A Checking account is one of the two most common forms of bank accounts available in Canada. The majority of people will use the checking account as their common account and compose most of their transactions from that account.
As the account is identified as a Checking account, this means by original definition that a person or a small business will write paper notes printed by the bank in order to pay for items using this account. These cheques act essentially as legal tender requiring the recipient to deposit it into their bank accounts to obtain the money amount written on the cheque.
By comparison, Canadian banks offer a Checking account at a particular fee which will include a certain number of transactions and cheques every single month. Some banks will offer these kinds of accounts as part of promotional offers. The other most commonly used bank account is a Savings account. Use of these accounts at a bank will often cost more in the way of service fees. The bonus with a Savings account though is you have the option of putting money away at a high interest rate. Many people will invest their money into a Savings account in order to make money off of the interest.
Because of the downturn in the world economy, banks are scrambling to attract customers as the number of bailouts paid to banks by governments has created a culture of mistrust among consumers. This is a good time to take advantage of opening new accounts regardless of the type. Banks are now really reaching out to customers and spending money on advertising to bring people in.
Thanks to the advancement of technology and the heightened awareness of identity theft, more people are resorting to using their bank cards for every purchase. This is commonly referred to as debiting. Banks such as CIBC, Roal Bank, MBO, TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank are offering a great number or unlimited number of debit transactions. It is quite possible that in a few generations, the Checking account may eventually become redundant as more people become technically inclined.