Aggies charge ahead

Students opt for debit cards instead of cash, but others say credit cards are for after college

By: Madiha Rizvi

Posted: 9/24/08

No clanging change, no crackling crisp dollars, instead, there is plastic everywhere.

At lunchtime at Poor Yorick's coffee house outside Sterling C. Evans Library on any given weekday, there is a line of people extending out the door. It is a routine occurrence, but no one realizes how quickly the line is moving at the cash register.

In the past decade, students at Texas A&M have made the transition from cash to plastic - debit, credit or Aggie bucks. Out of 10 students, nine said they used a debit card to spend money.

Students said the reason for using plastic is their limited amount of time. A college student's time is valuable as they rush to classes, work and find time to study. "I use a debit card. I don't like cash lying around. It is quicker than going through change," Eva Salazar, a junior university studies with leadership concentration major, said.

"It is embarrassing and annoying to spend cash. It is embarrassing because it takes longer and annoying because you have to take the change out and count it in front of everyone," she said. "Everyone has a card, it may be because of the quickness [of transactions]."

Wells Fargo has six locations on campus. Three locations accept deposits: a drive-up on Olsen Road, the Pavilion and the Memorial Student Center. The other three locations are in Sbisa Dining Hall, Koldus garage and the Commons.

"We try and be as student friendly as possible. There are many additional features that Wells Fargo offers online," Katherine Zemanek, a personal banker at Wells Fargo, said. "This includes free bill pay, text and mobile banking where you can text us to find what balance you have in the bank account, alerts which are warning messages if your balance goes under a certain balance."

This fall, Wells Fargo will team up with A&M for a debit block card. With the card, if the banking balance is approaching negative, any location will automatically decline the transaction. With this protection, students have no fear of overdraft fees.

Credit cards are a way some students spend money, but for others, college is not the time.

"Once I graduate, I can get a credit to make those big purchases, like a house. At this time, college students are tempted to spend more money with a credit card," Danielle Spears, a freshman history major, said.

"As soon as I turned 18, there were offers for credit cards all the time," she said. "You have to really read the fine print so that you know what you are signing up for."

Aggieland Credit Union is a branch of Greater Texas Federal Credit Union and has three locations in the Bryan-College Station area. It is a full-service institution with loans for automobiles, property, students and credit cards, and banking options like checking and savings.

"All you need is five dollars in a savings account you open with us. Then you can apply for the credit card," Greg Baird, vice president of Aggieland Credit Union branches in Bryan-College Station, said. "We are very careful in verifying a student's ability to repay the bill. We require a cosigner for students who do not have any source of income. We are wanting to build a full relationship with the students."

Baird said that a big reason, students are afraid of credit cards is that there is some predatory lending for college students, where students can get in debt that they cannot repay.

"I have seen college students, literally over their heads in debt. If students learn to manage their money by budgeting, none of these problems would arise," Baird said. "Employers today are looking at credit reports for students before they hire them. Insurances are based on a credit score. If your track record is negative, it can have a very crippling effect. Budget and stick with it, the earlier the better."