Debit card disbursement??

[monkey68]

Ugh, I'm so frustrated with my school's lovely financial aid people. For some reason, they decided our loans would be dispersed in the form of debit card this year. I don't want a debit card! I want a check that I can deposit into my account, have it accrue some interest. And then the ATM's that we can use are very limited, I never even saw any of the ATM's that we can use, which means that there would be a fee every time I got out money. You are not allowed to do pay at the pump for gas because a signature is required for every purchase. If you request a check from your debit card, it's a $10 processing fee. Seriously, what's the point? People use the money to pay for rent, I don't know of any landlord that will accept a debit card for the rent. But if you need to withdraw money, well then you better find a teller somewhere because you can only withdraw $500/day from the ATM, and pay $3 plus whatever fee the ATM charges. Or request a check from the account and pay a $10 processing fee.

Seriously, I see no advantages to this. Pretty much everyone uses the loan money for living expenses. Not every place will accept a card. Not everybody wants to go into the gas attendant to pay at the register, I very much like paying at the pump. And I can make a decent amount of extra cash by putting the money into an interest savings account, and then taking out the money when I need it. But that's not even an option with this debit card.

The small print says if there is any problems with the processing, a check will be issued. I know quite a few people are saying they don't agree to the terms of service, which is also what I'm doing, so hopefully that will default to us getting a regular check. But really, who would think that this is a good idea?

 

[kelleigh1]

Let me see if I get this right, this is financial aid, which is supposed to be used for schooling? And yet you're upset that they essentially won't hand you cash to use to pay for gas, etc. and that you can't put it into an account so you can make money off of it?

I thought financial aid was to pay for schooling and books.

 

[Nie0214]

You can use financial aid money (i.e. student loans) for living expenses while you're in school. Sometimes this is in the form of room & board to the school you're living at, sometimes it is rent & utilities because you live off campus.

 

[Piecey]

Let me see if I get this right, this is financial aid, which is supposed to be used for schooling? And yet you're upset that they essentially won't hand you cash to use to pay for gas, etc. and that you can't put it into an account so you can make money off of it?

I thought financial aid was to pay for schooling and books.

Financial aid can be used to buy a TON of stuff.

You can use financial aid, before you actually get it, at my college bookstore to buy Papa Johns gift cards, Burger King, BP, etc..

It's to help you get through the semester.

Now, I couldn't go to WDW with it... but I can order a pizza and buy a new laptop.


I would be irked at the debit card. I hate getting them as rebates, much less my student loan check!

 

[Piglets Mommy]

I think more and more places are going this route. Even DH's Dependent care account at work has gone to debit cards. Everyone is fighting it, because you MUST use the $$ for child care and medical expenses, but many childcare establishments (including ours) don't take debit or credit cards. It's frustrating because they just switched this mid-year....DH can't elect to change the automatic paycheck withdrawl until next year.

 

[ericamanda01]

I can't believe they won't issue checks without a fee. I guess if I was in the situation I would just pay the 10 fee and get a check. I would also see if they offer direct deposit for future payments. My schools disbursements are always a check without a fee.

 

[Northstar]

Find out if this will work....

Pay the $10.00 fee for a check. Then write a check to yourself for the total amount of the money on the debit card, and deposit it into your bank account.

 

[monkey68]

Let me see if I get this right, this is financial aid, which is supposed to be used for schooling? And yet you're upset that they essentially won't hand you cash to use to pay for gas, etc. and that you can't put it into an account so you can make money off of it?

I thought financial aid was to pay for schooling and books.

The loans are for living expenses. Basically, you request the amount of loan from your lender, then it gets dispersed to the school, the school takes out the cost of tuition, and normally gives you a check for the difference. It's to cover living expenses, books, food, transportation, that sort of stuff. For instance, tuition in my school is around $43,000/year, but you can take out up to I think $65,000/year, maybe a little more, I forget what they budget, for living expenses. So yes, that they're no longer sending me a check makes me upset.

Find out if this will work....

Pay the $10.00 fee for a check. Then write a check to yourself for the total amount of the money on the debit card, and deposit it into your bank account.

Well, my school's financial aid told us we had to enroll into the program, and it required this sign up process. Part of enrolling has you agree to the terms of service. The school says that if there is a problem processing the debit card, they will distribute a check. That's where some people got the idea of just not agreeing to the TOS, seeming as that should cause a "problem" and leading us to get a check.

The $10 for a check fee is for getting a check from the debit card. But if you don't have the card to begin with....

It's not even the fact that it's a debit card, it's got to be the most inconvenient debit card. I never even heard of the ATM's they said we can use, no clue where I'm supposed to find a bank associated with this debit card. And having to pay a fee every time I need cash because I can't find some random ATM is not appealing either. At least with my regular checking account, I can pretty easily find a Citibank around here if I need cash. I really don't get the switch to a debit card system. It makes no sense to me. If it ain't broke, why fix it?

 

[happygirl]

I get student loan aid. I would hate to get a debit card.

 

[Northstar]

Well, my school's financial aid told us we had to enroll into the program, and it required this sign up process. Part of enrolling has you agree to the terms of service. The school says that if there is a problem processing the debit card, they will distribute a check. That's where some people got the idea of just not agreeing to the TOS, seeming as that should cause a "problem" and leading us to get a check.

The $10 for a check fee is for getting a check from the debit card. But if you don't have the card to begin with....

Monkey68, I get what you're saying... that you're hoping mass dissatisfaction and protest will get the school to abandon the debit card idea and go back to issuing a regular check for your financial aid. I hope it works!

But if it doesn't, and you end up having to take this debit card, try my suggestion of paying the $10 fee to get one check, then writing the check to yourself for the total amount of the debit card, and depositing the check into your bank account. It could be the most economical and convenient way of getting the funds into your hands so you can use them as you wish.

Good luck!

 

[Rence]

I read an article about this a while back - it is designed to make the bank that issues the card a lot of money - they will nickle and dime you for everything. A whithdrawl fee, a check your balance fee, a too many transactions in one day fee etc. etc. etc.

I almost bet that you will pay less in the long run if you can pay $10 to get a check - the fees will add up to over $10 in no time.

 

[monkey68]

Monkey68, I get what you're saying... that you're hoping mass dissatisfaction and protest will get the school to abandon the debit card idea and go back to issuing a regular check for your financial aid. I hope it works!

But if it doesn't, and you end up having to take this debit card, try my suggestion of paying the $10 fee to get one check, then writing the check to yourself for the total amount of the debit card, and depositing the check into your bank account. It could be the most economical and convenient way of getting the funds into your hands so you can use them as you wish.

Good luck!

If it doesn't work, that's what I'm going to try to do. I really don't like the idea of having my loans on a debit card. Besides the fees and all that, that's a lot of money to have on one card. For some students, it could be upwards of $20,000. I wouldn't feel comfortable with that much in my pocket. There's certainly no way I would keep that much money in my regular checking account. What if it got lost? But yea, hopefully if they insist on giving me a debit card, I can just write a check for the full amount. If I can't write it to myself, I'll see if I can write ti to my parents, and then they can give me the money.

I read an article about this a while back - it is designed to make the bank that issues the card a lot of money - they will nickle and dime you for everything. A whithdrawl fee, a check your balance fee, a too many transactions in one day fee etc. etc. etc.

I almost bet that you will pay less in the long run if you can pay $10 to get a check - the fees will add up to over $10 in no time.

Probably right, that it's all about the bank making money. Especially when the only way to get around the fees is to use some obscure ATM. But why is the school going along with this? What benefit is it to them? Do they get kickbacks or something? A percentage of the fees goes to them? I don't get it.