The days of keeping money in a coffee can on top of the fridge are over. Cash used to be king, but paper and plastic are no longer just choices in grocery bags. Using a checking account can make life much simpler, quicker, and easier to manage. Change sometimes can be frightening, but this change is one that will improve lives.

In the past having a checking account meant carrying around a little passbook where all of your deposits and withdrawals were recorded, and when it came time to pay a bill you have to put the little plastic divider down so as not to ruin the rest of your checks, write the check out, sign it, and hand it over. Today checking accounts can work this way if that is what the customer wants, but technology has delivered the debit card, the electronic check, and the electronic transfer. All of these things make paying bills easier and more efficient, clearing up some much needed time in our lives.

Debit cards are cards that look just like credit cards, but instead have your checking account number across the front and withdraw the money straight from your checking account. Most debit cards help guard against overdrafting because they will come back declined immediately if the money is not in the account. This stops the customer from making a purchase they cannot afford and helps individuals learn their financial boundaries. Debit cards are usually accepted anywhere credit cards are, and simply require a PIN number for identity verification. Using a debit card is faster than writing out a check at a store, thus making it a more convenient method of payment.

Electronic checks and electronic transfers are almost the same thing, and both are utilized in a couple of different ways. First, if you use online banking to pay a bill, the website normally requires that you enter in your checking routing and account number in addition to the bank name and the withdrawal amount. The merchant then processes the check, and during this process they withdraw the money electronically from your checking account. This is the part of the process called electronic transfer. These types of transactions show up on a bank statement with the merchant name followed by a 9 or more digit transaction number. In this situation, the paper check never leaves the checkbook, but the money is withdrawn just the same. This is convenient because paying by electronic funds transfer is immediate, but it is possible to overdraft because these transfers do not work as quickly as debit card transactions.

Some brick and mortar merchants use the electronic check system in a different way. The customer writes out a paper check and the salesperson runs it through the electronic cash register. The register scans the check, processes it electronically into an electronic transfer, and debits immediately like a debit card. This is convenient and inconvenient. First, the customer has to waste the time writing the check and the paper check is wasted, because the merchant normally returns it to the customer when it has cleared the register. This process is convenient because it has the immediate approval or denial that a debit card transaction does; the customer and the merchant will know immediately if the money was withdrawn or not before the customer leaves the counter.

With all of the new procedures to process money from checking accounts, it is a wonder anyone still bothers to write a paper check anymore!

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Nicholas writes for Your Banking Guide which has helpful information on choosing bank accounts, and comparing both savings and high interest current accounts.