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Having an account backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. or the similar agency that insures credit union deposits protects you from losing money in a bank failure. Individuals can keep up to $250,000 in an account and have it fully insured.

If all you want is an account that allows for basic checking, bill pay, ATM access and a debit card, basic no-interest checking is the least costly way to go. But increasingly banks are starting to require minimum balances (in the range of $1,000 to $1,500) to avoid monthly service charges or per-item fees, such as 25 cents to $1 per check when you write more than 10 checks a month. The average minimum deposit to open a basic account is $68.

Many banks pay a small amount, say $35, for new customers who sign up for services like direct deposit of payroll checks or online bill pay. Both direct deposit and online bill pay are also ways to avoid monthly account fees because some banks require them to qualify for the fee to be waived.

Interest-bearing checking accounts on average require a $3,400 minimum balance, according to Bankrate, and it takes an average minimum deposit of $473 to open one. Monthly service charges for dipping below the minimum balance were an average of $12.55 last year, a record high.

The old saying in real estate goes for banking, too. Suburban commuters and frequent travelers need banks with lots of branches and ATMs scattered over a wide geography. This is especially vital to avoiding fees banks charge for using other banks' ATMs.

Survey after survey names ATM surcharges as the bank fee that angers consumers the most. Last year, the average fee banks charged non-customers for using their ATMs rose 12% to more than $2, according to Bankrate.com. Your own bank is going to charge you, too--an average of $1.32 for using another bank's ATM. To avoid these fees, pick a bank that has a lot of its own ATMs and stick to those machines only.

Last year, banks raked in $40 billion in checking overdraft fees, one-time charges that average $27 for each bounced check or debit overdraft charge, but can be as high as $35 an item. One way to avoid overdrawing your account is to sign up for e-mail or mobile text alerts from your bank to notify you of a low account balance. Most banks still offer this service for free.