<p>any advice on which local bank is easiest for an incoming Tulane freshman? ATMs on campus would be the most critical factor, I would think.... Thanks.</p>
<p>tulane has a relationship with whitney bank and there is a branch located on campus, supposedly they have special incentives for students of tulane, but i don't feel like anything they have is that great of a deal. there are several atms on campus. one is a whitney atm. there also is a chase atm as well. there is one more, but i can't remember which bank serves it.</p>
<p>If your home town bank has excellent online banking, consider retaining an account with them. Our son tells us that Whitney's online banking leaves much to be desired (for example, not keeping up with transactions in real time), whereas our little podunk hometown bank does everything he wants it to do. So he uses both and moves $$ from one to the other to maintain control. Keeping an account at a common bank also allows us to easily transfer $$ to him when we want to. Just a couple of things to think about.</p>
<p>Agree that Whitney's bank leaves A LOT to be desired - we tried transferring money to the local Whitney bank but found it frustrating since it takes sometimes 10 days for the money to be posted - one of the dirty secrets of e-banking is that many banks simply aren't really set up for e-transfers, which have to get mailed instead. So, for example, when I pay my credit card bill, which accepts electronic payments through my bank, it is posted the next day. Not so at Whitney...we ended up getting dinged with a lot of OD charges and eventually got OD protection.</p>
<p>This year, I'm considering just having D using her local hometown bank and accept the outrageous withdrawal fees from the local ATMs...</p>
<p>Just wanted to mention something we negotiated for S re the "outrageous withdrawal fees from the local ATMs".</p>
<p>S has an account with Bank of America, which, curiously enough does not have any branches in NOLA. I contacted them and they agreed not to charge him ATM fees for withdrawing money "outside their network". Whitney Bank (or other local banks) still charge their part of the fee. However, it does save the extra $2 or $3 per transaction that would normally be levied by BofA.</p>
<p>It's worth asking about. I certainly didn't expect them to waive it when I called, but you never know what you can get if you ask.</p>
<p>"S has an account with Bank of America, which, curiously enough does not have any branches in NOLA."</p>
<p>This may still be true. BofA told us that there is a BofA ATM out by the airport, but that it's not maintained by BofA so they couldn't say if it was operating or not. (???) My D found it simpler to withdraw the maximum from the local ATM every six weeks or so. The ATM fee was $3. I don't know if this has changed. Regardless, I'd suggest keeping your home-area bank accounts. JMHO.</p>
<p>The other ATM in LBC is Capital One. If you want to save on the outrageous ATM fees, tell your S/D to buy a pack of gum and get cash back with their transaction. Then there is never a fee.</p>