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Unless you plan on holding large amount of cash on you throughout the semester, the way to go is to open an account with one of the two local banks. I use Alliance Bank since they have an ATM in the coop. I know people who use Oneida Savings, but it is just more of a pain going there to use their ATM.
The problem with use a national bank like BoA is that you are going to get hit with surcharges with each withdraw. If you are running short on cash, you're going to go to Alliance's ATM on campus. They charge $2 for non-members. You'll also get hit by your bank's non-network charge, $1 or $2. If you take out $40, thats 10% in fines. If you plan to mail checks home, there are costs and the hassle with that too.
What I recommend, and what I also do, is to do the following:
1. put money on gatecard (student ID), at least $400 for the first semester if you are paying for books with it. You can spend over $300 for them. Since adding money is easy and fee-free, you don't have to add it all at once. I use this to pay for a lot of stuff.
2. open local bank account. Use this just for getting spending money from ATM. I deposit my work checks here. Since this will probably not pay interest, keep this balance low. On campus, you'll need cash for food deliveries, bars, picking in to buy stuff with others, etc...
3. other financial accounts. Whatever you are investing the rest of your money in or if you want to have another checking account at home.
This works best since I have a source of income at school that I use to pay for my misc. expenses at school. My parents could add money on gatecard if I need it.
Last edited by Colgate13; 07-26-2006 at 12:29 AM.
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