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A12 BUSINESS
Friday 19 May 2023
Pick a college bank account as

carefully as your college

By SPENCER TIERNEY
of NerdWallet
Attending college can
get pricey, so you'll want
to avoid costs from other
places — like your bank
account.
More than 668,000 students
paid nearly $15.5 million
in bank account costs in
a year, an average of al-
most $26 per person, ac-
cording to a 2022 report
by the Consumer Financial In this Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 file photo, a person inserts a debit
Protection Bureau. What's card into an ATM in Pittsburgh.
worse is that some colleges Associated Press
endorse costly bank ac-
counts as part of their part- can have minimal fees Carla Sanchez-Adams,
nerships with banks. and high-quality apps, but senior attorney at the Na-
"Do not assume that be- they often lack a branch tional Consumer Law Cen-
cause your college or uni- network and the ability to ter, recommends looking
versity partners with a bank, deposit cash isn't guaran- into Bank On certified ac-
that bank is offering you a teed. Nationwide ATM ac- counts, which don't have
good deal," Aaron Klein , cess is usually available at overdraft or NSF fees. Trans-
senior fellow in economic credit unions and online actions that would bring an
studies at the Brookings In- banks through shared net- account balance below
stitution, said in an email. works, but they might not zero get declined instead
Before heading off to col- be as easy to spot as big . Plus, these accounts can
lege, consider what fac- bank ATMs.Just don't limit have screening practices
tors you need in a college your options to only ac- inclusive of those with less
checking account. There's counts marketed as "col- banking history.
no grade on this, but the lege checking." You might You might have to pay
wrong bank can cost you. miss out on banking fea- fees for some services,
DECIDE WHAT FEATURES tures you'd want. such as getting a check-
MATTER CHECK FOR FEES book. "Not every account
Checking accounts work Watch out for fees on is going to be completely
similarly wherever you monthly maintenance, free," says David Rothstein ,
bank, but some features ATM usage and overdrafts. senior principal at Cities for
vary or aren't available You can often avoid a Financial Empowerment
at every bank, including monthly fee, such as $5 or Fund, who manages Bank
branches, highly rated mo- $10, by having a certain On, CFE Fund's national
bile apps, certain account minimum balance or di- platform that promotes fi-
fees and perks such as di- rect deposits into your ac- nancial inclusion.
rect deposit up to two days count — or by finding a FACTOR IN ACCOUNT
early. The biggest banks checking account without SECURITY
generally have robust apps monthly fees. Using an ATM This year, there have
and big branch networks to withdraw cash outside been three bank col-
, but their account fees your bank's network can lapses. While bank failures
can be high . In contrast, trigger a fee of around $2 are rare, federal deposit
regional banks and credit to $3 from your bank, plus a insurance protects your
unions — the not-for-profit fee from the ATM operator. money. If a bank fails, you
counterpart to banks — And overdraft or nonsuffi- get up to $250,000 of your
might have lower fees and cient funds fees can be $30 money back. Banks get in-
more of a community fo- or more per transaction, sured through the Federal
cus, but they have fewer which will kick in if a pay- Deposit Insurance Corp.,
branches and might lag in ment drops your account and credit unions have
technology. Online banks balance below zero. the equivalent protection
through the National Cred-
it Union Administration.q

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