The spreads between saving and lending has created a substantial profit margin for many banks. These banks are looking to draw in more savings and checking account holders to take advantage of this spread and increase their profits. As a result, many are paying above-average interest rates on not only savings accounts, but also checking accounts! This article will take a look at some of the best deals around.

The first step for consumers may be to check out web sites like CheckingFinder.com, which offer consumers a way to locate and sign-up for high yield free checking accounts. Often times, these checking accounts do not charge any fees or have any minimum for opening. However, some may require you to use your debit card at least ten times, have direct deposits setup, or access online banking at least once.

Increasingly, these high yield checking accounts are being used by local community banks to help beat out larger national competition. In 2007, just 350 banks and credit unions were offering these types of accounts. Now, that number has jumped to 526 institutions with 912,000 accounts and around $9 billion in deposits, according to an article on Yahoo! Finance.

The interest rates being paid are substantial too – rates in the author’s area vary from 4.10% to 5.15% APY. That’s not bad for a free checking account…