Do kids need a checking account at a local bank in college town?

<p>Yes. And a debit card usually comes with the account. Paper need not be used.</p>

<p>Be careful with debit cards with Visa or Mastercard capability. These are as vulnerable to fraud as credit cards, but when fraud hits, your money is missing (as opposed to the bank’s money being missing if fraud hits your credit card).</p>

<p>^^^ Hmmm, I just returned from the credit union. The associate seemed surprised that we actually wanted to order paper checks with the checking account. She cheerfully mentioned that a new debit card would be issued with a Mastercard logo, as though we didn’t have a choice. I’ll have to find out if it’s possible to have a simple ATM card with no credit card functions.</p>

<p>It is very useful to have paper checks when you have apartment rental, utilities & other companies who do NOT want debit nor credit cards. That was why we needed checks for our kids after they moved out of campus dorms. Even the campus-owned apartments sometimes wanted checks.</p>

<p>DH has an ATM card only. HOWEVER he has to pay $25 a year for that. A debit card is free with our checking account.</p>

<p>Hmmm, what I have seen is that an ATM / PIN-debit card (no Visa or Mastercard) is given without fee by several banks, but is not the default (by default, they will give you a debit card with Visa or Mastercard capability as well).</p>

<p>A checking account from a local bank would be useful if the college is located in an area without big banks such as Bank of America. Where I go to school, there is not one Bank of America in a 50 mile radius, so I had no choice but to open an account with a local bank.</p>

<p>There was zero overlap between banks at home and 2000 miles away at DS’s school. So he had to open an account at credit union to get free ATM withdrawals. Didn’t have checks while living on campus but needed them when he moved off campus for apt deposits etc. I have my bank at home send money into his account using i-pay.</p>

<p>BTW, I found which banks were at DS’s school by asking at his college forum on CC.</p>

<p>ucbalumnus, you can file claims for debit card claims with your bank. You can file and get your claim handled just like a credit card (as long as you have a legitimate claim and file within 14 days). I used to train the agents for a major US bank, and we handled (and paid) those claims all the time. </p>

<p>Not all banks did a good job however, and I am so soured on my former employer I would hate to recommend it.</p>

<p>If your campus has a local branch, then it makes sense to open an account in that bank - at least to get the ATM withdrawls without a fee.</p>

<p>Babyfrog’s school’s city does not have a branch of our home bank, and I despise paying any banking fees (which she would have had with non-member ATMs.) She has a credit union account at school. It’s a joint ownership, she is primary owner. She has no minimum required balances, other than the $5 shareholder amount, and actually is earning a smidge of interest on her accounts. She has both checking and savings accounts and an ATM-only card, easy access to fee-free ATMs around campus. She has written a few checks, deposited a few. I can deposit monies for her at a local credit union that is a member of the larger consortium. The checks have her name and permanent home address on them (another state). It’s worked for us.</p>

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<p>However, unless you are watching your account all the time, fraud on your debit card can cause problems like your mortgage or rent check bouncing, or electronic banking payments to fail. Also, while the claim for debit card fraud is being processed, your money is missing, in contrast to the bank’s money being missing during credit card fraud.</p>

<p>Our student uses a debit card drawn on a credit union in our town. Also carries an AmEx on my acct and a Visa on my acct…these are for books or things like emergencies/airlines.
Since our student isn’t renting an apartment/paying local utilities etc there has been no reason to open a different acct.
Our accts are at the same credit union and are linked together
so we can transfer money into K1’s acct.
Simple solution.
K1 doesn’t take alot of cash out at an ATM.
Meals are prepaid through the dining plan.</p>

<p>As far as checks–we as a family hardly use checks anymore–because we use a bill pay systme online.
We haven’t even had checks printed for K1s acct here.</p>

<p>My kids have a debit/checking account at local bank. One goes to college locally, the other 2000 miles away. Occasionally they do need to write a check, including rent for the one off-campus. I have a setup where I can push money into their accounts online.</p>

<p>“Most employers want to do direct deposit these days.” - True. For DS’s work study 2000 miles away, he was able to set up direct deposit to the home bank. </p>

<p>Since college kids write so few checks, they typically don’t keep a written register. They just keep an eye on the online balance.</p>

<p>My D got a checking account at the University’s credit union - a lot of ATMs on campus and she doesn’t have to worry about ATM fees.</p>

<p>Our older two had branches of our bank near campus so that worked well. Who knows about the next 2. If they don’t have a branch I would probably have them open at least a savings account on or near campus just so they don’t have to pay ATM fees. We can transfer money from our account to other banks online so we could manage funds that way.</p>

<p>We are like Mommafrog -</p>

<p>My DS has his main account at his “home” bank and small account with the student credit union at his campus. His home bank is BofA, but there is no branch within 100 miles of campus. He uses the debit card on his home account for almost all of his activity and I can transfer funds instantly from my account - very convenient. He also has checks for this account - he only uses a couple per year.</p>

<p>The credit union account is so he avoids paying fees when he needs currency. I also insisted upon having an account with an institution with a “physical” branch in the campus town - in case he lost his wallet. That way, he can go to the branch and sign for cash until replacement cards are received. Late in his freshman year we had a lost wallet scare - luckily, the library janitor found it and turned it in with all money and cards intact. Since the account is free with a low minimum balance at the credit union, its cheap peace of mind.</p>

<p>Our S does have a checking account - the same one he had in high school.</p>

<p>Local works for us because I can go online and transfer money instantly for rent or groceries into his account as needed.</p>

<p>He usually uses his debit card, except for his rent. His complex requires a check payment and won’t accept debit cards.</p>

<p>^^^same here. Same account/debit he had in h.s. We were able to transfer $ into his account online…really convenient. He also had a credit card that was connected to our acct. that he used for buying books and any other large unexpected needs.
When he moved off campus after freshman year, he got checks with his school address printed on them for paying bills locally…rent/utilities.</p>

<p>For D1, there was no overlap in hometown banks and college town banks, so she opened a checking account in her college town. We picked the bank based on the fact that it was the only one with a branch within an hour’s drive of our hometown. Little did we know that when she was studying abroad and I drove to the one-hour-away branch of her bank to deposit additional money into the account – using a deposit slip that she had given to me for that purpose and using cash to try to make it easier – I could not make a deposit because it was a “Northeastern” branch and her account was a “Mid-Atlantic.” They told me I would have to drive to Pennsylvania to make a deposit at the closest bank. We finally were able to wire cash from my bank to her account but it was a major problem and took several trips back and forth from branches and speaking to various levels of management to accomplish.</p>