<p>Sorry if this has already been covered. Is there a convenient bank nearby Smith?</p>
<p>From what I’ve read in other threads (can’t find the specific one right now), there are lots of banks in the area. My d is going to open an account at TD bank locally where we live because there is one in NoHo, so I can easily put money in her account if necessary. There’s also a Bank of America in NoHo which is less convenient for us where we live. I’ve also heard of Easthampton Bank. If you google it, you will see a bunch–People’s, Florence, Citizen’s</p>
<p>When I was there a few years ago (this changes a lot though, so google first): there was a Bank of America, TD BankNorth, Florence Savings Bank, Citizen’s, Easthampton Savings Banks all near campus (right on Main Street, a short walk away). BofA was the only national bank, so that’s the one I used, since they had branches in my hometown as well as in Noho. </p>
<p>Florence Savings Bank owned the ATM in the campus center, which is (or at least was) the only ATM on campus, BUT there’s no Florence Savings Bank branch within easy walking distance of campus. So most people did not have FSB, and either just paid the ATM fee or walked into town to get cash. I usually just went to my bank in town, it was about a 7 min walk. </p>
<p>I knew several people who lived in the New England region that used TD BankNorth because it’s common in that area.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s not strictly necessary to open a local bank account, but I found it useful to have the option of depositing checks. I had a lot of different jobs on and off campus when I was in Noho and sometimes i got paid with checks.</p>
<p>My D likes TD Bank because there are branches everywhere that she is.</p>
<p>I use Citizen’s and I wouldn’t really recommend it. It’s not super convenient (it’s in the stop and shop) and even though I’m a college student they keep on trying to charge me a ridiculous fee for not having enough money in my accounts combined (we’re talking thousands of dollars) and then I have to go down there and make them refund it and re-put the waiver on my account. I’m going to switch soon, probably to TD bank. My friends who use them seem pretty happy with it.</p>
<p>Bank of America has a college student account that has no minimum balance, a one-time overdraft fee-waiver, and a VISA with a low ceiling to help build up credit. I’m sure the other banks have something similar. My D used BofA because we had a branch at home; the other banks were not represented here.</p>
<p>Actually, MWFN, I think that college student account is no longer offered. People who have said account are grandfathered in, but when I was setting my account up last year, the Bank of America rep said that it was going to be discontinued. She may have been wrong, however. </p>
<p>That being said, OP, Bank of America is pretty convenient to campus and I’ve yet to have a problem with them (other than the fact that I distrust banks).</p>
<p>I’m going to put in a plug here for the UMass Five College Credit Union. I banked there the whole time I was at Smith and it’s still my main bank account (there happens to be a branch in my hometown of Worcester, MA but since I direct deposit I never have to go there.) They are in a network with a ton of other small banks (mostly FCUs) so you can usually find a nearby bank where you can make deposits or use an ATM without fees. In general, FCUs offer lower fees and better rates since they’re non-profit, and UMass Five is no exception. Oh, and when I studied abroad, I never got hit with the huge conversion fees my BoA friends did.</p>
<p>Ok, let me stop before I sound like I work for UMass Five… I really do love this bank though!</p>
<p>Most, if not all, credit unions are not federally insured. I lived in Rhode Island when 80% of the population banked at state-insured credit unions instead of banks. One credit union defaulted – and the whole system went bankrupt overnight. All the credit unions, even the solvent ones, closed overnight. It was like living in the Great Depression, with people being turned away in grocery store lines because their checks could not be honored. Eventually got their money back at, IIRC, a 60% rate. I firmly believe that a credit union should never be anyone’s primary access to cash.</p>
<p>FCUs are FEDERAL credit unions, therefore, they’re federally insured.</p>
<p>UMass Five is most definitely an FCU, as is the local credit union my dad’s been using for 40 years without any problems. Not sure what happened in RI, but in MA there haven’t been any issues as most credit unions are indeed federally backed.</p>
<p>I have a friend who works for UMassFive. The credit union has an outstanding reputation and funds are federally insured up to 250,000 by the NCUA, which is virtually identical to the FDIC. The vast majority of credit unions are insured by the NCUA. </p>
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<p><a href=“https://secure.umassfive.org/about_umassfive.html[/url]”>https://secure.umassfive.org/about_umassfive.html</a></p>
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<p>The credit unions were state insured. Oops!</p>
<p>I haven’t had years of experience with the world of finance, but the vast majority of people in my area deposit their money in a credit union rather than a bank. It’s generally a more positive experience for everyone, it’s insured by NCUA, and it’s nice to have the knowledge that all the management of the credit union is handled locally. </p>
<p>Like all financial institutions, though, it’s vitally important to investigate what kind of insurance is backing your credit union before investing. But, in my humble opinion, it cannot be universally said that a credit union should not be the primary access to cash.</p>
<p>I like the idea of credit unions and the UMASS Five sounds good, BUT we live in NY and I want to be able to deposit money in D’s account ASAP if necessary. So I’m thinking we’re going to go with TD Bank because there is 1 branch here. We have Chase (can’t believe that gigantic bank has no branches in MASS!) and I know they have system for transferring money to other banks, but don’t no if it would be fast enough (need to do more research).</p>
<p>I understand there is one ATM on campus and that it only charges .25 for ATM withdrawals. Can anyone tell me what bank that is under? How far is TD Bank from campus?</p>
<p>The ATM in the campus center is under Florence Savings Bank. There aren’t any FSB branches directly in town (or at least there weren’t as of spring 2009), so it’s not really ideal to open an account there if you don’t have one already. TD bank is right on Main Street, a short walk from campus (probably close to 10 minutes, depending on where on campus she is, might be a bit less). </p>
<p>In my experience, transferring money between banks online takes about 3 days for the transaction to complete and the money to be delivered, so for instaneous deposits (or close to), you would need to be able to visit a branch of the desired bank in person. When I went to college, I just gave my mom my account number for my new Bank of America account, and she would simply drop by a bank branch and deposit into the account directly.</p>
<p>The atm in the campus center is actually Easthampton Savings Bank. And FSB has always had a branch in downtown (corner of Pleasant and Main.)</p>
<p>Whoops! Thanks Mari for the correction. I switched Easthampton and Florence in my mind.</p>
<p>Hello, </p>
<p>Just wanted to confirm: so there are no Chase banks whatsoever at MA?</p>
<p>That is correct. I double-checked their locator and the nearest branches are in Connecticut.</p>