<p>Right now, I have an account with US Bank, but I’ve tried to search locations and it seems like there aren’t many locations near BC. So I was wondering what would be the best bank to go with, due to convenience and proximity?</p>
<p>Bank of America is everywhere in Boston. It’s the official ATM carrier at BC.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t choose a bank just because of ATM convenience. Many banks will offer to refund all ATM fees. Look for a combination of reputation, high interest, and ease of online navigation.</p>
<p>“Look for a combination of reputation, high interest”</p>
<p>Is there is a secret bank you know of that’s thriving right now and dishing out high interest rates to college kids with low balances?</p>
<p>Bank of America will give you an account with absolutely no fees for 5 years if you are just starting out college, it’s super easy to use online and there are Bank of America atms on campus and all around Boston.</p>
<p>Considering Schwab, the bank I use, has a current savings account rate that is over ten times (1.35% APY) greater than Bank of America (0.10% APY), yes, there is. No account minimums, no maintenance fees, just like BoA campus edge.</p>
<p>In addition, they offer interest on checking, as well, to go along with their brokerage service. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still have a Bank of America account, but that’s for convenience, not because it’s the best option.</p>
<p>I have a Bank of America account (the campus edge). Its alright, nothing special, but I find BoA to have a lot of hidden fees and other charges that will get you if you are not careful. For example, I have multiple checking/savings accounts. I wanted to transfer money from BoA to my other savings account. BoA wanted to charge me $3 to make the one time transfer from BoA to my other account. Now, to me a transfer should be free. BoA charges nothing to transfer money into it, however they want $3 to transfer out of it. Another big draw for BoA is the “keep the change” program, which to me makes no sense at all. Its not really saving me money. It simple charges me the next dollar amount up, and transfers the change to my savings. Why not just leave it in checking so I can use it for my next purchase? They do match 100% of the change you save your first 3 months the account is open, and then its like 5% annually after that, so really, for 5% (up to $250) I think its a big overrated. Also I think after the 5 years you get with campus edge, they will begin to charge you a monthly or yearly service/maintenance fee for the account. Its just stuff like that that makes me question how great people make BoA out to be. </p>
<p>I recently just opened a USAA student savings account (last year I opened a student credit card w/ them). I am quite pleased by them so far. You receive a debit card (like most banks), they refund all ATM charges, i.e. I go to a BoA and use my USAA card to make a cash withdrawal, BoA normally will charge you since I did not use my BoA card, USAA will refund this charge. I also get $100 back at the end of December '09 if I use my card at least 3x per month till Dec '09. The only negative aspect of this is that to make deposits you have to link an external checking/savings account. However like I said I have multiple accounts so this really was not a problem for me. No annual fee for USAA which is also nice. You do earn 0.1% interest, however your balance must be >$1,000. Anything below that will not earn interest. </p>
<p>I also have savings w/ ING Direct. I really find this to be my best bank/account. I started earning about 5% APY interest in '07 when I opened it, however since the financial crisis, that has dropped to a meager 1.4% (just dropped this week from 1.5% APY), still that is above what most institutions will give you. ING charges nothing to transfer in/out of (I use this loop hole to be able to transfer out of BoA and into ING/other accounts).</p>
<p>Overall there are a multitude of options available to you. A good way to choose would be to look at what you need and then match your needs to what a bank can offer you. If you really don’t care or it doesn’t make much of a difference to you then BoA or another Boston bank may be your best fit since you can easily make deposits/withdrawals through ATM and banking centers. It just depends on what you want/need.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advise!</p>
<p>I don’t really care about the interest rates. I am getting a job to supply myself with spending money, so, while I am not opposed to saving some of it, most of the money will be moving around a lot so interest isn’t a big deal. Basically, I just need a bank/ATM that is convenient to get to from campus and doesn’t cost money to keep up. </p>
<p>BoA sounds like my best option for the moment. I only really need the account for 4 years, so the 5 year thing isn’t an issue, and it seems like it would be the most convenient bank to use. I am still going to keep my other bank account (it will be easy for my parents to deposit money to that one just in case) and debit card, too, and possibly look into opening a credit card.</p>