<p>How does your DD/DS buy books, make other payments, and get cash at college? Checking account, savings account, credit card, debit card, cash?</p>
<p>Thank you very much!</p>
<p>My DD opened a checking account, joint with me. She will use checks and debit cards for expenses. No credit card yet.</p>
<p>S opened his own checking/savings account when he went off four years ago. He used a debit card for a while and now has an AmEx card of his own. We'd send him his savings bonds for him to cash and deposit to pay his tuition, etc.</p>
<p>Now that our bank was taken over by Bank of America, we'll have a joint account with D so that we can deposit the money she needs to pay her tuition, etc., because not all of her college fund is in savings bonds. She'll have a debit/credit card through the bank.</p>
<p>Checking account, with a bank card for ATMs, at the campus credit union. The money is automatically withdrawn from my checking account and electronically transferred to his. Additionally, I put money on his school e-card which can be used at the campus bookstore.</p>
<p>We got our D a debit card when she toured Europe with a choir at age 13. It's from our bank and we deposit money on to the card. We monitor her spending on-line. She has always used it responsibly.</p>
<p>Checking account at campus credit union with bank card for ATM which is also a VISA debit card. We have not deposited money into it in a long time, as he has been working and earning spending money, but, when necessary, I just mailed a check to the bank and they deposited it in his account. We also gave our son a copy of our credit card with his name on it, for emergencies. I guess he should get a credit card in his own name soon, as he is a senior next year, to establish credit, but he hasn't done that yet.</p>
<p>We opened up an account at a local bank in my sons sophomore year. Freshman year we used the school's account which was fabulous but didn't allow for purchases off campus. We did have issues this year when he forgot to cancel a trial game subscription. Money was automatically taken from his account and he used the debit card to make a purchase and they ALLOWED the purchase, despite it being more money than he had in the account. They initially claimed that this doesn't happen, but further information was revealed that they allow it if it's just alittle over - then they hit you with exhorbitant bank fees for being $1.79 over. THEN to boot, since we are in a different state, by the time we received the mailing and were able to respond, the bank fees had increased yet again! A disaster which we had our DS clean up (for the most part) and pay for with his own money.</p>
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Now that our bank was taken over by Bank of America, we'll have a joint account with D so that we can deposit the money she needs to pay her tuition, etc
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<p>There's no need for a joint account in order for you to deposit money.</p>
<p>My daughter has her own B of A account (not joint), which is handy since it has branches both in our hometown and in her out-of-state college town (as well as many other places.) She is currently away for the summer in a state that doesn't have a B of A branch, but it's no problem for me to deposit checks that arrive in the mail for her--she left deposit slips behind and I just take the check and deposit slip to the bank.</p>
<p>Basically, anybody can DEPOSIT money to an account--you don't have to be a joint account-holder to deposit money!</p>
<p>I have an account at a federal credit union. this way I can withdraw money from any credit union ATM - there are a lot of them. I also have my car loan through them - so it gets automatically withdrawn from my account. I also have my student loans set to automatically withdraw from it, but that's not a loan from my bank. I had a debit card that had access to my checking and savings account... as well as a credit card that I used for most purchases. Worked for me.</p>
<p>D opened a local bank account at her way-out -of state university in her freshman year. It had checking,savings,debit card and a credit card with a small initial limit,which was gradually raised during the 4 undergrad years.Free checking, and online bill paying. Scholarship checks were direct deposited. She handled all her own banking,we were not cosigners on the account.We did supply some money on the college's debit type card for eating and textbook purchasing.We also added her as a cardholder on our American Express account since she was out of state, travelling by plane and also now has a car at her location.We wanted her to have access to an "unlimited" charge card in case of dire emergency such as car repair,emergency plane ticket,etc.She gradually learned to manage her own funds ,moving off campus and paying her rent/utilities,etc.
She now is moving on to grad school, and will repeat the process with her new location.Thank goodness, she will have a fellowship that will be direct deposited! We will "wean" her off of our American Express onto her own .</p>
<p>We also added our daughter as a cardholder on our credit card (in addition to her ATM card and checking acct. which is linked to ours so we can add $.) The reason for the credit card is for emergencies, but also for her to pay for large expenses like books, so we get the air mileage points from our credit card program. We've had lots of free flights as a result.</p>
<p>B of A gives a a free 5 year account to your student if you (the parent) are already an account holder (but I think B of A mght have free student accounts for everyone, you may want to check). </p>
<p>Best thing-- I can transfer $ into her account from my account online. She also has a debit card and credit card ($600 limit) that came with the account. She never uses the checks--debit and credit card does it all. </p>
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<p>DS has Bank of America accounts because they are available here and where he attends college. He will also be able to access those accounts while in London. His accounts are free as long as he is a full time student...savings, checking, ATM and a VISA card....and free online banking. We do NOT have any of our accounts at B of A.</p>
<p>My D, the princess, has it all. </p>
<p>1) She's had her own checking account (I'm on it also) that she opened when she was 16 and started working. She's totally responsible for that and uses it to deposit paychecks. Has a debit card attached to it so she mainly uses it for entertainment, food and clothes.</p>
<p>2) Credit card attached to our main VISA account. She uses that for emergency purposes e.g. car breaks down, and for books. Also for any supplemental purchases that are "customary and usual" expenses that we would normally pay for if she were living at home e.g. prescriptions.</p>
<p>3) Student credit card in her own name. After reading all the CC threads last year about the best card for a student to have in their own name, to establish credit, we went with the 1st Financial Bank account. Limit of $250, no interest, no fee (if I remember correctly). Recently received a notice that they raised her limit to $800. ONLY used for gas - and she has a very thrifty car that she rarely drives so it's consistently a very low bill. We pay the bill - to help her establish credit. She will eventually be paying that bill all by herself - we just wanted to kick start her.</p>
<p>my daughter has two checking /savings accounts- one a local bank with a branch close to campus- I believe she has her workstudy checks deposited directly.
She also has a draft/savings account with our credit union. Debit cards connected to both accounts- is phasing out the bank account.</p>
<p>She also has a charge account at her college bookstore- we are sent the bill. She is very frugal and only charges books she can't find any where else, occasional snacks etc.</p>
<p>We don't have a credit card. Don't go anywhere we would need one.
She did buy a computer that she financed to gain a credit rating- paid it off within a year.</p>
<p>Has B of A account at school which she also uses at home with ATM debit/visa check card. Work study pay checks are directly deposited into account. When she is home she does her regular banking. She is really good at online banking -so good that she did not even know how to write a check (never used them), I recently taught her. While she is at home she could just deposit her paychecks to her account. FOr several years she has had a linked account to mine at the credit union wher I can deposit money on line for emergencies.</p>
<p>We bank at B of A. Seems like every bank we had the past 20 yrs was sold to B of A. We finally gave in and stuck w/them. Son could have openned a free Prima because of us but he chose the free student acct to be "independent". Has a checking and savings acct w/them. He uses the ATM card for just about anything. We are not on the acct, so I have to go to the bank to transfer money to him (we reimburse him for most school expenses-books,etc). He had one incident of going "over" and getting a $10 charge for the transfer from the savings. He now knows that a phone transfer from savings to checking will prevent these extra charges. His school has a B of A ATM, so it is very convenient. I think his own acct was a good idea. A Prima acct would have given son some extra stuff like free checks and free overdraft-but that is something he should probably earn by himself.</p>
<p>D has checking at the local bank with ATM access on campus and a debit card attached to it. For emergencies, we added her as a 3rd cardholder on the MasterCard. Each semester we fund her college ID card--which serves as a campus bookstore debit--to purchase her books and incidentals.</p>
<p>lamom--Re B of A--you can transfer $ from your account to your son's account online. No need anymore to actually go to the bank to transfer $. You don't have to be on the same account. Check the Transfer Funds instructions on website.</p>
<p>OK,Emeraldkity,I can't resist,and I'm sorry to veeer off the OP's topic.You don't have a credit card and don't go anywhere you would need one? Maybe I'm naive, but I thought you couldn't rent a car or a hotel room without the "guarantee" of a credit card.How do you do things like travel?</p>