International Students and Scholars
Banking
There are many banks in Carbondale from which you may choose to open an account. the yellow pages in the phone book provide the name, address, and telephone number of all the banks in the community.
There are two types of accounts you might open: a checking account and a saving account. A checking account allows you to deposit money and then write "checks" to pay for goods or services you purchase. If you overdraw your account, you will be fined by the bank and often by the business for which you wrote the "bad check". A savings account earns more interest than checking accounts and is used to keep money for a longer period of time. Some saving accounts allow you to withdraw money a limited number of times per month. Be sure you know the requirements for withdrawal and the minimum balance needed for each account.
A service offered by many banks is the automatic teller machine (ATM) or "cash station". An ATM allows you to deposit or withdraw money from your accounts any time of the day or night. To use an ATM, you must have a teller card which can be ordered from your bank. All U.S. paper currency is the same size and color, so be careful in your money transactions.