<p>My grandmother recently gave me quite a bit of money for college. My parents decided that it would be a good idea to set up a checking account so that they have an ATM card and I have one, that way they can wire me money at school without having to pay any fees.</p>
<p>So we go over to our local branch of the bank that will be on my school’s campus (US Bank), but they tell me that because I am under 18, there is no way I can have an ATM card, even though my dad will be the primary cardholder and therefore responsible for the money.</p>
<p>Now normally I would wait until my 18th birthday, but I won’t be 18 until after I start school in August.</p>
<p>We go home and search online, same answer. Search at several other banks, nadda.</p>
<p>So finally my mom calls the branch and the guy calls the regional director or something, and FINALLY he says “Okay, they’ve authorized an exception”. So we go BACK over to the bank and sit there for a half hour while he sets up the account. My ATM card is in the mail.</p>
<p>What a day. Something to remember for any of you who are/will be in this situation. :)</p>
<p>Yes, we found setting up a bank account frustrating, also. The ATM card got lost in the mail twice, and it was sent to the issuing bank!!! We thought it would be simpler to pick it up there…</p>
<p>Kudos for getting it done early in the game.</p>
<p>The worst was getting a U.S. cell phone service set up. I expect you are already squared away with that?</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve had a cell phone for several years. <Verizon33333</p>
<p>My parents are with Union Bank of California, but we just wanted to be able to use USBank since it’s on campus and there would be no fees involved.</p>
<p>There’s a Bank of America ATM, but we figured having an actual branch would be better in case of any problems/emergencies.</p>
<p>I had the same problem with my then-17 year old daughter. What we had to do was set up a main checking account for me and give her a “high school” checking account linked to the main account. Then when she turned 18, they transferred the (very small) balance from the main checking account, closed it, and converted hers to a “college” account with my name no longer attached to it. The bank agreed to waive all fees associated with the main account.</p>
<p>This solution, of course, took several hours to arrive at. And then it took multiple phone calls to get all the fees (monthly fee due to low balance, check fee, etc.) reversed when they were pulled out of the accounts anyway!</p>
<p>Wachovia will set up regular checking and savings accounts for minors. A parent must be on the account but the primary SSN can be the kid’s. They also will give BOTH account holders ATM cards.</p>
<p>I had a joint checking account with each kid starting when they were 13. They didn’t feel the need to take my name off the account until they had graduated from college. It had major advantages–I could check balances for them and it was easy to transfer when necessary. I worked hard to respect their privacy and we managed to pull it off, somehow.</p>
<p>We have joints, with S and using his TIN. We have really too many of those things, that were set up for different purposes. Even now I am about to deposit his internship pay from Canada into a Citibank account while he is in India. </p>
<p>Things may have changed since 911. I know that banks are more alert to money laundering and fraud. But if you go to your named bank on Friday nite, you will see a bunch of undocumented aliens cashing their payroll checks. Go figure.</p>
<p>My daughter turned 18 less than two weeks before leaving for college, and she needed to get a checking account with a debit card from a particular bank – it has a branch on her campus and one in our home town.</p>
<p>Even though she went there on the day after her birthday (she couldn’t go on her birthday because it was a Sunday), there were problems because the bank told her that it would take two weeks to get the debit card and checks with her name on them. And of course then I would have to mail them to her at college (the address on her checks is her home address, not her college address). So we expected that she would not be able to use the account until well after school started. We didn’t know whether the college bookstore would accept starter checks, so we were planning to have her travel to college with a huge amount of cash to buy books and other supplies, which made her very nervous. Fortunately, though, the debit card and checks showed up a few days before she left, almost a week ahead of schedule.</p>
<p>The bank I use gives out the debit card on the spot when you open a checking account, so I was shocked at the delay in getting it at my daughter’s bank. But she can’t use my bank because they have no branches near her college.</p>
<p>My son will not turn 18 until halfway through his freshman year at a college on the other side of the country. I want to get him set up with a bank there, but I don’t think they let you open an account if you’re under 18. So I’m thinking that when we go for orientation earlier in the summer we can set up a joint account, and then I can take my name off at some point. What a pain. When I was 16, I opened my own checking account with no problems.</p>
<p>Does anyone have USAA checking accounts for their college students? My kids have debit Visa cards through them (they could get them when they turned 13) and it has worked out quite well. Am wondering if anyone using USAA as a college checking account has had issues with fees, ATM access, etc. andif there is a problem for a 17 yo getting set up (DS1 will be 17 through most of first semester).</p>
<p>My D has a USAA checking account, savings account and MasterCard (a “platinum” card, with a whopping $500 credit limit!) through them as well. She got the accounts a few months before college, when she turned 18, so I don’t know about what’s available for 17-year-olds.</p>
<p>There have been no issues with ATM fees, as USAA refunds a certain set number per month of ATM charges from any ATM she uses, and she has never exceeded that number. The other cool thing about the checking and savings accounts is that she can deposit checks by scanning them.</p>
<p>I have a Wamu account with my high school daughter , she has had a debit card for a while- free.When she turns 18, she can have the debit/mastercard logo added.</p>
<p>We have a USAA account for my daughter and will be getting one for my son before he heads off to college. We have had no problems through them and like their service. Daughter has an ATM/debit card as well as a credit card with a low credit limit that started at $500 and is now up to $1500 because she has never abused it. I believe up to 10 ATM transactions per month are free and they make it easy to mail in or scan and email in checks.</p>
<p>For under 18’s I believe they require it to be a joint account with a parent or guardian and do not issue the credit card, just the ATM/debit card. Once the youngster turns 18, they can upgrade to the single account with credit card if desired.</p>
<p>I followed the scenario outlined by Chedva for both my then 13-year old daughter and my then 14-year old daughter, no problems whatsoever (this was at Bank of America).</p>
<p>They did need to make an exception so that my daughter could use the ATM card in Europe.</p>
<p>Also, I have a Mastercard through L.L. Bean and was able to get a card for my daughter (had to change the maximum charge on the entire account, however).</p>
<p>That’s really, really weird. I’ve had a bank account in my own name since I was very, very young (think 7) - though this was in Canada, so maybe it’s different. However, when I came here there was no problem either - got an account at BoA, complete with Visa ATM card and all that. The only slight hassle was getting a cellphone since it took the Verizon guys a while to do a credit check on my SIN number from Canada. ;)</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of a “no account under 18” policy before though… that sucks.</p>
It was just frustrating that they were being so against dealing with me.</p>