Banking at Rochester

WayOutWestMom
Tue, 11 May 2010 13:11:55 +0000

During freshman orientation, there is a welcome/activities center. (When D was a freshman, it was in the gym on move-in day.) There will be reps from all the local banks and one credit union there to open accounts for students.

D is now a junior and she has never opened a local bank account. Her account is with a regional bank in her hometown. She has never had any problems getting cash or making purchases with her out of state debit. The only issue that has come up is that UR will not direct deposit her paychecks. Annoying, but not insurmountable.

The ATMs on campus will charge you a service fee if you don’t have a Chase account, but there are ways to avoid the service fees. (Such as by using the cash back option when you make a debit purchase off campus, using off campus ATMs that are in your network, or using a bank that will reimburse you for transaction fees-- e.g. USAA, eTrade, Charles Schwab, etc.).

Just about everything on campus can be charged to your student flex account. Your student ID works kinda like a debit card for everything from textbooks and computer supplies to a cup of coffee at Starbucks to the washing machines in the dorm.

So no need to decide right now if you want to open an account or with which bank.

I’d imagine that an international student (except for Canadians) would need a US based bank account to manage their finances while in school.