Plenty to take into account when you're seeking to save cash

YOU almost certainly have a bank or building society current account, but despite the high-profile advertising of headline rates and special deals, do you really know which account is the best for you?

As with most things in life, it's not as straightforward as "one current account fits all". Far from it – there are at least four main factors to consider if you're in the market for a new bank account.

1 IN-CREDIT INTEREST – This is the angle with which providers seek to tempt you into signing up as a new customer. But, these days, receiving interest on your current account balances has become a bit of a rarity.

Both Santander and Alliance & Leicester (part of the Santander group) will pay you 6 per cent, but this is just for the first 12 months and only on the first 2,500 of your balance. So while you could earn a maximum of 120 (after tax) in year one, the most you could earn in subsequent years when the rate drops to 1 per cent is a far less enticing 20.

On the other hand, the reward account from Bank of Scotland will give you a net payment of 5 every month as long as you pay at least 1,000 into your account. This is not a short-term offer, nor does it depend on you keeping a specific balance in your account. A word of warning though – it's a good option for credit balances, but if you dip into overdraft from time to time, then the daily overdraft charges will soon wipe out your 5 monthly credit.

2 OVERDRAFT CHARGES – If you find that your account swings into the red each month, maybe in the week before payday, then you need to focus on the charges for going overdrawn. Santander, Alliance & Leicester and Barclays offer 0 per cent for the first 12 months. For a longer-term deal then Cahoot at 11.8 per cent, Santander at 12.9 per cent and Co-operative bank at 15.9 per cent are the most competitive for authorised borrowing on your current account.

3 DEBIT CARD CHARGES ABROAD – This is an area that people tend to overlook when comparing accounts, but if you're a regular traveller overseas then it's worth thinking about. For example, if you go to Europe three times in one year and make two 100 currency withdrawals and two 100 debit card purchases each trip, it would cost you a total of 53.88 with Lloyds TSB or 52.50 with NatWest, whereas if you had a Nationwide flex account there would be no charges to pay. So if you're often holidaying abroad, perhaps with your own home in the sun, this could be a good basis on which to choose your bank account.

4 CUSTOMER SERVICE – Away from the nuts and bolts of how much you can earn or how much you'll be charged, all that some people want from their bank is a reliable and consistently good level of service.

While the big high street banks don't fare well in this area when you look at the customer service surveys by the likes of the BBC's Watchdog and consumer group Which?, you'll regularly see the likes of First Direct, Smile and the Co-operative bank at the top of the list for customer satisfaction.

• Andrew Hagger is head of communications at Moneynet