A checking account is a secure and accessible account for everyday money management. It’s a place to deposit, withdraw, and transfer your funds, which is just one of the many reasons why a checking account is at the heart of your finances. If you are considering opening a checking account at a credit union or bank, here’s what you need to know.

Easy access to your funds

Checking accounts, or sometimes referred to as spending or debit accounts, offer easy access to your funds. You can make withdrawals at your credit union or bank, get cash from an ATM (MSGCU gives you access to over 30,000 free ATMs), transfer funds to another account, or pay bills. You can also use your debit card to easily pay for purchases with your checking account. Paper checks are also an option (yes, they are still used), and the written amount will be withdrawn from your checking account when the check is deposited.

MSGCU offers various checking accounts to fit your needs.

Easy bill-pay

Checking accounts can take the hassle out of paying bills. You can use MSGCU’s Bill Pay to manage and pay your bills directly from your checking account. With the convenience of Bill Pay, you can pay all your bills in one place and rest easy knowing your bills are being paid on time. You can even set up automatic payments so you don’t have to worry about missing a payment.

Pay your friends and family

MSGCU’s Send Money feature allows you to securely send money to anyone, directly from your checking account. Unlike other person to person payment options, this service is free to you and your recipient and there are no hidden fees.

Minimal balance requirements

Checking accounts at credit unions tend to have very low minimum opening and ongoing balance requirements in contrast to banks. At MSGCU, you can open a checking account with as little as $25 and there is no ongoing minimum balance requirement with a regular checking account.

Low or no maintenance fees

Here’s where checking accounts at credit unions and banks differ. It is common for banks to charge a monthly maintenance fee for checking accounts, sometimes as high as $30 a month. At a credit union, you don’t have to worry about steep checking account fees. At MSGCU, there are no monthly service charges, per-check fees, or minimum balance requirements with a regular checking account. You can view our full fee schedule here.

Convenient account management

Managing your checking account is simple. Use your financial institution’s mobile banking app or online banking to access your account 24/7, view your balance, deposit checks remotely, transfer funds, and more. In addition, checking accounts help you track your spending by providing a record of all your transactions. When you use your debit card for your everyday spending, you can easily analyze those purchases by reviewing your account history.

Direct deposit

Direct deposit is a convenient way to receive your paycheck and have access to the funds immediately after they’re deposited. At MSGCU, members can get paid up to two days early when direct deposit is set up, provided the funds are received from their employer. Members with a monthly direct deposit amount of $250 or more can also expect a reduction in or avoidance of other fees. That’s a win-win!

Direct deposit is convenient and can help prevent overdrafts. You can set up overdraft protection from your savings account, a line of credit or credit card, and you can even elect to use Courtesy Pay to protect your checking account. Courtesy Pay kicks in when you don’t have enough to cover a transaction in your checking account, which can protect you from additional overdraft fees from vendors or retailers.

A checking account is more than just another account; an MSGCU checking account is easy to use and easy to love. Visit any MSGCU branch office or contact our team of financial champions to learn more. You can even conveniently open a checking account online!

Category: Finance