{"id":172,"date":"2014-01-07T11:17:16","date_gmt":"2014-01-07T18:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/financegourmet.com\/blog\/banking\/good-enough-checking-from-your-bank-or-brokerage\/"},"modified":"2014-03-04T14:22:41","modified_gmt":"2014-03-04T21:22:41","slug":"good-enough-checking-from-your-bank-or-brokerage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/financegourmet.com\/blog\/banking\/good-enough-checking-from-your-bank-or-brokerage\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Enough Checking From Your Bank or Brokerage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"checking\"<\/a> I was going through my stack of mail to look at (separate from the stack that has things that actually need taken care of) and came across an offer for Fidelity\u2019s mySmart Cash Account.\u00a0 Intrigued, I decided to take a look at the Fidelity checking account that they were so proud of that they included a glossy little flier to advertise it.\u00a0 The result?\u00a0 What the\u2014?<\/p>\n

Regular Bank Checking Sucks This Bad?<\/h3>\n

The Fidelity myCash account boasts exactly two features that do not count as minimum basic features for a checking account.\u00a0 First, it pays interest.\u00a0 How much interest?\u00a0 Well, this is where Fidelity gets a little weasel-ish.\u00a0 The flyer says that I will \u201cEarn three times the national average\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Um, OK.\u00a0 How much is that?\u00a0 Folks, it isn\u2019t even in the fine print, that\u2019s how much the rate must be worth!<\/p>\n

A visit to Fidelity\u2019s website reveals the depressing answer.\u00a0 A balance of less than $5,000 in a myCash checking account will earn a whopping 0.20% APR.\u00a0 Whoo hoo!\u00a0 But wait!\u00a0 Maybe if you have over $5,000 it is worthwhile?\u00a0 Survey says? 0.20% again.\u00a0 Yes, go through all of the steps and take the time to open a Fidelity mySmart Cash Account, and you too can earn a whole 0.20% interest.<\/p>\n

Ironically, you can actually earn something in the neighborhood of 2% by using a money market fund, but when you are pandering to the fear of the people who can\u2019t be bothered to read anything more than headlines by really pushing the whole FDIC insurance thing, you can\u2019t switch gears and point out the much better rate that you can get in what is still a pretty safe account.<\/p>\n

Oh, the other value added feature is unlimited ATM fee refunds.\u00a0 That is nice, but hardly a huge deal anymore if you know what you are doing.\u00a0 In other words, the Fidelity cash account is good enough, but nothing better.<\/p>\n

This leads to the inevitable question.\u00a0 Are regular bank checking accounts so bad now that this counts as a great deal, or is Fidelity just dutifully pushing another product in an effort to meet a marketing projection or to make their services more \u201csticky\u201d?<\/p>\n

Credit Union Free Checking Accounts<\/h3>\n

The reason I\u2019ll have to do some research is that I have had my checking at my local credit union for many years, so I honestly have no idea what kind of shenanigans banks are pulling these days.\u00a0 The free checking account at my credit union offers:<\/p>\n