Assuming that you are thinking about opening a Bank of America Student account means that you are already in college. That's a great initiative you are about to take in the direction of managing your finances yourself.
Remember, opening a Bank of America account for students isn't as hard as it may seem. All you need to do is consider the six things described below, and you will be good to go on your way to opening your very first account for students.
Eligibility Requirements for BOA Student Account
Before diving deep into how you will be managing the bank account once you get it, you need to make sure that you are either eligible for one of those or not. The Bank of America has two types of accounts that are suitable for the students at this stage,
The first one is the BofA Advantage SafeBalance Banking checking account. And the other one is the Advantage Plus Banking checking account. The essential requirement of opening an account is your social security number and proof of education.
Choosing the right student accounts at Bank of America
We already know that there are two bank accounts a student can create within the Bank of America. We are talking about the Advantage plus account and the Advantage Safebalance account. Here is a detailed description of these accounts,
The Advantage plus is like a traditional Bank of America checking account. The account allows you to use paper cheques and debit cards with access at ATMs around the globe. All the properties that suit the young generation.
On the opposite, the Advantage SafeBalance account doesn't offer cheques. Still, you will get debit card access with the cheque. The bank won't also allow you to make purchases over your balance.
Pros and Cons of Bank of America account for students
First, we will discuss the significant pros of Bank of America account checkings,
- The Bank of America has around 4300 branches in the United States alone. Now that's a pretty solid banking network you can access.
- Along with these 4300 branches, the Bank of America operates around 17,000 ATMs within the United States alone. These ATMs allow features like real-time balance checks and instant cash withdrawal. You can also access features like card activation, funds transfer, and cash deposit at these ATMs.
- This might be a real shock to you, but the Bank of America online banking and mobile banking systems are awarded from time to time and considered the very best within the United States. All your banking details will be visible once you log in to any of the above systems.
- For quite some time now, the Bank of America has been inviting its debit card users to enroll in the keep the change program. The purchase amount is rounded off to the whole following figure through this program, transferring the change to your savings account.
Time to discuss some cons of the system as well,
- Almost every Bank of America user complains about the first major is the inconvenience. Even with 4300 branches, there are 13 states with zero or very minimal presence of Bank of America. If you live in one of such states, things can get quite inconvenient for you.
- The second most annoying con is the high fees charged by the bank every time you use the debit card. The transaction charges are about 2.5 USD, along with the fees charged by the institute. In other words, you must be paying an amount between 5-9 USD per ATM transaction as well.
- Along with this, there are some certain hidden charges as well that are charged by the Bank of American certain bank branches. These charges are deducted for checking accounts in the form of overdraft fees. Every time a checking account is overdrawn, the Bank of America charges a whooping fee of 35 USD.
Is there a service fee for the BOA student account?
Of course, the bank charges a separate service fee every time a transaction is made, or the account is overdrawn. The service fees are categorized into three sub-classes depending on the account you have in possession.
First, the bank will be charging a 12 USD per month fee for a core checking account or an advantage plus checking account. To prevent this deduction, there are two ways. Either your employer or a financial institute makes 250 USD in terms of fixed deposit every month, or you will be maintaining a daily balance of 1500 USD or more.
Second, if you have a Bank of America interest checking account, you will be charged 25 USD per month in terms of the service fee. To avoid this deduction, you need to ensure that you maintain a 10,000 USD combined balance in all your Bank of America accounts.
Third, if you have a secure balance account, you will be charged 4.95 USD in service charges by the bank. There's no solution through which you can avoid this deduction. You are bound to pay this fee.
Bank of America student account minimum balance
The Bank of America offers two accounts for students. Both of these accounts have pros and cons of their own, but there is still a minimum account balance value that you must keep in your account no matter what. The amount differs depending upon the type of account you have.
For the Safebalance account, the minimum balance is 25 USD. While in the case of the Advantage plus account, the minimum balance is 100 USD. Banks usually limit the account holders to keep a certain minimum balance in their account as this allows the bank to help tick mark its annual or quarterly targets.
Student banking: Making the right choice
This concludes all the aspects you can go through if you are thinking about opening an account in the Bank of America as a student. Now, the choice is totally up to you. Only you can decide whether the Bank of America plans are suitable for you or not.
But remember, these are crucial years of your life, so it makes perfect sense to get serious about your financials. Think about all the aspects of your choice and then make a final decision.
