<p>I have a checking account and a debit card with Chase Bank, and have just found out that there is no Chase Bank Branch or Chase ATM up in Ithaca. Are there any ATM machines/local banks that doesn't charge a fee for students taking out money from a debit card that is not from the local bank?</p>
<p>Sorry, every ATM here charges some kind of fee if you’re not a bank customer. Your best bet as a freshman - if you want really convenient access to your money - is to set up another account with Tompkins trust, which has an ATM in RPCC and a branch in the Cornell Store.</p>
<p>You can do this during O-Week, most banks offer some kind of discount to Cornell kids opening accounts before school starts.</p>
<p>If you want to stick with a national bank though, BofA has an ATM in Collegetown and a branch downtown, and M&T and HSBC have atms in Willard Straight.</p>
<p>M&T no longer has an ATM in Willard Straight, as of like the past month or two at most. they do have a machine in Noyes, though, and of as a few years ago had one in RPCC as well. and there’s an actual branch with a lobby ATM in Collegetown.</p>
<p>Is the BoA convenient enough for a freshman (how often do they leave campus at the beginning)? Would it be easier to open a new account with Tompkins for convenience? Do you use BRBs and City Bucks most of the time or do you need cash often?</p>
<p>getting to collegetown from campus is literally just walking across a bridge. I would say that most freshmen don’t go there frequently, but it’s a very safe/easy ~10-15 walk from north campus. I say safe/easy because there’s no big hill and it’s all through the Cornell campus. in my freshman year, if I had some item I really wanted to acquire, then I would just stop down to collegetown without a second thought.
I think Tompkin’s Trust would be convenient and fine, though, even though I don’t have any direct experience with it.</p>
<p>(sorry if this info is overkill but not everyone knows where collegetown is so I figured I’d just explain.)</p>
<p>I have never used City Bucks, but I definitely use BRBs way more frequently than I use cash. I need cash if I want to have a special meal in collegetown, or if I want to donate small amounts of cash to some Cornell organization…I would say those are the main reasons. on the other hand, I use BRBs to buy lunch 3-4 days a week.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is really that important to have an account at a bank with an ATM machine in Ithaca. </p>
<p>1) If you work on campus, you could have your check direct deposited to any bank.
2) If your acct is tied to your parents acct (like Chase), you parents could easily transfer money to your acct any time you want.
3) You could use your debit card for any purchase in Ithaca or on campus, even for coffee and bagels.
4) You could take cash out once a month if you plan it correctly.
5) If your parents have premier accts, then you could enjoy a lot of benefits your parents have.</p>
<p>My main bank is Chase as well, but my mom and I just decided to create a Bank of America account for use while I’m up here. Since I’m a student I have a free checking account with them.</p>
<p>Thanks. We aren’t very familiar with Ithaca, yet. Will try to explore more this weekend at Cornell Days. </p>
<p>We use BoA anyway. He has an account that has never been very active, but it already exists. We will have to check the details with the bank. He has never had any type of bank card.</p>
<p>Some banks offer fee-free ATM debit cards. My Schwab checking account for example reimburses me for any fee I pay using any ATM anywhere. If I were switching, I’d try to find a bank that offers that type of debit card.</p>
<p>seconding faustarp: city bucks are accepted by so few merchants these days that they’re next to useless - just use cash.</p>
<p>My mom also has a chase banking account, and the chase online system is so easy to use that even my mom, who knows very little english and is slow with technology, can transfer money to my account with ease. that’s why i want to keep using my chase account in college. if most of the stores in ithaca and on campus take debit/credit card, and since there’s very little need for cash, i think i can live with giving the ATM machine a service fee once or twice a month.</p>
<p>do you guys know if the ATM machines also take deposits as well?</p>
<p>thanks a lot!</p>