Local banks offer college students advice for smarter banking decisions
April Robertson
Issue date: 3/11/09 Section: News
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But if students establish solid checking, credit and saving habits now, they will be in a better position to weather this recession when they graduate, local bank officials said.
"A lot of [students] are good about checking, but others have no idea what goes into having a bank account," said Lauren Brown, assistant manager at the [Bank of America] University Banking Center.
Brown and Courtney Dowdle, manager of First Security Banking Center, agree that opening and maintaining a checking account is one of the simplest and most effective ways to learn to manage money diligently, they said.
"There are more benefits to balancing your checkbook than just knowing how much is left in your account," Dowdle said.
When students regularly review their checking accounts, they are able to identify spending patterns and, if necessary, adjust those patterns before they spend more money than they have.
While First Security does not offer overdraft protection, officials at Dowdle's branch take the time to show students how to balance their checkbooks precisely because they have seen too many students who were uninformed about overdraft and its consequences.
Students might be unpleasantly surprised if they fail to keep enough money in their accounts to cover the checks they write, Dowdle said.
"In many instances, students will go out to several places on the weekend and not keep in mind when a check will be cashed," she said.
Jhonny Kwon, an industrial engineering student, said he agrees from experience.
"You never know when the check is going to come through and it screws things up," Kwon said.
Similarly, students sometimes don't realize that a check they deposit after 2 p.m. won't post to their account until the following day, said Brown, who, like Dowdle, tries to explain to students what a checking account entails because she wants them to know "what they are getting into."
Kwon quickly learned what he was getting into when he opened his first account at age 19. Overdraft was a problem for him initially, he admitted.
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