I need to ask my kid when she gets home. Her sister also has a credit card from Bank of America and checking and savings account too, I need to ask her about fees. I have Bank of America checking account, at least I don’t think there is a balance I have to keep. But I have seen no fees yet. I need to ask them, next time I’m in. But I do have direct deposit and that might help.
Yes, Direct Deposit helps…and so does having a mortgage or car loan…or other services with BOA.
Come to think of it, my son has Direct Deposit. But then…so does my daughter…and she has to keep that minimum balance for ME to be able to go to a teller and deposit money into her account.
I applied for my first credit card at my credit union 3 months after graduating from college right when I got my first grownup job…was denied card. Went down the street that week and bought a brand new car that I financed 100% at about 6% with a bank through the car dealer…no parent cosigner. After six months paying on car I reapplied for credit card at credit union and was approved and refinanced too there car loan at about 1.7%. Now I get solicitations for credit cards in mail almost every day. Just be patient and you’ll eventually get approved for credit cards and can borrow 'til you drown in debt soon enough. I don’t keep any credit card balances for more than one month thankfully…but I’ve got a couple of 'em.
Thumper, yes my daughter is setting up direct deposit. She told me they charge her $12 a month for checking account. I hope that’s accurate information. If not I hope somebody chimes in.
$12/month for a checking account? Oh my…I am out of the loop on bank fees. Would that monthly fee be waived i f she were to keep a higher balance?
My son’s checking and savings account is linked to our account, so he does not pay fees regardless of balance, however, he is hit with $3/withdrawal ATM fees since Citi does not have a branch anywhere near his college. Have considered having him open a local account near the college, but he might then have the same issue when withdrawing money at home.
Most student checking accounts have free checking, don’t they? The ones my kids used did and my youngest just graduated from college a couple of weeks ago. We’ve never been on their accounts but it was easy enough to deposit checks into their account with a physical deposit. In the last few years we just use google wallet to move money around.
I don’t know but she tried not to answer too many questions on a Sunday morning. She had a long day yesterday. But she has a savings account with them is all I know and don’t want me to pry into her business too much. In short she is a reluctant of my questions. Also she has been working hard and probably didnt pay attention.
We have two Capital One CC accounts. One runs under my name and the other under H. Kids have been authorized users on my account since they got their drivers licenses. I just added S to hubby card yesterday. Wanted him to have a second card since he will be living in Europe for the next year. I was asked for his SSN.
On another note. Each kid had a college savings account and I was the second account holder. We do all of our banking with one institution. Between the business, home, mortgage and brokerage account values we qualify as elite clients. By default so do the kids since my SSN on their college accounts links them to all of our other accounts. (They do not have actual access to anything on ‘our end’ but the bank system gives them credit for the total balance for service level classification). D had a minor problem while in college. She went to a branch and swiped her ATM. I guess the teller was expecting a typical college student profile.
D was shocked when the teller told her she could not speak to her and lead her to the private client office. She was served the good K-cup coffee while she waited for the appropriately ranked person who addressed her needs.
Neither kid wants to give up their college accounts …
Yes, most college checking accounts are free of fees. By having my SSN and my kids on their accounts I could easily transfer $$ as needed to their accounts.
Now that D is gainfully employed and living at home, I’m able to transfer $$ FROM her account to mine.
I cannot understand why anyone who had other options would leave one penny in a Bank of America account that charges fees each month just to keep the accounts open and to speak to a live human teller. Two of our credit unions belong to a national organization that allows us to use local branches of other credit unions for all routine purposes. https://co-opcreditunions.org/locator/
My son got a Capital One card as soon as he turned 18(in 2014). He had a $300 limit, which has since been upped to $2000. When he opened an account with Wells Fargo, they offered him a card as well, which has a $2500 limit. He has made good money since he was 15, had a checking, savings, and an investment account. Cards are on autopay and he uses them conservatively. He already has a 750 credit score.
Mine has 760 credit score since she has the BankofAmerica credit card since high school.
My Chihuahua has a higher credit score than your college kids do. 
@happymomof1 don’t get me going about Bank of America.
Yes…most student bank accounts have no fees. But you can’t keep,those forever. My kid is 27. She graduated from college in 2010. B of A just figured that out…thus the new fee structure. She will just keep $1500 in some inaccessible savings account to avoid the fees.
There’s a concept called “recon” in getting credit cards. You fill out an application online, then if you get rejected, call them as soon as you can and ask if they can reconsider you. Apparently this “demonstrated interest” does actually make a difference, and they will often give a card to someone who was denied before.
Also, if he applied for multiple cards at the same time, that might have spooked them. When applying online there’s about a 5 minute lag time in reporting inquiries to the credit bureaus, so make sure he fills out all the applications first and then hits submit on them all so they can all be submitted within the same 5 minute window.
Our D got her AmEx Costco card about 2011 or so, I think. We had our kids as authorized users on my CCard since they started OOS college in 2006 and 2009.
Youngest got her Wells Fargo credit card in 2013.
Edit add- she recently applied for an Alaskan Airline Visa in order to get a great companion fare for a trip to Hawaii. She was denied for the $99 companion ticket cars but did get approved for a lower level card with a 2500 limit. She is a college jr.
If someone’s checking account is charging you a fee go to a new bank. Most should have no fee. That is unless this comes with some perks that are unusual like really cheap wire transfers or something.
I got the Discover student card when I turned 18. No problems with the application. Still have Discover (of course now its a big boy card).