A personal account is an account for use by an individual for their own needs. It is a relative term to differentiate the said accounts from those accounts for corporate or business use. The term "personal account" may be used genericly for financial accounts at banks and for service accounts such as accounts with the phone company, or even for e-mail accounts.

Banking

In banking in the United States, "personal account" refers to one's account at the bank that is used for non-business purposes. Most likely, the service at the bank is comprised of one of two kinds of accounts or sometimes both -- a savings account and a checking account.

Banks differentiate their services for personal accounts from business accounts by setting lower minimum balance requirements, lower fees, free checks, free ATM usage, free debit card (Check card) usage, etc. The term does not apply to any one service or limit the banks from providing the same services to non-individuals.

At the turn of the 21st century, many banks started offering free checking, a checking account with no minimum balance, a free check book, and no hidden fees. This encouraged those Americans who would otherwise live from check to check, to open their "personal" account at financial institutions. For businesses that issue corporate checks to employees, this enables reduction in the amount of paperwork.

References

See also

• Girobank

External links

• Financial Services Authority
• Financial Ombudsman Service
• Banking Code Standards Board
• International Private Bank Accounts
• An evaluation of the FSA leaflet on basic bank accounts