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Posts Tagged ‘debit card’

Off To College: Important Papers

August 10th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 6 Comments | Filed in Personal Advice

The following is one in a series of articles for students heading off to college. To help make your transition to school a smooth one, why not download your free copy of our College Moving Checklist today?

college studentWhen heading off to college you’ll be bringing along plenty of clothing, bedding, personal effects, your favorite technology and a whole lot more. But you’ll also need to bring along important papers including documentation. What exactly should you bring? And, should you bring originals or copies?

Let’s take a look at some of the documentation you should bring with you when you head off to college this semester:

Driver’s License — Whether you will be driving to school or not, your driver’s license is one of the most important identification tools that you possess. Likely, you can pull your license out of your wallet in a moment’s notice, but is it getting ready to expire? Is the information on your license accurate? Check your vehicle registration and insurance information too before heading off to college in your ride.

Social Security Card — Your social security card should be kept with your important papers, but this group of papers doesn’t need to go to school with you. If your parents have a fireproof box with other family documentation, then keep your card in it. The Social Security Administration encourages you to know your nine-digit number, but they discourage people from carrying their cards with them.

Credit/Debit Cards — Credit and debit cards can come in handy and should be up to date and activated.  Does your student credit card offer a large enough credit line in the event you need to tap it for an emergency? Bring your checkbook with you to school too.

Medical Insurance Card — When an emergency hits, you’ll need to show some personal identification if you must go to the hospital or clinic. You’ll also need to show an updated medical insurance card if you have one.

School Registration, Financial Aid — Leave nothing for chance by bringing along a copy of your college acceptance letter and related financial aid information.  If you have already registered for classes, then bring that information with you too. Make sure that you save all related email messages too.

Student ID — New students will get their college identification card for the first time while returning students may need to get their cards updated for the fall semester.

Insurance Documentation — If you are renting an apartment this semester and you have taken out a basic renter’s insurance policy, then a copy of that paperwork should be brought with you.

Once in school, you’ll want to leave some of your important documents in a safe place, perhaps in a lockbox at your local bank or other secure location at school. Identity theft is a big problem which can happen if your paperwork isn’t in safekeeping.

Adv. – With the start of college imminent, do you have all of your finances in order? If not, you may need to secure a private student loan to help close the financing gap. Please visit SayStudent.com for review your private student loan options.


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Off To College: Money Management

August 5th, 2009 by Matthew C. Keegan | 2 Comments | Filed in Personal Advice

The following is one in a series of articles for students heading off to college. To help make your transition to school a smooth one, why not download your free copy of our College Moving Checklist today?

When you’re hundreds, even thousands of miles away from home and are attending college, how will you manage your money? The best option is to establish a checking account at a bank that serves both your home community and your college campus, but not every national bank is able to cover such wide territory.

100 dollarsRegardless, you’ll need to open up a new checking account or find ways that you can access your funds remotely. Your parents will probably handle the tuition payment, but funds for personal effects, food and certain incidentals should be safely kept in a bank account.

Let’s take a look at some ideas on how you can manage your money while you’re away at college:

New Checking Account — If your bank has offices in both your home town and your college town, then they may be a natural to do business with.  Most banks extend a free checking account for college students which should include an automatic teller machine (ATM) card which doubles as a debit card. Find a bank that offers all that along with online checking and you’ll be in good hands no matter where you go.

Keep Your Bank — If your account is with a community bank, then branches beyond the local area are rare. What you’ll want to do, in order to avoid fees, is to find a bank near campus that has the same ATM network as your home town bank. In many cases if you make a deposit or withdrawal at a bank within that network you’ll avoid fees. In some other cases you’ll still incur fees but your bank may waive or cover them automatically for you. You can also get extra “cash back” anytime that you use your debit card with most retailers too.

Wire Transfers — Western Union still transfers money by “wire” services which means that if you have a shortfall of cash, your local office will process money that your parents send to you. But, some major retailers also provide this service (including Wal*Mart) for a fraction of Western Union’s fees. Note: Avoid check cashing stores who will charge you a mint to cash a check.

Online Access — One way to circumvent brick and mortar banks is to open an account with an online bank, such as ING Direct, to manage your money. Most online banks will allow you to set up a checking account and give you an ATM/debit card for which to make purchases with. You can connect your online bank account with your hometown bank account and make transfers between the two. Short on cash? Ask your parents to deposit money into your hometown account which you can transfer to your cyber account or access directly with your ATM card.

Thanks to the internet, moving money between accounts is quick and easy. Processing delays can hold up your money, so consider multiple options for accessing your money including what we’ve mentioned herein.

Adv. — Do you need financial aid for this semester? Have you exhausted all other options? If you answered yes to both questions, then visit your Sallie Mae lender for more information or call them directly at 866-530-9523.


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Cash Access and the College Student

November 19th, 2008 by Matthew C. Keegan | 1 Comment | Filed in College Budgeting, Personal Advice

Students who are away at college, far from even the expanded reach of their parents, often face a dilemma when it comes to money: they don’t have enough of it on hand or it isn’t readily available to them when they need it. Thankfully, cash on hand is no longer the only way that students can have access to funds which is actually good, but for another reason: carrying college moneyaround a lot of money can be risky from a safety and security standpoint.

If your student is in need of access to money, the following are some ways for you ensure that they are never quite broke:

Joint Checking Account – Why not open up a joint checking account with your son or daughter, allowing parents and child to make deposits and withdrawals? Supply your student with a debit card to allow him or her to withdraw funds as needed or make purchases which will instantly deduct these funds from the account. Give joint secured online access to the account to allow both you and your child to review statements.

Store Card – If your student enjoys visiting a favorite coffee or sandwich shop, you can give him or her a Starbucks or Panera Bread card which is treated just like cash. Choose those cards without an expiration date (hint: avoid most gift cards) and with no fees attached.

College Credit – Some schools allow parents to deposit funds into a reserve fund for their children, an account that is managed by the school. If they get in a bind, your son or daughter can access these funds to cover expenses or to help out in an emergency. Funds may only be available during business hours so don’t rely upon this method exclusively.

Credit Card – Cash or a debit card may not do if your son is stranded and he needs a tow. Some tow operators will only deal with a credit card, so why not co-sign a student credit card and allow him to access these funds in an emergency? You can place a limit on the credit line, say $500 which will cover most emergencies while keeping your child from going overboard.

Paper Money – No student should be without actual money, but they tend to burn right through it if it is in their wallet. You cannot lord yourself over your grown children, but you can urge them to keep cash on hand limited and use bills no larger than a twenty dollar bills in the event that a wallet or purse is stolen.

You’ll also want to make sure that your son or daughter carries around with them a health insurance card, personal identification, and even a AAA or other motorist club card. You can’t and shouldn’t monitor your child’s every move, but you can help them learn how to respond to a problem or an emergency by equipping them with the resources they need to succeed including cash access.

Adv. — Smart planning guides and other helpful tools can be found on OffToCollege.com, your resource to help you prepare for and succeed in college. Learn all about credit and how to manage money while away from home.


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Debit Cards And Your College: A Wrong Relationship?

May 23rd, 2008 by Matthew C. Keegan | 2 Comments | Filed in College Budgeting, Personal Advice

Cash strapped colleges frequently look for support from the business community in exchange for free advertising or consumer access opportunities.

student i.d.For example, it isn’t uncommon to find Pepsi machines on some campuses which might be allowed while forbidding competing (namely Coca-Cola) products from hawking their wares. In exchange for exclusive access, the local bottling company signs a contract with the university and offers the school an annual fee. Also, take a look at the scoreboards in many college gymnasiums and you will see that it is circled by ads — clearly, advertising to support higher education has become a way of life.

Some colleges have carried the whole advertising/marketing arrangement one step further by making college identification cards do double duty — in addition to providing an important form of i.d., many schools allow these cards to serve as debit cards. Moreover, some schools are receiving a nice payout for their exclusive banking arrangements.

Not everyone thinks that allowing banks to have easy access to students is the right call. On the Higher Ed Watch blog, which is part of the New America Foundation, at least 127 colleges and universities have established banker-id partnerships. The University of Minnesota is one of the more aggressive schools in their partnership, having recently inked a deal with TCF Financial which will pay the school $40 million through 2030.

TCF Financial has seen a $50 million rise in deposits in the areas surrounding the school’s two largest campuses, attributing most of the increase to a rise in student deposits.

Higher Ed Watch argues that most arrangements give students no choice to switch to another bank or, if they do, a fee is charged for this service. In addition, studies are showing that many students are just learning how to handle finances themselves and are prone to overdraft charges which can cost an average of $35 per transaction. With little money to spare, most college students simply cannot afford to be hit with additional charges including ATM fees.

While the trend to banker-id student cards continues to grow, not every university thinks that they are a good idea. At Ohio State University, the school created its own no-fee debit system to handle student spending. Unlike a bank-issued debit card, if a student doesn’t have funds available, his purchase is declined — no money, no purchase, but no overdraft fees.

Further Reading

College debit-ID card deals draw scrutiny

Disclosure: Some of the articles and links on SayCampusLife are, in fact, for student debit cards. Please use discretion when seeking any type of consumer debt or financial planning arrangement.


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