What is a Joint Checking Account?

A joint checking is another service offered by financial institutions such as banks and credit unions which is co-owned with another person. It can also be an alternative for partners principally by gay partners that can’t be married or be legally partnered under the state law on where they live. On these circumstances, both account holders in the joint checking account have the liberty of the account which include but not limited to withdrawal of funds. Consequently, should it arise that one participant have unmet credit duty or have instances of returned checks, the entire amount in the account id fully available though there are some conditions regarding this matter.

Joint account may be characterized by these:

• Each of the account holder has an ATM card provided by the same institution the has access to the account.
• Both has the right to make any inquiries regarding the account
• Both have online access into the account.
• Consensual amount to be deposited into the account.
• In case of disparity, it would not affect the access (i.e. withdrawals) into the account.

There are advantages in having a joint checking account instead of a single one particularly for legal couples. Possessing a single account can help you save some amount particularly bank fess. Joint accounts don’t have any additional cost relative to a single checking account. Additional advantage is that if there any emergency that arise such as illness or death, the other is not limited to the access of the account without any legal hindrance. Having this access is advantageous at different aspects.

Each member doesn’t have to be afraid of having to put all the money into the joint account. One can still have the option to open his/her savings account or simply withdraw cash at hand subsequent to depositing checks. This would make sense if one person is an impulsive buyer. On the psychological aspect, some would argue that couples or partners tend to be closer when they co-owned and plan their finances together compare to having single financing plans, and ideally, joint accounts fulfills this premise.

In contrast, having separate savings or not having a joint account may give rise to some communal problems, because both parties will have to exert extra effort to get the bills paid on time and to equally divide the rent and other expenses. There are some limits to this though. It is not suggested for people who are not legally bonded, because one party may remove all the money from the account and the other party will not have a legal protection against such circumstances.