In the corner of the Pierce College bookstore there sits an ATM waiting to take a three-dollar service fee from your withdrawal. Imagine in its place there was an ATM that corresponded to your bank that did not have the intentions of taking your money.
Pierce should move past the generic ATM machine and install machines that correspond to the established banks that students use.
Other colleges have these ATM’s, such as CSUN as it has one for Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo throughout their campus.
Most students may not regularly carry cash, and instead keep all their funds within their debit cards. This can be a double edge sword as your money is in a secure place, but somethings on campus can only be purchased with cash.
For example, the business office does not accept any form of card payment, and students who don’t have cash readily available would have to pull it out to pay their fees. This then means students must make the choice of pulling out money for a service fee or going off campus to their bank instead.
Students should not have to be put in this situation where they lose something either way and instead should be able to pull money out free of charge on campus.
Not only would there be no service charge after a withdrawal, but students could also make a deposit and cash a check. It is also more secure as your bank can more accurately trace your transaction
Students can also pull out cash for other purposes, like buying food from a food truck, or buying fuel at a nearby gas station without having to face a card fee.
Overall having the ability to utilize your bank’s ATM is convenient and less costly in the long run.
