Best Checking Accounts For College Students
August 12, 2008
The best checking accounts for college students are those with no fees, no minimum balance, online banking, and good interest rates. If you’re leaving for college soon and you don’t have a checking account opened up, you should start thinking about it now. You’ll definitely need a place to stash the little cash that you’ll have during your college career.
Be aware, not all checking accounts are free, and some of them have hidden fees; those are the ones you want to stay away from. Below are four reviews of checking accounts that are worth your time to consider opening up before you leave for school.
ING Electric Orange Checking Account
If you missed my article about the ING products, go checkout my electric orange checking and orange savings account review. This is a great checking account for college students. You can do all of your banking online, which is definitely a benefit for college students, and there are absolutely NO fees associated with it. Plus, you’ll earn about 1.75% on your money while you’re at it. The only down fall to it is that you need to send in checks through the mail for deposit. You may need to have a second checking account in order to transfer money back and forth to it.
The Campus Edge Checking Account by Bank of America
Bank of America has some good financial products. This is the account that I had while I was in school at the University of Florida. There are no fees, and all you need is $25.00 for an initial deposit to open up the account. After that, there is no minimum balance. BOA will also enroll you for free into their “keep the change” program which rounds your purchase up to the nearest dollar and puts the change into a separate savings account for you. They’ll also match give you a 100% contribution match for the first three months. This could make it easier for you to balance your check book, because all of your purchases will be rounded to the nearest dollar, making it easier to figure out your balance. Convenience is the biggest advantage to a Bank of America checking account. Bank of America has a ton of branches, especially in the Southeast, so an ATM is never hard to find.
Washington Mutual Checking Account
Washington Mutual became known for its free checking account. It doesn’t just apply to college students, anyone can open one with with no minimum balances. I had this checking account when I was in high school and a portion of my time in college. Washington Mutual has good customer service, and it truly is a no-fee checking account. They’ll give you free, standard-image checks for life, and they won’t charge you any fees for using any ATM in the world. The ATM operator might charge you a fee, but WAMU never will. WAMU also has a sweet 3.75% online savings account that you can hook up to your checking account and stash away an emergency fund or birthday money from gram and gramps. Ahh yes, I remember those days when grandparents sent me money. Ironically, I think it stopped when I needed it the most as a poor college kid.
Charles Schwab Checking Account
You get 2.0% interest from a checking account! There are no minimums, no fees, free online bill pay, and they’ll reimburse you for any ATM fees. It also has overdraft protection and it’s FDIC insured. You’ll also get a free brokerage account to start doing some investing while you’re in college.
Open a Student Checking Account
So, get on it. Go and check out these checking accounts. Believe me, sticking your money under your dorm bed won’t work. Either your roommate or your roommate’s friends will end up stealing it. Watch out with your debit card, though. It’s so easy to swipe that thing. Make sure you set up a written budget for the month, and take out cash for items like entertainment and food. Otherwise, you’ll debit card swipe yourself to oblivion, and non-sufficient fund charges are no fun. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact us with your questions.
Click here to sign up for ING Direct Electric Orange Checking
Click here to sign up for Washington Mutual Checking Account
Check out yesterday’s article on decorating your dorm room on a budget. We also review the best student credit cards as well as student health insurance options and how you can compare them with eHealthInsurance. Make sure to check back tomorrow for a look at how you can make extra money in college.
This review of the best checking accounts for college students is part of the College Student Money Guide.
- College Student Money Tips - Managing Your Money on Campus
- College Dorm Room Decor Ideas - How to Decorate Your Dorm on a Budget
- College Student Money Guide - Financial Tips for Student Success
- ING Direct Orange Savings & Electric Orange Checking Accounts - Online Banking Review
- Budgeting & Money Management Tools for College Students
As the parent of a current college student, let me add that if you are supporting a child at college, it helps immensely to have an account that allows easy electronic transfer of funds from the parent account to the child account. Bank of America makes it easy for us to do this.
[…] This Fall News » News News Best Checking Accounts For College Students2008-08-12 12:21:16Only you’re at it. The only down fall to it is … there are absolutely NO fees […]
[…] This Fall News » News News Best Checking Accounts For College Students2008-08-12 12:22:57Had is $25.00 for an initial deposit to open up the account. After that, there is […]
I was pretty happy with the Bank of America Campus Edge account, certainly had no real complaints. I think the most important thing, hands down, is access — too many college students eat ATM fees like they don’t matter, and so picking a bank with convenient ATMs will help save money. Branch access is important, but not as important as ATMs.
I hadn’t looked at the Charles Schwab account before… I’ll have to check that out.
Anyway, nice list.
[…] This Fall News » News News Best Checking Accounts For College Students2008-08-13 00:29:36Had is $25.00 for an initial deposit to open up the account. After that, there is […]
The best checking accounts can usually be found at your local credit union. Don’t do business with banks - they’re profit centers and they’re very skilled at setting up all kinds of little traps and snares for you to fall into (so you’ll have to pay the exorbitant fees that are buried in the fine print). Forget about banks! Credit unions exist to serve their customers and are almost always a better option than banks. Using banks is “penny wise and pound foolish”.
And Schwab… are you serious? Schwab is a mess - they’d screw up a two-car funeral. I wouldn’t wish Schwab on my worst enemy.
bob, I agree you can find some good accounts at credit unions and banks are in business to make money. However, since they’re competing for your business, online banks offer some pretty useful features that you can’t necessarily find at credit unions.
For example, when I was in school my credit union didn’t have online banking so I primarily used an online bank. The credit union hopefully has online banking by now but the point is they didn’t have it when I needed it.
A more current example is mobile banking. Many of the big banks either have or will have soon the infrastructure and technology to allow customers to bank from mobile devices. This is a great feature for the highly mobile and connected college students of today, something they probably won’t get from their local credit union for some time.
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