Which bank would you recommend I use?I'm only putting $200 in the bank as of now, I need to open up a savings account and need a debit card, I would use a local bank the only problem is I'll be going away to college fairly soon. This means I need to have a bank that's going to accept a low savings balance without charging me and be very... |
I would go with ING Direct. It's an online bank, so their fees are really low because they basically do not have to pay for extra employees and all the costs associated with owning/maintaining branches. Plus, you get a certain number of free ATM withdrawals at any bank without the fees (because they don't have their own ATMs).
Most banks have free student checking, so look around and see what national bank might have locations at home and school, if you do want the personal connection.
Hard to say, as it depends on a lot of variable: monthly fees, ATM charges (both their own and others...some banks will even refund ATM fees charged by other banks), regional and national access, online banking, etc.
Considering only access, you probably need to go with a bank rather than credit union...the latter tends to be extremely limited in coverage (but otoh, fees tend to be less). Either consider a biggie like Bank of America or one that's fairly prominent at least in the Southeast (Regions, SunTrust, etc.)
I'm a college student from Tallahassee and I've got Wachovia Student Checking. It's free and a savings account comes along with it. As I understand, when Wachovia merges with Wells Fargo, I will still be able to keep my account, though I'm not sure if Wells Fargo has a similar version.
