If you want to earn top returns from your certificates of deposit, checking, savings and other deposit accounts, it's time to try an online bank.

Signing up is easy and safe. We'll show you how to do it.

Although online banks are relatively new, they operate much like your neighborhood bank. The major difference is that you'll conduct most of your business, whether it's checking interest rates or moving money into your savings account, by computer.

While some online banks exist only in cyberspace, others are divisions of older banks with traditional branch offices. And most banks now allow online applications from anywhere so you have more rates to compare. These offerings also expand the market that the banks can draw from.

Recent rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have made the great yields of the past few years impossible to find. But online banks continue to offer some of the best rates available -- even if they are a lot lower than they were even a a year or so ago.

Rates on savings accounts have fallen below 4% and probably won't rise for a while. The best bet this week is HSBC Direct in New York City, which is offering a 3.50% APY with a minimum deposit of $1.

Even though savings rates are far lower than they have been, there are at least 18 banks on the Interest.com rate tables offering 3% or more. That's a whole lot better than the pathetic 0.50% some big-name banks are paying.

If you keep enough money in your checking account to make interest a worthwhile consideration, there's not much to choose from. Banks have cut the interest they pay on checking accounts way back. The best you can do is sign up with Bank of Internet, which is paying an APY of 3.4%. While you only need $500 to open your account, you will have to maintain a $5,000 minimum balance to avoid monthly fees. And it only reimburses ATM fees up to $8 a month. On the other hand, Charles Schwab Bank pays 2.01% APY on checking accounts, with a minimum deposit of $1. But Schwab offers a host of additional benefits: no minimum balance to avoid monthly fees and no surcharges at any ATM.

This doesn't mean you should rush down to the neighborhood bank and close your accounts. But to make the most of your savings, trusting at least some of them to an online bank is an increasingly smart move.

Here's how to get started:

Step 1. Find a federally insured bank with a secure site and the best interest rate.

Use our interest rate comparison charts to find an online bank offering the best return on the type of account or certificate of deposit you want.

Every bank on our interest rate comparison charts is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which insures deposits up to $250,000 per depositor per insured bank under new rules in effect until at least Dec. 31, 2009.

Most online banks state right on their home page that they are members of the FDIC. But if you find a bank elsewhere, it's a good idea to verify that it's insured by checking with the FDIC.

You might also have some anxiety about protecting the private information required when applying for an account.

Online banks understand that, so their application sites are secure. Look at the URL on the application page. It should begin "https:." That "s" stands for secure.

Step 2. Fill out the application.

All banks need the same information to open an account and online banks use forms similar to those at a branch down the street.

Electronic applications are on the Web sites of all online banks.

It will ask for your name, address, phone numbers, e-mail address, Social Security number and driver's license number along with the date issued and the expiration date. The bank will probably not ask for paper copies -- and certainly not the originals -- of any documents.

Most applications will also ask for a "secret" word, such as your mother's maiden name or the city where your father was born. These are just additional security measures that few other people are likely to know.

You may also be asked to create a password and user identification name (the form will say how many letters to use and if numbers are required) to access your account. Be sure and write these down.

You're usually asked what savings plan you're signing up for and the amount you'll be depositing. Any questions? All banks have toll-free number help lines and they can walk you through the process.

Step 3. Make a deposit. Manage your money.

Most online banks ask for a check for the amount of your deposit, say $500 for a one-year certificate of deposit. Mail it to them and they'll return the paperwork verifying your deposit, interest rate and the date it will mature.

If you're opening a money market or savings account, you'll probably be asked for a check with your initial deposit and a voided check. (Just write "VOID" across the face of a check with a felt-tip pen.)

The online bank will use the account number and tracking number on that check to establish an electronic link between your current checking or money market account and your new savings account.

That way money can be transferred between checking, savings and money market accounts, even if they're at different banks.

You may also be offered an ATM card, paper checks, or both, that allow money to be withdrawn from your savings or money market account.

Remember when we learned to shop online? Well, we really mastered that. Then we learned to bid online to get good deals at eBay and other auction sites. Now it's time to earn money online and save time while you're at it.

A Pew Project survey taken in December 2005 projected that 63 million consumers, or 43% of Internet users, did at least some of their banking online, from checking account balances to seeking the best interest rate.

That was up from 16 million consumers doing online banking in 2000 and shows how much more comfortable we're becoming with managing our money on the Internet.

Making the most of online banks is the next, logical step.

By Carolyn Siegel

Interest.com Associate Editor

Have a question about your finances? Ask us at editors@interest.com