banking?

[jenlee402]

i was wondering which bank do students use? do students prefer to use bank accounts at a local bank, or do you keep your own banking system at home and use credit cards?

[rdecastro]

I use my home bank and just get money from the ATM.

[amyames]

same here. I am American, so I just use the ATM in Windwardside to withdraw cash from my bank at home. But please, before you leave for Saba, let your bank know that you will be doing withdrawals. I had a friend go to Mexico for Spring Break and not inform her bank, so after she withdrew money from the ATM, her bank stopped her card because they thought someone had stolen it and went to Mexico for a joyride. She was eventually left with no way for extra cash. My bank charges me to withdraw money, and from what I have seen, the RBBT charged me $.80 for my one withdrawal. However, it's still not a bad deal! I can't believe the ATM on Saba is relatively new......I don't know how I could function without it!

My Canadian quadmate does not use the ATM, and she just uses travel cheques that she gets cashed at the Bank when she can get there. She does not have a bank account.

[sabaspouse2006]

We're Canadian and we also simply access our Canadian bank accounts using the ATM and our debit card. It works well.

R/

[sabaspouse2006]

My Canadian quadmate does not use the ATM, and she just uses travel cheques that she gets cashed at the Bank when she can get there. She does not have a bank account.

Why wouldn't she use her debit card? I imagine travel cheques are a pain in the butt......

Just curious.

R/

[jenlee402]

thanks for the replies everyone! much appreciated! =)

[amyames]

Why wouldn't she use her debit card? I imagine travel cheques are a pain in the butt......

Just curious.

R/

no idea..I don't know if she looked into it, or her bank doesn't allow it! I'll ask.


also, one in our semester had his card stopped because of possible fraudulant acitivities, so people be careful with your card and where you use it!

[jenlee402]

hi sabaspouse
just wondering when you use your canadian debit card at the atm, do you withdraw US dollars and your home bank automatically does the conversion from canadian funds to american? also, do you have a US account to which your loans go to (ie canhelp or osap)? should i open a US account in canada before i leave? thanks in advance!

[sabaspouse2006]

hi sabaspouse
just wondering when you use your canadian debit card at the atm, do you withdraw US dollars and your home bank automatically does the conversion from canadian funds to american? also, do you have a US account to which your loans go to (ie canhelp or osap)? should i open a US account in canada before i leave? thanks in advance!

Yes, when we withdraw money in $US here it automatically gives you the exchange rate back home. We did open a US account through the Royal Bank because some of the transactions are helpful to be done from a US account. I would set up a Royal Bank Centura account before you leave. It seemed the best for us. Any nearest branch should be able to help you but call them for details on what you need because it was a ton of paperwork. (It took over an hour to set up. Foreign account and all that....) The Royal Bank also offered a student line of credit for professional students (ie doctors) and approved us for a Visa card that is based in the States. There is some benefits to having an actual US Visa that I can't remember now but had to do with interest rates and conversions and such.

The Centura account (the US one) is also where we have our student loans deposited to. Our OSAP would normally go into our Canadian account back home but we also used TERI loan this semester (not the best because of high interest rates). The TERI loan was deposited right into our US account. Very helpful. Also with the Centura account you can write cheques to your landlord for your rent. Most landlords accept US cheques here.

As far as access, all of our Canadian debit cards work here. (We have Scotiabank accounts too.) You can also take cash advances on your VISA right inside the bank if the bank machine is down. (Sometimes it is.) The stores here all accept Canadian VISA and Mastercard without problem.

I hope that helps. Please feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

Don't wonder, worry and panic in silence!

R/

[aspiringmedstudent]

What the fees usually like (with a US bank) to withdraw money from the ATM and Winwardside?

I am trying to decide whether or not to open an account on Saba or just use my ATM card from there.

Thanks.

[sabaspouse2006]

You really should contact your own bank to ask about the fees.

We don't mind the withdrawal fee as it is the easiest way to have our student loans go into the account each semester and, as far as I understand, it is harder to get your loans to go into a Saban account.

We avoid incurring too many fees by withdrawing the largest amount available each time and simply using up the cash.

R/

[aspiringmedstudent]

Yeah I was thinking it would be more worthwhile to take a large amount each time. I know Saba is supposedly very safe, but are you ever concerned about having too much cash on you?