<p>How inconvenient is the Citizens Bank vs PNC that everyone seems to use? We're OOS and there are local Citizens Banks at home.</p>
<p>Citizens is up closer to CMU, at the corner of Fifth Ave and N. Craig Street (about 6 blocks?). I don't know of any closer Citizens branches. PNC is right by the Towers and the Quad, so it would probably be closer. Also there are PNC ATM's right in the quad. Additionally, you can somehow combine your student ID and your PNC ATM card (although we didn't do that).</p>
<p>If you have Citizens and you want to have joint accounts or be able to deposit money from home for your student to access in Oakland, maybe it would be easier to keep Citizens even though it is farther from the Pitt dorms. </p>
<p>But OTOH, who actually goes into bank buildings anyway? The worst that can happen is the fee for using some bank machine other than your own. When you come to PittStart, they will inundate you with banking options, so you might want to wait until you get here.</p>
<p>In addition to the Citizens nearer CMU, there is a Citizens on Fifth near the hospital area. That is at most a five minute walk from the Towers area. Citizens also has atm's inside some of the hospitals. While PNC is the most convenient option, Citizens is a good enough alternative.</p>
<p>I can't comment on Citizens banl but PNC has a lot of ridiculous fees</p>
<p>Of course each person's needs will be different, but to tell you the truth, my daughter doesn't even use her PNC card all that much. She uses her Panther Card for meals on campus, of course. But you can put additional funds on the Panther Card so your student can use it at local merchants like CVS, Cold Stone Creamery (which would be my top pick!), Panera Bread, Joe Mama's (Italian food), Fuel and Fuddle, Caribou Coffee, Starbucks and many others. It's very easy to load funds onto the Panther Card online, and it's convenient for the students to only worry about one card. However, when the kids need cash, they can't get that off a Panther Card. The students with Citizens accounts can use the cash machines at the Towers by paying a fee, I'm assuming. I'm sorry, I don't know how much that would be. </p>
<p>Here's the list of merchants, both on campus and off, that take the Panther Card:
<a href="http://www.pc.pitt.edu/card/merchantlist.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.pc.pitt.edu/card/merchantlist.html</a></p>
<p>I use national city on campus and there is only one bank but it works fine. I dont even use panther funds. I find it much easier to just worry about my parents putting money on my Debit/credit card from national city so that way i am not just limited to using it to stores close to campus that offer the option of using panther funds. If i go to the waterfront or somewhere else i need to use my debit/credit card from national city. panther funds are overrated...the only good thing they can be used for is the washing machines.</p>
<p>There's two Citizen's near campus, one closer to CMu on south Craig and the other is a block away from Towers on the Corner of Fifth and Bouquet. There are also Citizen Banks in Squirrel Hill and Shadyside, though not as convenient as the ones that are close to campus. There's also a CB atm outside the lower doors of the Union (the entrance by Schenley Cafe). I've had an account with Citizen's the entire four years I've been here and never had a problem, it is equally as convenient as PNC.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. It was great to hear there's a CB atm on campus.</p>
<p>PNC is the most convenient without a doubt. Their headquarters are in Pittsburgh. If you're anywhere near the city, a PNC will never be far away. They have many ATMS on campus and a branch office on campus as well. </p>
<p>CB may also be somewhat convenient but certainly not as much as PNC.</p>
<p>There may be a lot of PNC's but if you already have an account at another bank in oakland ex: citizens or national city you really dont need to change banks. there is really no advantage to the pnc bank because the other banks are not longer than a 5 minute walk from anywhere on campus (other than if you are on upper campus and need money out of the atm but then you would be going to south oakland to use that cash most likely where the other banks are) I have national city and have had no problems so far with my banking and no reason to get a new banking account.</p>