A transmission account offers you interest on money you save as well as the facility to conduct your monthly transactions.
Ann Bramhill, manager: public relations at First National Bank, says transmission accounts were created a few years ago to bridge the gap between savings accounts and cheque accounts.
Savings accounts, she says, are characterised by many deposits and a few withdrawals.
"About four years ago we found people were using their savings accounts to run their monthly budgets.
"They would put in quite a large amount into the account and draw from it until nothing was left.
"They were not using their savings accounts for savings purposes. But, on the other hand, they did not need a cheque account with its comparatively higher charges," she says.
Most banks keep an eye on their customers' savings accounts, and if they find these accounts are being used too often for transactions, clients will be encouraged to open a transmission or a cheque account.
Standard Bank will charge you for transactions, such as depositing and withdrawing on your savings account, if they find you are using it to conduct your business transactions and not for the purpose of saving.
Nedcor, on the other hand, is in the process of phasing out its transmission accounts and will not be opening any new accounts at Permanent Bank or Nedbank.
Tom Bangert, assistant general manager of Nedcor's Personal Banking Division, says Reserve Bank restrictions which did not allow for transactions such as stop orders and debit orders on savings accounts fell away a few years ago.
"You can now do with your savings account what you can do with your transmission account.
"From a banking point of view, the need for running two account systems on our computers has fallen away," he says.
Several other banks still offer transmission accounts. The charges on these accounts vary.
Absa, for instance, does not charge you service fees. On the other hand, the Perm's transmission account will cost you R13,68 a month and at First National Bank you are charged a minimum of R3,40 a month, even if you do no transactions.