<p>What can you do with a Visa Electron debit card in the US? Are they accepted at all Visa-accepting ATMs?</p>
<p>I'm going to school soon and intend to open a US Bank Account. Can F1 students hold Visa (non-electron) debit/credit cards?</p>
<p>yes cards are accepted, but you will have to pay a fee if you want to take out cash. </p>
<p>f-1 students can get debit cards (dont know if they are electron or not, mine just says Visa on it), even without a ssn (m&t, sovereign, national bank of america all have this option)
i dont think you can get a credit card without a ssn though.</p>
<p>Just get a US debit card - you don’t need a SSN and won’t have to worry about ‘service’ charges. I don’t know what electron is, but it lets you buy stuff online as you would with a credit card and is more convenient than cash since there are no pennies jiggling around. My card from BofA just says Visa.</p>
<p>You cannot get an unsecured credit card (in the true sense of a CC i.e. you pay the bill at the end of the month) w/o a SSN. You can get a SSN by getting a campus job, and then get a CC which lets you build up credit which is helpful with apartments etc.</p>
<p>^Thanks a lot. I’ll bank with BofA.</p>