’t need for everyday spending or monthly bills. See the best high-yield savings accounts to find a good home for your money.
• Certificate of deposit (CD): You might also invest in a CD to earn interest on your money over time. CDs may be a good fit if you don’t need immediate access to your cash, since you could rack up fees if you withdraw your money before the CD’s maturity date. 
• Money market account: These accounts are like a combination of checking and savings accounts—they often come with checks and a debit card while offering a fairly high rate. The downside of money market accounts, though, is they may charge higher fees or have higher minimum balance requirements. See the best money market accounts to explore your options.
• I Bonds: I bonds are U.S. government bonds that can help protect your savings against inflation. You can’t access your cash until at least a year has passed, though. 

Methodology

To choose the best high-yield checking accounts, we scanned online resources for banks and credit unions that offered checking accounts with the highest annual percentage yields (APYs). Institutions had to be federally insured (by FDIC for banks and NCUA for credit unions); the maximum allowable balance that could earn the high rate had to be at least $10,000; and the number of required debit card transactions could not exceed 15.