River City Bank offers their best reward checking account called Smart checking. It remains to be very competitive over the past year and has the current interest rates:

* Guaranteed rates of 5.00% APY for balances through $25,000 until March 31, 2010
* Deposits above $25K get 1.50% APY
* Base interest rate of 0.05% APY will be earned if requirements are not met

Account holders can enjoy the benefits of the highest interest rates if they satisfy the following requirements: make at least 12 purchases using the debit card, setup one ACH debit or direct deposit, and opt for electronic statements.

The website states that the bank does not impose any balance requirements nor collect any monthly service fees for this money in the bank deal. They also reimburse ATM fees incurred any where across the globe. You can find out about the details of their refund policy on their website. It is definitely a plus factor for this best checking account as it is has a very generous policy on ATM surcharges.

We can not find an online application so it seems that you need to drop by one of their branches to open an account. They have offices in Carrolton and Rome, Georgia.

River City Bank has good financial ratings. Bankrate.com issued 3 stars for soundness and safety while BauerFinancial stamped 3 ½ stars on their performance report. These evaluations were based on their June 2009 data.

The bank is insured with the FDIC through certificate number 58289.