<p>What campus bank is the best for students?</p>
<p>I use [UM</a> Credit Union](<a href=“https://www.umcu.org/]UM”>https://www.umcu.org/) and love it, others use [url=<a href=“Online Banking, Insurance, Investing, Loans & Credit Cards | Huntington Bank”>https://www.tcfbank.com/]TCF[/url</a>] and are happy with it as well. Those are, I believe, the two primary banking options for students on campus.</p>
<p>If you’re not from Ann Arbor but you’re from the midwest I’d use TCF. If you’re from AA UMCU is fine. If you’re from the east coast PNC is probably good.</p>
<p>Go with a TBTF bank like Chase or BAC. Just much better infrastructure and for a better cause. Plus, they can’t fail by definition. FDIC insurance somtimes take 2 years before you get a payout. Regional banks can fail. </p>
<p>If you need a loan or credit line however, take it from UMCU. Easier approval and generous rates. I have a $5 balance account at UMCU so I can be eligible for my 6.5% $50K unsecured credit line that I use to trade in the stock market.</p>
<p>The credit union and regional banks of the world deserves to be eliminated. Transactions not immediately posting and same bank electronic transfers not being instantaneous is so yesterday.</p>
<p>If you don’t need a brick and mortar branch, I would also recommend fidelity… all the same service as a bank and easy transfer to brokerages and across the board 3% cashback if you qualify for their card.</p>
<p>Great answers! Thank you. Why UMCU only if you are from ann arbor?</p>
<p>Because credit unions outside of Navy Federal and crappy regional banks like TCF have no branches or ATMs outside of their geographical area. Pretty much useless</p>
<p>TCF is fine. Been around for decades. Students want convenience (lots of ATMs) and no fees. That is TCF and will hook up with your M Card.</p>
<p>TCF is the most convenient to use on campus.</p>
<p>One thing I was very disappointed to learn is that there are no Wells Fargo banks in downstate Michigan. I’m from the U.P., where we bank at Wells Fargo. My daughter already has an account there, so I just assumed that she would go to college somewhere that has other Wells Fargo branches. But that’s not the case in Ann Arbor. So, is it best to just close her account at Wells Fargo and open an account somewhere in Ann Arbor? With all of us having Wells Fargo accounts, it’s very easy for us to transfer money from one account to another, but I don’t know how easy that is to do between two different banks. Anybody else have any experience with this?</p>
<p>sax, open a chase/bac account. There are 3 chase/bac atms on central, 1 chase/bac atm on north campus. Both have branches on main street (within walking distance of central), and branches within the bus route of north campus. Big bank to big bank ACH transfer is free and it’s next day. With the crappy regional banks like TCF or UMCU, money has to go through intermediary clearing, which means delay in transfers (~2 to 3 days). </p>
<p>I have wells fargo, chase and bac accounts and transfer between them are all within 1 day via ACH. However, when I try to transfer between those real banks to regional banks like BB&T, I usually have to wait a couple days before I get my money.</p>
<p>Also, I haven’t used TCF for 2 years, so maybe they have changed it. I had an account that I foolishly opened when I got my mcard. I still have my loan account and $5 bank account with UMCU, so I know this is still the case. With the lack of investment in technology, their online systems are atrocious. With the real banks like chase/bac, if you used your debit card/transfered money/paid bills, transactions are immediately posted as “pending”, while with TCF/UMCU they don’t show up until a couple days later, with the balance unadjusted. It’s easy to accidently overdraft.</p>
<p>People here tout how convenient it is to use TCF on campus. I agree. Having mcard being your debit card is somewhat nice, but it really stops there. You need to remember, most students spend 8-9 months per year on campus. How bout the other 3-4? TCF/UMCU just completely suck outside of ann arbor.</p>
<p>And most importantly, they are not Too Big To Fail (TBTF)</p>
<p>We’ve been happy with Chase as well. Most of my daughter’s banking is done online anyway and having it linked to ours is handy for transfering money once in a while. Plus as others mentioned it allows her to bank anywhere just not Ann Arbor while she’s there. Whenever she needed some actual cash, I think she just found it easier to go to CVS buy a pack of gum or whatever and then just get cash back from her debit card versus finding an ATM machine.</p>
<p>Charles Schwab Bank. The waive ATM fees and their online banking is convenient. [Looking</a> for a Checking Account for Your College Student? | Charles Schwab On Investing Magazine](<a href=“http://oninvesting.schwab.com/schwab-spotlight/looking-checking-account-your-college-student]Looking”>http://oninvesting.schwab.com/schwab-spotlight/looking-checking-account-your-college-student)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great ideas - is Chase just online or do they have actual buildings/ATM’s in Ann Arbor? And JBsmom1, I do that all the time too - just buy something and get cash back.</p>
<p>there are 3 chase ATMs on central and 1 chase ATM on north campus. There is a chase branch on main street which is 5 minutes walk from central.</p>
<p>Oh, great! I agree that sounds like the best idea - although Schwab or Fidelity sounds like a plan too. Thanks, bearcats. I really appreciate the info!</p>
<p>bearcats, I was at orientation last week and I couldn’t find the chase ATM on north campus - can you tell me where it is? Thanks!!</p>
<p>Lol at Main Street being even a semi-convenient “campus” chase location. That’s a solid 15 minute walk there and back, and it gets cold in Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>Although TCF does have a great promotional partnership with the University of Michigan, it is the absolute worst bank you could possibly join. I know multiple students who closed their accounts after having suffered a year with TCF. Terrible customer service, numerous hidden fees, and difficult to navigate especially for a naive student. I would recommend Chase as the most user-friendly bank simply because it is accessible from so many locations despite Ann Arbor and while its location in AA might be inconvenient for some, Chase offers an incredible mobile and online banking program.</p>
Chase is definitely the safest bet for the student coming from outside of the Midwest because Chase banks are literally everywhere and they have the most comprehensive online banking app out there. You can take pictures of your checks to deposit them, etc. But if I remember correctly, they only have 2 ATM’s on campus and the actual banks are all off campus, (either to Briarwood Mall or the one on Main Street). If you have a car and plan on living off campus, Chase will definitely suffice. They do offer free student checking if I remember correctly.
TCF definitely has the most banks within walking distance from the campus, but that’s not saying much. Because there are literally only two of them. One next to the Michigan Theater, and the other next to East Hall.
I used both TCF and Chase, but honestly they seem pretty much the same to me. They both kept my money relatively safely, and both had meh customer service. Nothing to write home to mom about in terms of good or bad service, I guess. So I think the deciding factors should be as follows:
- The bank of your choice is available at your home state (so you can deposit checks and take care of some banking if you ever come back home and stuff)
- On-Campus location for all those freshmen who don’t have cars (parking in Ann Arbor sucks anyways, so don’t even bother bringing a car). In which case TCF is probably the best. Then followed by PNC, and then Chase when it comes to actual banks with real people. In terms of ATM machines, I believe PNC has the most now because of their deal with U of M, followed by TCF, then Chase, then Bank of America.
- Online banking, for those of you who do that. I can vouch for Chase’s online banking app as one that is easy to use and rather decen
- Cost to open up a bank account. Most of them are free for college students though, so shouldn’t be much of a consideration
- All banks are FDIC approved, customer service is going to be similar across the board anyways.
I think PNC is now the bank with the most on-campus ATMs (even in the residence halls I think) - since they replaced TCF as the Official Consumer Bank for U-M last year.