<p>It turns out that neither Wells Fargo or Chase have a presence in Boston. Can anyone recommend a good bank for a college grad beginning a career in Boston.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Wow - no Chase? I thought they were all over the place! All I know that DD used her BofA account quite successfully around Boston. She now lives abroad and still uses her debit card to get local currency out of ATMs. I’m not a fan of BofA for many reasons, but it worked out for her OK (and for us, too - we linked her account to ours and were able to replenish her allowance money and get her emergency cash in a flash).</p>
<p>I’m bumping this up for you so the locals can give you some advice on credit unions etc.</p>
<p>We used B of A, mainly due to convenience. They have a major presence in Boston and of course also here in NC, plus a good online system so we can easily transfer funds between accounts (S has a joint account with my wife) if and as needed. But I also don’t like BofA for a variety of reasons! 
One alternative for us would be to migrate everything over to Schwab bank. They reimburse all ATM fees. The only thing missing would be a local check. I almost never write checks any more, but for people who write checks and businesses who take them, they often prefer a “local” bank. This was all for a student. A college grad with a job in Boston should be able to figure all this out for himself and probably doesn’t need a joint account with his mom… although I don’t see our recent college grad changing his bank accounts anytime soon.</p>
<p>It should be easy for the new grad to check each bank’s web site to see what account types and fee structures are available, as well as whether convenience features like electronic bill pay, photo check deposit, bank’s ATM locations, other bank ATM use without additional fee, etc. are available.</p>
<p>Those who travel may want to pay attention to policies regarding use of other banks’ ATMs, including in other countries, if applicable.</p>
<p>BofA is a very poor choice. Try TD Bank.</p>
<p>Maybe the “bank” should be a credit union: [Find</a> a credit union on CULookup.com - Your Credit Union Locator](<a href=“http://culookup.com/]Find”>http://culookup.com/)</p>
<p>Many of the credit unions in our area have geographic fields of membership - live or work or study in this county or city and you can join.</p>
<p>Cambridge Trust Company–independent bank with locations all over Cambridge, South End, and Beacon Hill as well as the burbs–Concord, Westin, Lexington, Lincoln. Free checking as long as one is a student. There’s also a premium account (have to keep a certain amount in the bank) that pays all your ATM surcharge fees. I’ve had a personal checking account with them for 20 years; never had a problem.</p>
<p>TD Bank. Best by far.</p>
<p>Look for a credit union. Our Boston college kid used B of A. I can give you 100 reasons at least why you shouldn’t.</p>
<p>I use Citizen’s Bank and a credit union.</p>
<p>It depends where you live and whether you want to be able to access the account, move money into it easily, etc. So for example, Citizens Bank is owned by RBS which owns some other banks like Charter One. </p>
<p>The only larger banks are BofA and Sovereign. </p>
<p>As for local banks, there are many. Eastern Bank, Century Bank, etc.</p>
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<p>Not sure of the number of actual Boston branches for Sovereign, but TD has more location overall.</p>
<p>Does your kid even need a local bank? If the paycheck is direct deposited, it can go to any bank or credit union in the country. How often does the kid withdraw cash from an ATM? Surely there are free or very low cost ATMs at banks/credit unions that have agreements with the current one(s).</p>
<p>We live in the suburbs and use a small local bank and work credit union. He can always see what is handy (ie- local ATM’s, branches) and switch after a few months once he gets settled.</p>
<p>My kid seldom used an ATM. He usually got cash when he made a purchase at the grocery store with his debit card…no fee.</p>
<p>B of A is everywhere in Boston - making it very convenient.</p>
<p>that is why we chose BofA, as it is very convenient. My daughter in DC had her wallet stolen and BofA was very helpful, also they call wth any unusual activity. So we havent had problems so we use them in Boston ad DC</p>
<p>Bank of America is all over the place…which is why our kids had B of A accounts in college. However, I could make your hair stand on end if
I told the story of dealing with them with a credit card fraud issue WE found. Suffice it to say…it took MONTHS for them to reconcile this fraud situation. It was most annoying.</p>
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<p>Which is one reason to avoid the huge corporate banks and go with a local independent bank, community bank, or credit union. If something unusual happens, it’s pretty easy to get an immediate response to the problem.</p>
<p>Depends on your home state. Our son in Boston uses BofA because we are in CA and if needed can go to a local BofA to make a quick deposit. No TD Bank here.
That said, BofA does have to be watched. They convinced our daughter to sign up for some kind of credit card protection she didn’t need by a highly pressurized sales call.</p>