NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - My wife and I are newlyweds and have just begun saving for a home. We put $6,500 into a money-market account at our local bank that pays just 0.3 percent interest. I noticed that several banks on the Internet are paying 2 percent on their money-market accounts for the same deposit. Can there really be such a huge difference in rates -- and is it worthwhile for me to switch?

-- Giuseppe, Denver, Colorado

The short answer is yes, there really can be -- and there is -- a huge difference in the rates different banks will pay on their money-market accounts.

The recent average yield on money-market accounts was about 0.68 percent, according to Informa Research Services. But yields can range widely.

There are several reasons. First, the yield banks set on their money-market accounts is determined by how much the bank feels it can pay depositors and still make a profit on the money it gets from those accounts by re-investing it or by lending it out in the form of loans.

Yields on money-market funds, by contrast, reflect the current yields on the short-term investments -- Treasury bills, commercial paper, etc. -- the funds invest in. So money-market funds have much less control over their yields.

Some banks have higher costs than others, which means they can't afford to pay as much to depositors as a bank with lower costs if they want to make a profit. By making their accounts available online, some banks are able to keep costs down.

Current Savings Rates   Type Overall avgs MMA 1.27% $10K MMA 1.28% 6 month CD 1.38% 1 yr CD 1.73% 5 yr CD 2.58% Find personalized rates:

And then there's the matter of inertia. Many banks know that a good portion of their depositors just aren't going to shop around for better rates. Maybe these depositors don't need the extra money, maybe they don't care, maybe their not informed, maybe they're brain dead.

Whatever the reason, though, some banks feel raising the rate they pay isn't worth it. They're not losing enough customers because of their measly payments and they're not likely to gain enough new ones to make a rate hike worthwhile.

As for switching, I say why not? As long as you're dealing with a reputable institution that is overseen by state or federal regulators and that has FDIC insurance, I don't think you're taking much of a risk by going to a bank that pays a higher rate.

Over the course of a year, earning 2 percent on your $6,500 vs. 0.3 percent translates into $110 more in interest. Granted, not enough to catapult you into Bill Gates territory. But certainly enough to compensate you for not-so-difficult task of moving to another bank. Besides, as your down payment fund grows, you stand to gain even more.

To check out banks that are paying above-average rates on their money-market accounts, you can check out the Deposit Rates search engine in our Personal Finance section, or use the rate-search tool above.

One thing to keep in mind: the rates banks pay on their money-market accounts do change, depending on the level of short-term interest rates at an given time. So you'll want to check in periodically to see whether you're still getting a competitive rate.

Walter Updegrave is a senior editor at MONEY Magazine and is the author of "We're Not in Kansas Anymore: Strategies for Retiring Rich in a Totally Changed World."