Banking at JMU

<p>S (entering freshman in August) received a flyer in the mail from the credit union on campus. How are they for banking services? Any other banks that seem to be popular with the students?</p>

<p>My son is also incoming freshman...we didn't receive the flyer, also interested in banking on campus. Which banks do kids use on campus?</p>

<p>My son has an account there, and one at Bank of America. I am really not up to date on what he uses each for. The credit union employees were so nice. Stop in, and they will help you with everything. We stopped in to set everything up, I believe during the springboard date (not sure if that is what its called). We got to the credit union as it opened and they had plenty of time for us. I do know that my son was lazy and stopped at ATMs on campus and was charged plenty, I believe by BofA. We had to put a stop to that.</p>

<p>There is a BoA, Wachoiva, and Suntrust off campus. There is a Credit Union ATM by D-Hall. If you use a credit card from an another company, I believe there is a $3.00 surcharge (give or take).</p>

<p>Does anyone know if there is an ATM machine from any other bank on campus? And at other locations?</p>

<p>We were just there yesterday for orientation and I didn't think to ask about other ATMs. We decided my D would open an account at the credit union - unfortunately a rain storm delayed her at class registration and we didn't get by there before 5pm to open an account so will do it by mail.</p>

<p>We returned from orientation Friday. The credit union is the only on-campus ATM. It seems like most students use their JAC Card for all spending on campus. One student told me she had a debit card from her home bank as well and got cash back when she used it other places.</p>

<p>There are actually two ATMs on campus that I know of. There's one by the main dining hall, D-hall, and one down by the central on campus bus stop outside the bookstore. I'm not positive about this, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was another one up on the east side of campus too. The bank is Commonwealth Federal Credit Union, so if you already have a bank account with another FCU then there are no ATM charges. Freshman and sophomore year I used it many times with my Navy FCU bank card, never had any problems or charges. As for the bank itself, they don't exactly have the best rates, so if you're looking into it just for ATM use, it's great, but I wouldn't recommend setting up an account with them for general banking purposes. Also, make sure that whatever bank you're going with you have easy access to it while back home, otherwise when you're on break it can be a little frustrating when trying to deposit checks and the like.</p>