Strategies to beat new-account blues
By Lucy Lazarony • Bankrate.com

Federal regulations may allow banks to make it tougher on new customers, but you can minimize the problems if you know the rules and ask the right questions. Here's what to look for:

Look first
Be sure to study a bank's availability policy before opening a checking account. To receive a copy of a bank's policy, ask a teller. Some banks also post their policies online.

Local and nonlocal checks
Study the availability policies for "local" and "nonlocal" checks carefully. A local check is a check drawn from a bank in the same federal check-processing region as the depositor's bank. Find out what checks your bank considers "local" by looking at the routing numbers on checks. Details will be outlined in a bank's brochure.

Look to see if that all-important paycheck is a local or nonlocal check. New accounts customers -- people who have had a checking account with a bank for fewer than 30 days -- may have to wait a couple of weeks to access their paychecks. One way to avoid this fate is to sign up for direct deposit. If your employer doesn't offer this, ask the bank to waive the hold on your paycheck.

Next-day checks
New account customers will be able to get their hands on money from these kinds of checks fast. They include cashier's, certified, teller's, traveler's, and state and local government checks. The first $5,000 of these deposits will be available on the next business day as long as the checks are made payable to you and you make the deposit in person. Your bank may also require that you use a special deposit slip.

Cash and electronic payments
Federal regulations require banks to make all money from these types of deposits available to customers on the next business day. This includes new customers. Some banks allow same-day withdrawals.

According to federal regulations, an account is considered "new" during the first 30 calendar days after you open it. After that, you should be able to get to your money just like any other bank customer.

People opening a second checking account at a bank should speak up. A checking account cannot be considered "new" and be subject to new account availability restrictions if a customer has had another account at the bank for at least 30 days, according to federal regulations.