Anyone have suggestions as to what bank to use? I currently use Chase bank. Is that accessible on campus? Are there any preferred banks by students?
A lot of students use UW Credit Union due to accessibility- they have several ATMs inside Housing/University buildings which makes withdrawing cash easy and quick, and they have 2 branches on campus.
Quick google maps search tells me that the closest Chase branch is by capitol square. The capitol is probably around a 20-40 minute walk, depending on where you start in campus. There are bus lines that go directly to the capitol or close to State St, but depending on which one you take they might not be very frequent. Personally I’d say that that location is pretty inconvenient especially if you’re living in campus housing and if you plan on going to the bank often.
UWCU is awesome. They have many ATM’s around campus and their Union South branch is really convenient. I wanted to get a Chase account but UWCU is definitely the right choice, their student accounts have basically no fees.
@Jamesesesess Did you like it enough to go through the process of switching? I already have a Chase account, and I’d prefer to not have to transfer all of my funds. Plus there is the issue of when I’m not at Wisconsin… If I can find a convenient Chase I’m guessing I’ll stick with that. Don’t plan on running to the bank too often anyway.
My kid kept his Chase account but opened UWCU account freshman year. You can link your UWCU account to your student ID and use your student ID to swipe purchases (I’m pretty sure about this, but possible I’m confusing it somehow).
We have automatic deposits set up into kid’s account for expenses. Was very easy to go online and switch the deposits into kid’s UWCU account.
At SOAR, UWCU will be here to open accounts, it’s easy, no dragging yourself to a branch etc.
@Midwestmomofboys Okay. Thanks for all of the advice! I will discuss options further with my parents.
@CollegeMan91 I still have my old checking account for a few personal uses. My financial aid refund covers all of my living expenses here, so I fund my UWCU account with that. I use my UWCU account about 95% of the time.
It’s your call, if you don’t plan on going to a branch too often then the walk to the Capitol’s Chase branch may not be too big of a problem, but I’ve found UWCU very convenient between depositing birthday/Christmas/etc. money, many ATM’s for $0 fees, and when I’ve had issues with my debit card. You can always do what I do and use both.