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It goes without saying that banks have been taking a beating both financially and publicly the last few years. Given this, many people have looked for alternatives with money market accounts at investment brokerages getting a lot of attention. The question is are such money market accounts a good way to hold your money versus a traditional checking account in a bank?

The answer to this question depends on how you use the account. Money market accounts generally offer a better return via interest paid than checking accounts do. The downside, however, is the account usually comes with limitations. Specifically, you are usually restricted to a certain number of transactions per month and the number can be really low. For people who have to pay bills [everyone], this can be a real deal killer. One way around this is to put your savings into a money market account and maintain your basic checking account. When you have surpluses, just move them over to the money market account.

Money market accounts are fairly popular with people looking for a better return on their money than they can get with traditional banks. Having said that, one can’t help but notice that both banks and investment companies seem to be offering money market accounts. The question is which entity is offering the better deal?

Answering this question is harder than you might think. The problem is not all banks or investment companies handle money market accounts the same way. One bank may offer a money market account that has excellent terms while another bank may offer a money market account that has terrible terms. The same can be said for investment companies as well. Given this, the only way to really determine who is offering the best money market accounts for your particular situation is to evaluate them individually. That probably isn’t the answer you want to hear, but it’s the truth.