Banking

The only bank on-campus is University Credit Union (UCU), but the number of ATMs you can use FOC with a UCU account might be limited when you are away from UCLA (a possible issue if you travel.) Furthermore, you cannot charge more than $1000 on your debit card, so getting a flight ticket will be an issue. However, it is free unlike others who have threatened to charge students monthly fees.

All of the Big Four (Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo) and Washington Mutual have branches in Westwood. Only Citibank does not have an ATM in the campus. But the ATMs in Westwood are still within walking distance. Some banks will charge you for getting a checking account such as Wells Fargo. So far, Bank of America and Citibank have cancelled their plan to charge customers monthly fees.

Setting up is straightforward if potentially time-consuming. You will need money, in the form of cash, cheques, bank drafts etc. You will also need two forms of identification, such as your passport, driving license, and so on. You can try using your BruinCard as a secondary ID if you like but the primary is always your passport or any government-issued ID, not your IC unfortunately. Your Bruincard does not tell anything except that you are a student and it does not have any security verification to prove it is authentic.

If your money is in the form of a bank draft, make sure to carry enough spare cash to last you at least a week or two. Bank drafts usually process immediately, but sometimes they may place a 5- to 10-day hold on the bulk of your funds, depending both on the Malaysian bank that issued it, and on the amount the draft is for.

If your parents TT money from Malaysia using Citibank, it is faster if you also have a Citibank account and there is a plan to merge all global accounts so you might be able to get preferential exchange rate too. Talk to the Citibank staff in Malaysia for more information. For your info, there is no CIMB or Maybank here. The nearest HSBC bank is somewhere near downtown. If you are concerned about the bank fees, University Credit Union would have the lowest fees and the branch is located in Ackerman Union would be really convenient. Note that not all of us have Citibank and for those who own one, it is usually because our parents also own saving accounts in Citibank.

Go to the bank website and learn all the fees they might charge you. Banks here are very good at charging people for anything and most of the time, it is stated in the contract and you might not notice it. Some of us have been charge interest fees on our debit card even though the account has been cancelled years ago. Also make sure your information is spelt correctly as Malaysian name tend to have weird spelling.

Difference between accounts:

        - Savings Account: Interest yielding accounts

        -  Checking Account: Interest rates are low or zero but this is where the money you use via CheckCards (Debit Card/ATM Card – it’s all the same card) or checks come from

      -  CD Accounts: Higher interest-yielding accounts like our fixed deposit accounts. You cannot withdraw the account until it matures (typically at least 10 months) and a minimum sum is required in the account (typically $5,000). Malaysia will have a higher interest rate, so forget about it.

Most of us will have both a savings account and checking account when you open an account in any bank. They are different and not inter-connected. If you have an overdraft in one account but have sufficient money in the other account, the bank will still charge an overdraft protection fee. So for first-time user, be careful where you are withdrawing money from on the first time.

All of us monitor our banking online as it is very easy and secure. Most fees are paid online as well, cash and check is something of the past.