I

n managing household finances, it is advisable for you to own two bank accounts at the minimum. One should function as a conduit for funds and the other serve as a savings account, which you can top up each month.

 The more bank accounts you have, the more funds you need to manage them, which will cause you headaches if the funds you have are limited.

 Today, many banks offer prizes to lure prospective customers who are eager to open a bank account, ranging from a doll or a smartphone to a car. But if you are firm in your principles you should not be in doubt about choosing which bank account to open.

The following are steps to choose the right bank account taken from tipanda.com, which will hopefully be useful for you.  

• One-stop facilities. Make sure that the bank you choose has complete facilities, for example, if it provides various payment services, such as credit card, telephone, cellular phone, Internet, air ticket purchases, non-cash shopping and so forth, as this will enable you to make transactions easily
• Service network. It'€™s better for the bank that you target to have an extensive branch network and ATMs in easily reachable locations, either close to your house or office. This will facilitate the process of document arrangement in the event that you lose your ATM card or savings book.
• Variety of transaction mediums. It is more convenient for you if the bank that you choose also offers phone banking, Internet banking or SMS banking services. In this way, you don'€™t have to bother going to a bank when you want to  make various payments or if you just want to check incoming transferred money from your business partner. This will reduce the costs of travel to and from the ATM or bank and is more secure.
• Ignore prizes offered by banks. Opening many banks accounts will be pointless if you don'€™t have money to deposit in your bank accounts. You will not win the prize. Furthermore, having many bank accounts means the more you have to spend on administration fees and tax each month.
• Savings program. It is better if a bank has a long-term savings program or a kind of savings whose function is to accommodate your savings needs without being affected by cash withdrawals at any time.  
• Membership of an ATM network. Today, borderless transactions have become common. You can transfer money to another bank overseas and or withdraw cash from an overseas bank. For that purposes, it would be advisable for you to choose a bank included in a big network, such as the Joint ATM network, PRIMA or ALTO. The membership of a bank in a particular network can be seen by the logo on the back of your ATM card or you can ask a customer service agent in the bank that you have chosen. (JP)