(MONEY Magazine) – THIS MONTH: --Getting help with your debts --The best rates for CDs, loans

If you're one of the 36 million Americans who belong to the American Automobile Association, you now have an alternative to your bank's annoying fees and niggardly deposit rates: As of this year, 81 of AAA's 85 local clubs are teamed up with PNC Bank of Pittsburgh to offer everything from auto loans and mortgages to checking accounts and ATM access.

The banking is "branchless," though, so you have to be adept at handling transactions by mail or over the phone (AAA will offer online banking by early 1998). But by eschewing tellers in favor of 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, toll-free operators (800-680-AAA4), the club keeps its own costs down--and often passes the savings to you in the form of lower loan rates and higher savings yields. Indeed, some of AAA's deals are lucrative enough to offset the annual membership fee, which ranges from $30 to $70, depending on where you live. And unlike most alternatives to a local bank, such as brokerage asset management accounts, your AAA/PNC accounts are FDIC insured.

To help you decide which AAA bank services are right for you, we've taken a close look at six AAA offerings. While most beat the national averages, a few are no bargain. One caveat: Your local bank may offer better than average savings or borrowing rates, depending on bank competition in your area. So comparison shop before you opt for an AAA product or service.

--Auto loans. If you belong to a credit union or qualify for a dealer's promotional rate, you might find a better car loan than AAA's, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a better auto loan at a bank. Consider: With 10% down on a $20,000 new car, you'll pay AAA 7.99% on a 36-month loan, or 8.24% for 48 months. That's about half a point less than the national bank-loan averages of 8.75% and 8.88%, respectively. Result: You'd save almost $76 a year on a 36-month loan, $65 over 48 months--enough to offset all or most of your AAA dues. Moreover, AAA charges no auto-loan application fee, compared with an average of $50 at banks.

--Mortgages. AAA sets its mortgage rates around the country to beat most local lenders. For example, AAA members who get a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage of up to $214,600 in Orlando will pay 7.13% plus 0.75 points. The average at Orlando banks is 7.45% and 0.91 points. On $100,000 over 30 years, that works out to a first-year savings of $424 and $264 a year thereafter. AAA's adjustable-rate mortgages can be similarly competitive, but since rates and fees can vary widely, you need to shop around to be sure.

--Home-equity loans and credit lines. AAA currently charges 8.49%--with no points or fees--on a 10-year home-equity loan. Since the national average is 9.46% with no fees, unless a local lender can do better (see the tables on page 51), this one is a no-brainer.

In contrast, AAA's home-equity line of credit is generally a better deal only if you need a short-term loan. That's because AAA will loan you as little as $5,000--vs. a bank's typical $10,000 minimum--at a six-month introductory rate of 5.99%; after six months, AAA's rate is the prime rate (currently 8.5%), plus 1.25 percentage points. Many banks charge much less. "In most areas, you can beat AAA's credit-line rate by a percentage point or more," says Keith Gumbinger, vice president at HSH Associates, a mortgage research firm.

--Big savers do well with AAA savings accounts and CDs. If you're aiming for maximum earnings on your savings, a money-market account with AAA generally makes sense--as long as you keep from $2,500 to $5,000 on deposit. Here's why: Currently, you earn 5.13% on an AAA money-market account, as long as you maintain a $2,500 minimum balance. That's nearly twice the typical bank yield of 2.64%, but banks generally require you to keep just $2,000 on deposit.

Moreover, to get a higher savings rate than AAA's (see the best savings yields above), you need to keep a minimum balance of at least $5,000. Certificates of deposit from AAA also require a minimum deposit of $2,500, compared with $500 to $1,000 typically at a bank. But again, as long as you have at least $2,500 to invest in a CD, AAA rates beat the national averages: AAA's six-month CD currently yields 5.37% vs. the bank average of 4.88%; for one- and five-year CDs, the AAA rates are 5.46% and 5.84%, respectively, vs. the bank average of 5.2% and 5.61%.

Furthermore, to get the top CD rates listed in our table on page 48, you generally need to invest at least $10,000. Exception: You can earn 5.9% on a six-month CD deposit of just $1,500 from Security First Network Bank in Georgia and 6.15% on a one-year CD deposit of $2,500 from TeleBank in Virginia.

--Checking. As with savings, bigger balances provide the best rewards at AAA: Currently, AAA checking accounts earn interest of 3.79% if you keep a balance of at least $1,000. But your interest will likely be wiped out by the $7 monthly fee you'll pay if your balance drops below $2,500. Banks, in contrast, generally require a balance of about $1,600, both to earn interest, currently averaging 1.34%, and to avoid monthly charges of about $9.

--ATMs. Most people will do better using an ATM card from a local bank than from AAA. Reason: With AAA, you get free ATM use at PNC Bank's machines--which are located only in Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Otherwise, you'll probably pay a surcharge of $1 to $2 a transaction.

A final flourish: Whatever services you choose from AAA show up on one combined monthly statement. So you can spend less time tracking your finances and more time planning your next road trip.