<p>Incoming freshman needs to set up checking account, for ATM access. Choosing between USC Credit Union and Band of America. Advice? Would be easy to go to local BoA branch here on East Coast and open account--I know there are BoA ATMs on campus. Or son, who is 18, can go into USC Credit Union to open account during Orientation in July. And I've been told it's possible to open Credit Union account online. So, I am wondering if folks have a sense of what most students do for local banking needs.</p>
<p>I would set up the BofA while he is home, he can always set up the credit union thing if he has time and it is easy. We want ours to have a USC credit union account and he is a junior and still doesn’t have it. The first time he went over there, because he was under 21, he needed something he didn’t have - my cosign or power of attorney - something that surprised me, even though I did the online form. During his brother’s orientation we tried again, assuming that would be easy, we went looking for the sign up booth and they had moved it cause of construction or something, and we went to three locations that an administrator told us to go to, total fail again, gave up that day. Then while I was visiting this past fall, we both went to the real CU building to get it set up. After a one hour wait, we bailed. Not saying it will be that hard for everyone, I think we just had a series of unfortunate events in our quest. I would go ahead and get something set up near home, can always use CU for savings or set up checking later to establish relationship if you think that is important. BofA everywhere in CA, no problem having that.</p>
<p>I would go with USC Credit Union or Chase since the BOA branch directly across Jefferson (there is another one down Fig near Adams) will close for the new USC Village but there will still be BOA ATMs next to the Campus Center. There is a Chase branch directly across the street.</p>
<p>My friends that got BofA complained about it a lot. The Chase seems convenient and there’s a Citibank at Vermont and 36th. I already had Citibank and have liked the service.</p>
<p>@CADreamin - that seems so odd. My D has a USC credit union account Freshman year and no cosigner was needed. Wonder why you were told something different? We avoid BOA because of problems in the past and now hearing in the news how many fees they derive from low-income people (probably all banks, but BOA is more often in the news).</p>
<p>^ My D was required to have a co-signer because she wasn’t 18 when we opened the USC credit union account.</p>
<p>Ya, I shouldn’t endorse BofA, we are WF people so I don’t know BofA, but what I wanted to endorse was having something in place before you get there incase you go through the problems we did trying the get the credit union thing set up. I do think the CU is the way to go not just for their time there but for future needs. They really should have a table set up at orientation and it should be easy. I think we just had an odd experience.</p>
<p>As always, this forum provides great info. As much as I am loath to give business to BoA, my older child at another university hasn’t had any trouble banking with them. It would be oh so easy to go to our local branch and get this taken care of this week. Also, I find it helpful to have my name on these accounts so I can deposit checks for them that still come home, including tax refunds.</p>
<p>I like having accounts at the home bank cause I maintain a minimum balance for him to use for groceries and such, on his debit/visa card and that is super easy to do via online transfer cause all our accounts show up together. I see he is low and I can easily move some $ over. Also see the spending 
but it’s virtually all food, nothing too exciting or scandalous.</p>
<p>I would avoid BofA like the plague. Had them there when I was a student and their fees are ridiculous. I’ve had USC’s Credit Union for 10+ years now and they’re great. If you’re worried about transferring funds, well you can make deposits that go to the credit union through any affiliated credit union branch nationwide (the Co-Op Network) and then there’s Square and Square Cash, which is also quite easy. Square links to your debit card / checking account and you can send money easily to friends/family who also log in with their debit cards/ checking accounts and the money is sent immediately. It’s much easier to avoid the fees / nuisance of big banks nowadays, and USC’s Credit Union is a rock solid institution.</p>
<p>I just looked up BoA checking account fees. $12 per month unless you have a balance of $1500 or direct deposit of $250 per month. Hmmm. The USC Credit Union is looking better. </p>
<p>Anywhere you look you should ask if they have student accounts. At Citibank the student account is basically a market account (above entry level) with all fees waived. </p>
<p>We use Chase. It is very convenient, they don’t charge fees up to age 26 and they have an app and online. </p>
<p>USCCU also has an app as well as online banking and it’s compatible with Quicken. The only real disadvantage to banking with them long term is that they only have a few locations, although the Flower Street branch across the street from campus functions like a regular standalone bank. Collectively my friends and I have just been disgusted enough with our experiences with regular banks that a lot of us have switched to various credit unions. USC’s is very good and with the Co-Op Network, you can make deposits and whatnot at basically any participating credit union nationwide. When I was with BofA in school, I overdrafted my account by all of ONE CENT and they hit me with $135 in fees. That’s not just cheap, it’s immoral. I’d like to believe that other banks are not like that although, like I said, enough of my friends have been burned that a lot of us swear by credit unions. There are a few others in town, namely First Entertainment and the SAG/AFTRA credit union, but of course those aren’t necessarily open to USC undergrads.</p>
<p>@cookie16, as much as I hate defending BofA, they say they’ll waive the checking account fees until your kid turns 23. Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo all have branches close to campus, but I think BofA is the only one on-campus besides USCCU.</p>
<p>Opened BoA checking account yesterday and yes, monthly fee waved until he’s 23. With me listed on BoA checking accounts for both children, both accounts are linked for me. So I can monitor and make deposits etc from single online account and debit card. Very convenient. But long-term, we absolutely believe in credit unions.</p>
<p>That’s how ours is at Wells Fargo, can’t beat convenience, but you did motivate me to go online and get him to set up his USCCU account as well. Just took 3 years! :)</p>
<p>@CADreamin, we ended up with the same solution. Local bank that we can monitor, and add funds to - that was particularly helpful when she lived aboardand she has a credit union account because it was easier for USC to deposit checks from her campus job that way. It is certainly teaching her money management for sure.</p>
<p>We are long time Wells Fargo customers and the kids already have accounts, ATM cards, etc… However, the CU sounds like a good thing to augment with. With any luck we can get that done during orientation.</p>
<p>Such great info. My son is considering an on campus job, so it’s good to know that enabling direct deposits into a USCCU account may be helpful, in addition to the BoA account we can manage locally.</p>