youkosiren

Uh, you get charged fees if you withdraw money from ATMs that don't belong to your bank, so it DOES matter (unless you don't care about being hit up with avoidable fees). In a lot of cases, you get charged anywhere from $1-3 by the ATM AND your bank will charge you another $1-3 - that's per withdrawal, mind you.

Bottom line: if your bank has a branch in NYC somewhere and you don't mind having to make a trek once in a while to get cash, no need to switch accounts to a bank that has an ATM next door to your dorm. If you have an account at a local bank at home that doesn't exist 100 miles away from your house (like I did), you should move some money to a NY bank.

jmldouglas

I know we have wachovia, but you can open a student checking with Wachovia, parents can fund with money and you are allowed 12 non wachovia transactions per month without any fees. Also, it is better to go to any CVS, Duane Reed, etc, use your card and get cash back with any of your purchases, it costs nothing. It's cheaper to buy a pack of gum and get cash back, than to go to any ATM.

johnahue42

okay im going to nyu this fall so i dont have any first hand experience...but just talking in terms of numbers, i have the "Not for Tourists" guide to NYC which has all the information you need to know about what to find in the diff parts of NYC...for The Washington Square / NYU area they list..

3 Bank of America branches, 2 ATMs
7 Chase branches, 7 chase atms (all at duane reades)

they list some other minor banks but those ones have two or three locations in the area maximum

CollectivSynergy

Like I said earlier, get Chase if you can. Anywhere there's a BAC, there's a Chase location or at least an ATM a block away. The reverse is far from true.

JennyD123

Banks near Wash Sq - Chase, Washington Mutual, Bank of America, Citibank.
I got Chase because you can use any ATM in Chase or Duane Reade (a very popular NY drug store) for free. So you basically have an ATM or 2 on any given block in most of NY. Also they have a good student account with no fees and stuff til you graduate.