I’m looking to start a checking account, but since I’ll be leaving for Durham in the fall, I wanted to make sure whatever account I start is convenient to use on campus.
What bank would be the best option (that, if possible, has no monthly fee for students)?
Any insights would be great. Thanks in advance.
I use bank of america, and I don’t think they collect a monthly fee from students. In the Bryan Center on West Campus there are a few ATM machines for various banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America, so it would probably be best to open up a bank account with ones that have ATM machines on campus.
My daughter also chose Bank of America last year. As ldoc97 noted, no fees plus an ATM in the Bryan Center. Wells Fargo has a branch near East Campus, but their fees were worse, and the Bryan Center is convenient enough. Frankly, she hardly ever uses her account. The other option is SunTrust.
If your parents are going to be transferring money in, then Wells Fargo has a good way to link parents and students accounts. The others must have some other similar system too. Its easier to have parents transfer money in electronically vs having to mail a check.
We use SunTrust and we also have a SunTrust account. We can transfer funds from our checking account to our son’s.
My son got a BofA student account because it’s free and there is a BofA ATM at Bryan Center. I have been told that the only ATM that is at east campus is Wells Fargo. But Wells Fargo does not offer free student account, so my son decided on BofA. He will have to pay ATM charges on east campus but that’s less than paying monthly fees. I have a bank account at a less known local bank and even from there I can transfer money to and from my son’s account at BofA. It seems that most banks have this capability now.