springerspaniel

Does anyone know anything about the ease of banking at Cornell? My parents are thinking of opening a Bank of America account for me, and have me use the ATM in the Commons.
-How easy is it to get to the Commons?
-What is the ATM/branch there like? Is it a terror to use, long lines, etc.?
Thank you so much for any experience you can offer!

Islander4

It's very easy. From central campus it's no more than a 10 minute bus ride to the Commons. I've never seen a long line at the branch although a few people may occasionally be waiting for the ATM. There are ATM's at Collegetown (student services) and West Campus (Noyes) anyway, though.

mikeyc765

The Commons is not very convenient as an ATM location but according to their website, there is an ATM in C-town which would be convenient. M&T has a branch right in C-town and Tompkins Trust has one on-campus. I'd recommend M&T if you currently live in an are M&T services (I think they're east cost north of Virginia).

Otherwise, it's usually easy enough to find banks now that offer the use of ANY ATM in the US for free. My Schwab account even allows free ATM use worldwide which is extraordinarily convenient (esp. with high international ATM fees abroad).

I don't think any ATM is going to have long lines and Ithaca isn't big enough for any of the banks to have long lines.

fallenmerc

Bank of America has an ATM in the Student Agencies (not student services as mentioned before by Islander4 although I thought that it was student services as well lol. Student Agencies, Inc. - Collegetown Student Services ) building in collegetown, near Collegetown Bagels. The main branch is in the commons (ez walk down, but loooong walk up that hill)

Tompkins County Trust and CFCU have mini-branches at the Cornell Store. TCT (or maybe it was M&T....) has an ATM in collegetown as well, (across from starbucks)

M&T is in collegetown as well (near starbucks)

First Niagara (formerly HSBC) has a branch in the commons and an ATM at Willard Straight Hall (WSH, across from the Cornell Store)

WSH also has another ATM, don't remember which

I personally used HSBC but have recently begun using Bank of America. Their online banking is super easy and also pretty common along the east coast if you're planning on doing internships.

I don't remember ever encountering "traffic" at branches/atms at all.

mlbrown

If anyone in your family is a veteran (parent, grandparent, self), USAA offers great accounts. Once the veteran joins USAA, the rest of the family can be added as members. Then you can open a bank account through USAA. You can do all of your deposits and banking services online and use any local ATM. The account is free and ATM use is free (they reimburse for any charges up to about $10 a month). Friends have had very good experiences with USAA, so we opened an account. We have BOA, but we were told that ATM is a bit far for a freshman.

springerspaniel

Ah, thank you everyone!
Mikey, my birthday is near the end of the year, so when I get home for Christmas break, I can be of legal age to open a Schwab account. My family travels internationally a lot and, like you, love the convenience of Schwab's fee-free ATM usage. All along they have been hoping for me to get a Schwab account