When I was younger, I wondered how banks earn.  My aunt who has been dealing with banks for most of her life said that banks earn from savings accounts.  I was like what?  How could that be possible?  I mean we can open up an account and maintain a certain amount to keep it open without paying anything, right?   Well, yeah we do but it’s very minimal if you will consider the expenses that they incur just to keep the bank open.  She said that banks earn from savings accounts but indirectly though.  Banks earn from the interests of the loans that they give out and most of the time they will get the capital from the deposits that come in from the savings accounts.   And I was like ah… okay…  And so, if you plan to open up a savings account and plan to keep your money there for a while, try to compare banks for you to find great rates, interest rates that is, for the money that you are planning to keep in that account.