Through direct deposit, your paycheck or government issued check is deposited directly into your bank account. No paper check is issued, and your entire check is available as cash on your regular payday. Some banks are offering free ATM usage and other incentives to sign up for direct deposit. Another special service that banks offer is selling checks. Many banks offer a certain amount of free checks as an incentive to open an account, and then ask that you purchase checks through them afterwards.
Checks are often cheaper when purchased directly from a check printer.
Evaluate how many checks you write in a month, or how often you need to check your balance at an ATM machine, and be sure to take that into account when choosing banks. The most important thing to realize is that you, as a consumer, have the right to change banks at any time, for any reason. If your fees increase, your branch closes, you have the right to make a switch at any time, for any reason. This agency handles complaints and inquiries about national banks, and will investigate all written complaints which imply or reflect a violation of a Federal banking statute. This is not a complete listing of banks, but rather a sampling of banks intended to give the consumer information about the variety of banks and savings banks located in the New York area.