When I survey certificate of deposit rates for BankShout, Nationwide Bank often nudges the top of the list in annual percentage yield. Ever since large insurers became able to offer consumer deposit accounts, Nationwide has taken advantage to become a full-service financial institution; as one of the top name-brands in the business, the company has a built-in presence in this new age of Internet advertising and online banking competition.

If you still think of Nationwide as just an insurance company, you might be interested in their checking account offerings, detailed in a nifty side-by-side comparison on the bank’s website here. Basically, Nationwide offers two different types of checking, one a basic account called, suitably enough, Basic Checking. The other choice is an interest-bearing account called Interest Checking.

Although the website goes into greater detail than I will here, there are some other basic differences. One regards fees: although there is no minimum balance, Basic Checking will cost you $5 per month if you lack direct deposit. By contrast, Interest Checking will levy $10 per month, unless your average daily balance is $3,000 or you have a $5,000 combined average daily balance with your Nationwide deposit accounts.

Another difference is that Interest Checking allows for 6 free non-ATM transactions a month, while Basic Checking permits only 4 of these; exceed the limits here and you will be charged $1.50 per instance. You also get free paper statements with Interest Checking, while paper records will cost you $2 per with Basic Checking. Online statements are free for both types of accounts.

Both accounts are insured by the FDIC, of course, and Nationwide’s website says that you can get overdraft protection linked up on either of their checking choices.