If you want to earn the best rates available on your certificates of deposit, checking and savings accounts, you'll often find those rates online.

With banks paying stingy rates on deposits, you can't depend on getting an even OK rate from your local bank or the one bank in the neighboring town.

You have to shop for the best deals available, just as you would when you buy a car or some other high-cost item. You want to get the most for your money and shopping the Internet for the best CD rates definitely makes sense.

Signing up is easy and safe.

Online banks 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. In fact, most banks now allow online applications from anywhere so you have access to more rates. These offerings also expand the market that banks can draw from.

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

The best rates on savings accounts are below 3% and probably won't rise for a while. Most money market accounts are paying right around 2% or less. But recent offers on 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, 2013.

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.

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

By Carolyn Siegel

Interest.com Associate Editor