local market. For this review, I've only consider reward checking accounts that were available nationwide. I didn't require nationally availability for all 3 years, but only when the account was opened. There have always been local reward checking accounts that have been better deals than those available nationwide. If you were lucky, you might have been able to have a 3-year average yield higher than what would have been possible with only nationally available accounts. Just like with the internet savings accounts, I didn't have to switch to many banks to maximize the 3-year average yield. There were two banks that had top reward checking rates in 2009 and 2010. These were Bank of the Sierra and ViewPoint Bank. However, starting in 2011 their rates began to fall, and those rate cuts accelerated in 2012. I found that you could have done very well with just three institutions during those 3 years. Below are the institutions and when the switches should have occurred for the best 3-year average yield: What if you had stuck with Bank of the Sierra or ViewPoint Bank? Both held up fairly well until 2012. So if you held on to your reward checking account at one of these banks, your 3-year average yield would be pretty good. The falling rates this year haven't had enough time to have a big effect. The 3-year average yield at Bank of the Sierra is 2.71%, and the average at ViewPoint Bank is 3.42%. Those will be going down