My D needs to look more into this but tells tells me that there are no Chase ATM’s on campus or nearby. We actually use our credit union but had just opened a Chase account because it gave me a great deal on direct deposit from my work.
My S did some virtual banking thing when he went off to college. I had wanted him to open something at a brick and mortar (PNC in Pittsburgh) when we dropped him off at CMU but he insisted on this virtual bank. I think she feels more comfortable with opening an account that is accessible to UChicago students- having a branch/ATM’s nearby.
Citibank
Citibank is indeed right on campus, next to bookstore. Convenient hours, and they will have a table during O-week if she wants to sign up with them.All the atm’s on campus are also citibank, so no fees if you have an account with them.
We aren’t into citibank having had issues with them before but my son opened an online account with a bank that has no brick and mortar locations so they have free ATMs at a huge number of machines mostly in drugstores/groceries/convenience stores. The network is called Allpoint. The closest one to campus is in a drugstore on 53rd st which is like a 10 minute walk away and he needs cash just about as often as he needs something from the drugstore so it works for him. He mostly uses his debit or credit card though. I think the Maroon Credit Union which also has a few on campus ATM locations is also part of Allpoint. He was going to open an account there but the walking to the drugstore thing works for him so he never bothered.
@acdchai Is this Ally bank? What is your experience with them?
Yes, we’ve been happy with it. I’m not really dealing with it much except to transfer him money but he seems happy with it and it’s very easy to use. He has a small savings account at another bank that we have also linked up so he can transfer money and his credit card from another company gets automatically debited from his account. He set it all up after he turned 18 so I’m not sure if it’s more difficult to deal with if your child is still under 18.
My kids used Citibank.
One thing to consider. It occasionally happened (like, maybe once a year per kid) that someone needed a cash advance of parental funds on an emergency basis. Of course, we tried to avoid this, but we weren’t entirely successful.
If we had done our own banking at Citibank, that would have been a breeze, but Citibank is not particularly strong in our area. It did have a small branch near my office, though. And I learned that by far the fastest and cheapest way to get a few hundred bucks to a kid was to go to my own bank’s ATM, withdraw cash, walk two blocks to the Citibank branch, and deposit the cash into my kid’s account. Instant credit, no fees, took about 5 minutes.
Another way to do it, is to use Square Cash https://cash.me/
Have your child open a Square cash account and link their ATM card to the account. Open another account for the parent and connect the parent ATM card to that account. Download the mobile app, and now you can send money directly into your child’s account from the phone with a click, by either sending it to their mobile phone or their square cash name or their email. Faster than ACH, I think funds transfer within a day. Its essentially like ATM withdrawal on one side and ATM deposit on the other. I believe there are other services like Square cash, but for account to account transfers, these guys are pretty good and free
There is a chase bank in hyde park. Its on 53rd street next to a grocery store, max 10 min walk from campus
@bigreddawgie - Thanks!