<p>I have a joint bank account with my mother in Citibank. Now that ive graduated Im thinking of opening my own account and closing that citibank account.</p>
<p>Ive been using a college account so i dont experience fees, but im afraid once my college account is over, the negative stuff starts to pile up (whatever they may be).</p>
<p>So i was wondering which bank is best for recent grads at this time in new york?</p>
<p>Should i just stick with citibank?</p>
<p>Thanks guys :)</p>
<p>Sorry for the doubles post. Wanted to mention that i didnt know where else to post this. I dont know where else to post this, and i thought this section was most appropriate.</p>
<p>What part of the country are you living in? What kind of job are you starting? What is your credit rating?</p>
<p>For instance, if its in a big city and involves a bunch of travel, I’d look into one of the large national banks well represented there with easy hoops to jump through for no interest checking (usually a credit card account or ~2000 minimum balance in savings account at a minimum).</p>
<p>If its a small or rural town, I’d use a regional bank that has at least reasonable online services.</p>
<p>I don’t recommend Credit Unions because their fraud protection and online services are often very lacking compared with larger organizations. Depends on the CU though- some are great.</p>
<p>If your credit score is good, I’d look into some of the premium no fee credit cards such as Chase Freedom or Bank Americards- minimum 1% off on every dollar you spend and if theres fraud, they both have excellent protection. If you just use a debit card, the moneys already gone and you have to fight to get it back and no rewards.</p>
<p>Another option to consider is a place like Schwab, that even offers checking accounts and investing under one roof. I like it when there is a branch with a physical office in our city.</p>
<p>Do you need a bank with a physical branch near you? One of the online-only banks could work. Many have unlimited use of automatic tellers within one or more networks. </p>
<p>Me, I’m a huge fan of credit unions. Ours have been excellent, and we’ve never had any of the fraud issues mentioned by Rexximus. If there is a good one that you can join, the rates will probably be more favorable than at most banks. One feature to check is whether or not the credit union participates in a “shared branch” program which will essentially give you multiple branches of your own credit union all over the country.</p>
<p>My daughter is self supporting, with her own apartment in NYC. She has her own acct at our bank. She enjoys private banking perks because of us. Unless your mother is intrusive, there is no reason not to stay with Citi. It is a global bank, which means if you should travel overseas it would be easy for you to access your money.</p>
<p>Many banks will waive a lot of account maintenance fees, etc., if you have your paycheck direct-deposited to your account. Which you should do even if they didn’t waive the fees.</p>
<p>The “best” bank does depend somewhat, as Rexximus suggests, on the nature of your new life. If you will be traveling a lot, for work or pleasure, you will want ATM access wherever you go. You can get that from one of the behemoth banks, such as Citibank or Wells Fargo. You can also often get it from a small bank that will simply refund foreign ATM fees.</p>
<p>Like happymom, I have had no problems with credit unions, and generally like them. Just as their advertising says, I have usually found them to be more customer-friendly than big banks.</p>
<p>I would choose a bank based on the following criteria, in whatever makes the most sense for you: availability of no-fee checking, and low fees generally; convenience to home and work; availability of ATMs when I’m traveling.</p>
<p>I don’t know about citi, but at some other banks, as soon as you graduate, your student account converts into some other kind of account – and it may not be the kind you want.</p>
<p>So if you do decide to stay with citi, go into a branch and talk to someone about your options. Don’t just let the default option happen.</p>
<p>I just received a brochure in the mail from Key Bank. They are offering $200 for opening a new account. <a href=“http://www.key.com/200more[/url]”>www.key.com/200more</a></p>
<p>Having a local branch, especially near work, has always been a key factor for me. Sometimes you just need to stop in.</p>
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<p>Some banks are lousy too. In general though, I have found CU’s to have better customer service.</p>
<p>That said, don’t write off Citibank. They are horrible at customer service, but have some pluses. Online banking is fine. With their Credit Cards, they have something unique: Virtual Account Numbers. They are one-time use credit card numbers. Great for when you are buying something online. You do not have to worry about someone stealing your credit card number.</p>
<p>You may also be able to have your mother removed from your account, rather than having to open a new account.</p>
<p>I think this really depends on where you are, and if you have a job. I have had experience with accounts at Charter One, Chase, PNC, TCF, and Bank of America-- my preference is probably in that order. However, my coworker has BoA and goes to a different branch than I did and she loves them. I don’t think I have ever paid a fee for any of the accounts I’ve had, but I conveniently got a job that earned me enough to keep above the minimum balance the moment my bank started charging for going under a minimum. </p>
<p>My mom was on my Charter One account when I was a young(er) adult so she could transfer me money at school, I always meant to take her off but I never got around to it so she is still there. I kind of like it that way. One way or another money seems to change hands between us all the time, from us picking things up for each other or something, so it is nice to be able to just transfer it.</p>
<p>Sometimes just having direct deposit of your paycheck eliminates all fees. That’s my experience anyway.</p>
<p>Dont know if this is available to you, but both my kids opened USAA accounts. Free ATM withdrawls (up to a certain amount) and they just take a photo of a check to deposit it. Once the check amount was too big for that, so he had to go do something at either a Fedex or AAA branch or something (I forget). It was a nice problem to have :)</p>