<p>There isn't any PNC bank up here in little Long Island, and my dad is skeptic about me joining up with them. He rather have my account linked to his so he could just wire me money without any fees or any nonsense interfering.</p>
<p>I've heard there's a citizen's bank ATM somewhere on campus though. True or false?</p>
<p>My son had a local bank account back home while at CMU, but his ATM card was free to use at the ATM in the University Center (no fees by either the ATM or home bank). Our local bank ATM card was part of a couple of national networks. I was joint account holder on his local account so could have added money here if he needed it. He was also able to find plenty of free ATM’s when he started working in California. Nowadays you probably don’t really need to set up a new account in a college town - just check with your current bank. ATM’s can have a dozen or more logos.</p>
<p>His ATM card was also the debit card so sometimes he just did “cash over” on a debit purchase. Like the old days of writing a check for $20 extra at the grocery and getting the $20 bill back.</p>
<p>I googled Citizen Bank ATM’s for zip code 15213 and came up with quite a list, including the “CMU lobby” which presumably is the ATM in the UC.</p>
<p>[Branch</a> Locator | Citizens Bank](<a href=“http://www.citizensbank.com/branchlocator/Default.aspx]Branch”>http://www.citizensbank.com/branchlocator/Default.aspx)</p>
<p>False. PNC has monopoly on the entire city of Pittsburgh.
Many of us lament how there is no Bank of America while PNC bank is everywhere in the city.</p>
<p>There is a Citizen’s Bank ATM right next to the PNC ones in the UC. That would work fine.</p>
<p>However, if you are with some other bank, long story short, get PNC. You won’t regret it. Trust me, most people don’t have PNC at home. I certainly didn’t. However, at least for me, it would have been really inconvenient not to have a PNC account here. </p>
<p>Although, I suppose if your bank is really good with not charging you for using other ATMs, etc., it could work.</p>
<p>USAA works fine for me. Most atms on campus do not charge, and when they do i get it refunded</p>
<p>I loathe PNC but that’s another long story.</p>
<p>Anyways-- regardless of whether you use PNC or whether your parents do…set up a Paypal account (free) for your bank account and have your parents do the same.
Money can be transferred between paypal customers FREE (without the 3% service fee) as long as you select “living expenses” when you move the money. The limit is $500 per month without a fee.
It takes 3-4 business days for the money to clear accounts. I sent my kids money this way all the time-- and they don’t have to do anything interesting on their end.</p>
<p>Other great advice – for sending care packages, don’t bother with US postal services. Get a FEDEX account (15% discount over standard rates) – send things fedex ground for LESS money than the post office and it’s faster than the post office, and you can track it online and as we all know, Fedex doesn’t loose stuff - but the post office sure does.
Fedex ground has a 4 day max in the continental us-- but most of the locations to pitt are 1-2 days as far south / west as Texas. Check out their map of travel max time.</p>
<p>Getting mixed messages here =O</p>
<p>It really depends on what kind of banking services you’ll need and what you already have. We added our son to our VISA card; he could stop by the UC and add to his PlaidCash account as needed (and he checked with us first every time, bless his heart). Then he had his ATM/debit card for cash and non-school related purchases. It worked out fine for all four years. Our bank is the local town bank - there are still a few of those around!</p>
<p>If you already have a Citizens Bank ATM/debit card, then I don’t think you need to do anything more. If you already have some other bank with an ATM, check if they’re part of a national ATM network - the information will be available online, including fees. If you need to set up banking services, then you might consider PNC. Or a national account - for example, if you have any Fidelity accounts, you can get SmartCash which is essentially a checking account that pays a trace amount of interest and includes an ATM/debit card.</p>
<p>Is there any advantage to getting PNC over Citizen’s bank?</p>
<p>And somewhat off-topic, I never signed up for plaidcash (the enrollment form due date has passed) because it seemed really unnecessary. Wise choice?</p>
<p>The only thing I ever used my plaidcash for was occasional sodas out of vending machines late at night.</p>
<p>I had Citizen’s Bank and was really happy with their service when I was in the area. I’d also not get PNC off of the fact that one of their really higher ups is on the board at CMU and PNC “happened” to get a spot in the basement of the UC. Always felt a bit shady to me.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t even know what you would use Plaidcash for… </p>
<p>I had the Red 9 meal plan this past year, so I had blocks and plenty of DineX that could be used for meals, but also for vending machines, etc.</p>
<p>I do know that Plaidcash can be used a few off-campus places that don’t take DineX (e.g. Kiva Han), but that’s not really a big deal. At all.</p>