When I go to college, I am going to be 18. I have never had a job and currently do not have a bank account of any sort. I plan on doing work study so my question is, before I go off to college, should I open up a bank account under my parents name and eventually make it an individual account or just open up my own from the start? Thank!
You should get a bank account in your own name. Try to pick one that has branches near school.
Talk to your parents about how to write checks, use an ATM, and make deposits.
Yes, try to find a bank that is local to you and to your school.
Usually the banks near your schools will have “student accounts” which include checking, savings and Credit card access if you keep a minimum balance.
You may have a job later, so you may want to learn about the “routing number” for your bank in order to do “direct deposits”.
You can add your parents, later, to your account so that they can transfer money into your account. I had my children open their accounts and limit my access to “deposits”.
Look for a free student checking account that you open in your own name. Get a debit card on the account and maybe order some checks. They may give you a few starter checks. It should not be hard to find and it should be free for 4-5 years while you are in school. There should be a small balance to open, tiny or no minimal balance requirement, and no fees. The banks want to get you as a life long deposit customer.
My DS has an account at Chase. I got a debit card on it because I am trustworthy and will use the card to make deposits into his account. You don’t need to have someone on your account if you don’t want to and can just give your parents a deposit slip. They can deposit checks into your account without being a signer on the account.
It is easiest if you open an account with a bank that has at least an ATM on/near campus. Larger banks tend to have better online and mobile services so you don’t have to go to the branch very often. But a branch location near campus can be useful occasionally to. My kids have found it convenient to bank at that same national bank I do – we have a joint account, and it is easy for me to transfer money in and out if we owe each other.