What’s the difference between checking and savings?

March 2nd, 2010

You probably see the words “checking” and “savings” most often when you’re hitting the ATM. Although both checking and savings are bank accounts that hold money you’ve deposited, when people withdraw money, they almost always take it from checking. Why?

Generally, a checking account is designed to hold spending money – money that you don’t want to carry around with you or stash under your mattress, but that you want within reach when you need to pay for your expenses. A savings account, as the name suggests, is designed for money that you want to save for later use. Because of this distinction, there are important differences between the two types of accounts.

When people or corporations cash checks you’ve written them, that money usually comes out of your checking account. You can withdraw money from either account, but people usually want to take the money from checking if they can. The logic behind this decision is that savings accounts generate interest, while checking accounts don’t necessarily (or if they do, there are usually a ton of conditions attached). The more money you leave in your savings account, the more you get paid in interest, so it makes sense not to take out any of that money unless you absolutely have to.

Checking accounts are created under the assumption that the amount of money they contain will fluctuate, while savings accounts are meant for money that you expect will stay with your bank for a while. Checking and savings differ from each other in accordance with their designated purposes, but they’re meant to complement one another.

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