Hello!
With a few months away to Bama Bound I was wondering what people think of banks/credit unions in the Tuscaloosa area, especially for far away OOS. I would prefer an option that could allow me to not only set up a savings account but also a credit card locally. The easier it would be for transfering money across states will be the best. Anyone have insight on the best banking options they went with? Any places we should avoid? Thanks!
You won’t be able to open your own account at an Alabama credit union or bank until you are 19 (Alabama does not consider you a legal adult until 19.) But you can set up a joint account with a parent and change it later.
My son and I have just continued to use a joint account we opened here at home before he started his freshman year. I transfer money to him easily. He uses his debit card and when he needs cash, he gets cash back at the checkout. My main regret is that our credit union is not a part of the COOP and CU Service Center systems, so there is not one single ATM in the Tuscaloosa area that is free for him to use and I cannot go into a shared branch and make a deposit that goes right into his account if he had a local account. So if you use an OOS credit union, use one that offers access to that system. Here is the link to search for credit unions that participate:
https://co-opcreditunions.org/locator/?loctype=AS
I am going to have my son open an account at the Alabama Credit Union - it’s convenient and on campus. I won’t be able to transfer money to him to that account, but that is ok since the days of transferring funds is going to be winding down. I will either put money in his existing and he can transfer or I could mail checks and he could deposit via his phone or in person.
We each opened an Alabama Credit Union acct at Bama Bound, and I had all the accounts available to me online so I could easily transfer money as needed…instantly. Now, that my boys are older, they each have their totally separate accts, but we still have those “old” accts open so if I ever need to give them money for something, it can still be easily done.
there is an Alabama Credit union on campus…and it’s part of a shared network of over 4000 other credit unions/branches so I can easily bank anywhere.
H and my main account is a credit union that is not part of the credit union network that AL Credit Union is in. I opened a savings account in AL Credit Union so I could have my smaller checks (for low account emergencies) from my main account be automatically be accessible in DD’s account. And we do have network CU’s available in my location.
An advantage of CU over bank is that you can have an overdraft auto loan with CU (ours have $500 overdraft protection). The banking regulations do not allow this, but CU regulation does. We also have that set up for DD.
Rather pay a little (and I mean little) interest than whopping overdraft fees, or not having funds available for DD in said emergency.
On the other end of the spectrum…
…son has never opened up an account with a local bank (our hometown bank is not available in AL/nearby).
He’s been fine with just a debit card (i.e., his own checking account) and recently (past year) with his own credit card. He has a set of checks and there has never been a problem with any business not accepting OOS check for rent, etc. Chase has a good money-transfer system built into their accounts ("Chase Quick-Pay), for free, so even when he moved around the country for internships, he never had any issues paying or transferring money to other people’s bank accounts, and vice versa. These people do not have to be Chase customers, either - it is a lesser-known program and ALL banks/customers should be able to use it (might be under different name at different banks).
A local bank would be useful if you are taking out loans locally, buying/financing a car/house locally, or if you plan to live in AL/Tuscaloosa beyond graduation and need to establish a local history.
Teach your kids to live within their means by allowing them to have their own accounts. And if they don’t, let the consequences hurt their pocketbook, not yours.
@mom2collegekids @chesterton @aeromom @SOSConcern I sent a pm for more details
We bank at Wells Fargo at home, so my son stuck with them.
We have used a combination of accounts with our kids, both of whom went OOS, one is at Bama and one graduated from Miami Ohio .
Our primary bank, BofA, did not have branches in either Tuscaloosa or Oxford, so we had the kids open a small account at the campus credit union (Alabama Credit Union at UA) and keep their account at BofA. The local credit union was for ATM convenience and the ability to withdraw cash in person in case a wallet or purse went missing. The account at our primary bank was for ease of getting cash to them in a hurry. On line transfers are instantly available funds to them on their debit/ATM card. Most banks with a good electronic banking product should be able to offer the same availability.
We could have lived with just keeping the home-based account, especially now that we qualify for complete ATM surcharge reimbursement at BofA, but I didn’t want to worry about my DD not having ready access to funds.
My only caveat is not all financial institutions provide as generous funds availability as BofA, Chase, Wells Fargo etc. These large banks typically have next day availability on deposited checks, smaller banks and credit unions are more likely to hold deposited checks. Just something to be aware of.
Just more $.02 about finances.
Be prepared AHEAD OF TIME for the worst case scenario if your wallet/cash/cards are lost or stolen, or if your finances are disrupted for any reason.
OK - I’ll give an example of DD1 needing an infusion of cash before March rent due, had rent covered until other expenses came up - and today she had nursing pictures (nursing class group picture and individuals) and a nursing pin option (we will pay for the 14K gold nursing pin, which is $300 - has to order today) - they don’t really give advance notice or not much notice (or DD was very busy making sure she had everything done with her academics). Since I have a $500 savings account with AL Credit Union, I can write a check out of my own account (with a non-member credit union - not a member of the small credit union network) for up to $500 and it is immediately accessible. My own credit union allows cash machine withdrawal of $500, so it was easy for me to handle directly to get $1,000 into DD1’s AL Credit Union account. The two credit union branches are within 10 minutes of each other and my home, so I just went in a circle to take care of this.
Of course those that have electronic transmission of their bank/CU accounts can handle just as easy in their own way.
Things do come up. If a student has a healthy account and manages their money well, they can handle OK.
DD1 doesn’t want to have her stocks sold to have money put into her account (she tries to live very lean), but she has a very minimal paying job (less than 10 hours a week). This weekend we will have a determination of what goes into her account to carry her through until she starts earning a FT paying check as a BSN.
H and I both know what being on a lean budget as a student was like. The students should kind of know how to live within their budget and not have finances distract from academics.
Where does she want to work upon graduating, SOS?