<p>Maybe if she really likes to walk. 243 King Street is near the Stop N Shop, at least 25 min from campus. Credit unions are great, but if that’s her only fee-free ATM, it’s not a great option. </p>
<p>The ATM in the campus center is Easthampton Savings Bank, but there’s no physical ESB branch in town (just an ATM downtown). Maybe not a big deal, but since I moved in on my own and had no folks to drive me to open up an account, I had to choose the options that were in town. With the BofA or the Bank North you can open up free checking accounts that they have for students, and then those roll over into free adult checking accounts later on in life (assuming you choose to keep them). The biggest benefit of my BofA account was really the mobility of it. I could use BofA ATMs when home on break (on the West Coast), when I lived in DC my junior year I could use the ATMs and bank branches there, and when I went abroad I could use BofA’s connections with overseas banks to withdraw money fee free, all without needing to open a new account or change accounts in each place. </p>
<p>I’m no corporate bank cheerleader, up until college I was a proud credit union member, but for the unpredictable mobility of your average college student, it’s very useful to have a national bank.</p>