Introducing the business scope of Bank of America

When you arrive in the United States with a huge sum of money, the first thing to do is to open an account at the bank as soon as possible. Economic rock? . Generally speaking, the services provided by Bank of America are as follows:

(1) Money flows in and out (including savings account, checking account, ATM card, remittance, direct deposit, etc.).

(2) Investment generates profits (including time deposits, securities and trust investments, etc.).

(3) credit cards.

(4) related businesses (including cashier's checks, cash drafts, traveler's checks, etc.).

here's a detailed introduction.

first, how should freshmen choose a bank

Bank of America is divided into checking, saving, CD and MMA account. Checking is equivalent to cash account, saving is equivalent to domestic current account, CD is fixed, and MMA is a relatively new one, called Money Market Account.

from the beginning, there are ordinary banks and internet banking. The advantage of ordinary banks is that they can be seen and touched, and big banks have many ATMs, and there is no SSN(social security number) to open accounts. The advantage of internet banking is high interest rate, so you can pay by net, and you need SSN to open an account.

Generally speaking, new students should follow the following criteria when choosing a bank:

A. It is easy and free to withdraw money (ATM has bank charge and ATM machine charge, that is, that ATM may charge a handling fee, And your bank may also accept)

b, convenient deposit

c, free checkbook and free cheque writing

d, no monthly fee

e, and high interest rate is of course good

For freshmen who have just arrived, they have to open an account at a local bank. How to choose? It should be based on the principle of convenient withdrawal, and see which bank near the school and residence has more ATMs, and open it in that bank. For example, in Boston, bankboston is the largest bank, and ATM machines can be seen everywhere. Moreover, Bankboston cooperates with schools, and there are often some concessions, such as exemption from six-month fees. Of course, the interest rate of bankboston is the lowest, but just coming to BankBoston is the best choice. After getting the SSN, there will be more choices, so internet bank can be considered. At present, the preferred banks are SFNB.com, netbank.com and bankdirect.com, which have the advantages of high interest rate. MMA is 5. 25%, MMA is insured by FDIC, with a maximum guarantee of 1k and jointaccount of husband and wife of 2k. If you are financially abundant, you can consider sharing the deposit. MMA has a limit that you can only withdraw money from it six times a month, of which at most three times are withdrawals by check. This problem is generally not big, because you can open a MMA and a checking account. Then, you can transfer the money first in a big bank to an internetbank, and then transfer the account number of a big bank to basic checking (or the simplest account, with a monthly fee of 2.5$ in bankboston), and keep this account number for later ATM withdrawal or cash deposit. Generally, the amount of 1-2 is enough. Generally, ATM cards in Internet bank are free of charge, but ATMs sometimes charge, and compubank/bankdirect/telebank has a reimbursement plan to avoid the withdrawal fee for four times a month.

in addition, when choosing a bank, you should also pay attention to whether there is this sign on its window or counter: FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). This sign indicates that the bank is a member of FDIC. In case of bankruptcy due to poor operation, the federal government of the United States will compensate its debts on its behalf, and any deposit within 1, yuan will be guaranteed. Don't lose everything.

Second, account opening procedures

First of all, we should avoid the rush hour of lunch time and choose to go in the morning or afternoon. The necessary documents include: passport, student ID card, social security number (if you use a temporary number, you can inform the traveler and change it after you get the official number), and bring your driver's license and I-2 Form (admission permit). In addition, we need our mailing address and telephone number. If you don't have a permanent residence, you can leave your address and phone number, and then change it after you settle down and apply for the phone number. Of course, don't forget to bring money.

The pattern of American banks is: a row of counters is responsible for cashier, and another area has desks (some with compartments) responsible for opening accounts, changing bank information and explaining securities investment. If you want to open an account, you can wait in the waiting area, and the available clerk will call us. And introduce each kind of account. Listen carefully. If you don't understand, you can ask them to explain again. It is best to ask the old classmates to accompany you to avoid future troubles due to language problems. Or consult other people's experience and choose the most convenient account that suits your own economy. At present, the deposit interest rate in the United States is not high, so convenience should be the principle.

3. Checking account

1. Category: <; br>

a Checking account can be divided into interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts. Do you want to know if there is a minimum balance? That is, the deposit in the account must not be lower than a certain number, otherwise the bank will automatically deduct it? Service charge? . Is there a minimum monthly average? (monthly minimum balance, that is, the average amount of money in the account every day for a month). What is the limit on the number of checks you can write? (In some accounts, as long as the deposit is higher than the minimum amount, no matter how many checks you write, there is no service charge, but if the deposit is lower than the minimum amount, you will be charged according to the number of checks. Some accounts keep the minimum deposit at a very low level, but every time a check is written, there will be a charge, or a monthly service charge will be charged. How much is the fine if the ticket is skipped? If it is an interest-bearing account, what is the interest rate? How much is the difference from the savings rate? Under what circumstances will the bank not give interest? (e.g. less than the minimum amount, or more than a fixed amount or times).

2. Printing of checks:

The clerk will take out samples of checks for customers to choose from, and usually monochrome plain noodles will be cheaper. Usually it takes 2 copies in one print. The customer's name will be printed on the upper left corner of the check; If it is a joint account opened by husband and wife, both names will be printed on the check. Address and telephone number, there are rules on the number of lines, if the number exceeds the number of lines, the fee will be increased or the telephone number will be given up. If the address is used, the check can still be used after moving. If you will move again and again, it is better to tie the address, which is more fixed. However, the monthly report sent by the bank must be sent to the residence, and remember to go to the bank to change the address every time you move.

3. Fill in the check:

There are four lines to fill in the check. The first line is the date (usually the date on which the check is written. But if you need a period of buffer, you can fill in the future date, and wait until that day before you can deposit or cash the check. The first column of the second line is the payee, and the last column is the amount filled in by Arabic numerals (the digits below RMB are expressed as a percentage). For example, 18 yuan and 98 cents can be written as $1898/1 or $1898/XX). The third line is to spell the numbers with English letters, and then add only after them. For example, 36 yuan and 57 cents can be written as: Three hundred, six and 57/1 dollars only. The first column of the fourth line indicates the purpose. For example: insurance, magazines, rent, etc. The last column is autographed.

to be on the safe side, the upper edge of the back of the check can be written For deposit only. Then the check can only be deposited in the payee's account and cannot be cashed or used for other purposes. The payee must sign the back of the check when he goes to the bank counter, because anyone can deposit it in his own account after endorsement. If you want to deposit in a checking account, you can use the deposit slip attached to the back of the checkbook. Such as. If you want to cash it, you must show your photo certificate (such as driver's license, student ID card, passport, etc.) to prove that you are me. In department stores and supermarkets, if you want to pay by check, you must show two personal certificates. One of them can also be replaced by a major credit card. If you want to cash his check for someone else (for example, a senior left after graduation, and he asked us to cash the check for him), then the payee of the check should write a letter of entrustment and get it to the lawyer's office for a letter of authorization, otherwise the bank will not accept it.

it's best to register every time you write a check and figure out whether the balance is close to the minimum? If the check is written incorrectly and it is invalid, you can put a big cross on the check and write? void? , or shredded, but to make a record. If it is a small mistake, you can sign your initials at the altered place, and the bank will accept it.

4. Check the monthly report:

It's best to get into the habit of opening the registration form in front of the checkbook every time the monthly report comes. If the amount of the check does not match, the service fee for unknown reasons, etc., you must go to the bank to ask clearly. Sometimes there will be human errors in the bank's homework. Don't suffer losses for no reason. On the other hand, checking the monthly statement can help us to review our financial situation. If you are always struggling with the minimum amount, you can consider changing to another account, but you should consider other service charges and see if it is more worthwhile.

fourth, the interest of savings account

is higher than that of checking account, but lower than money market and time deposit. There is usually a minimum deposit, and if the deposit is insufficient, interest will be lost or service fees will be paid.

There is a kind of savings account and checking account that use the same account number, and they can transfer money to each other by using an automatic teller machine (ATM). This connected account is called uni-bank or link. Usually, the minimum total deposit amount of two accounts is specified, and the minimum deposit amount of checking account is specified. If it is insufficient, the money will be deducted, but there is no charge for writing checks and no monthly service fee. The advantage of this online account is that it is flexible to transfer money. You can try to deposit money in a savings account to generate interest, and then transfer the total expenditure to a checking account when writing a check.

5. Money Market

This kind of account has a good interest rate, but relatively speaking, the minimum deposit amount is also high, and the number and times of monthly withdrawals are also limited. There are two kinds of savings and deposit, the former has higher interest and the latter can write checks.

6. Certificate Deposit (CD for short)

A time deposit is to deposit a sum of money in the bank to generate interest, and it can only be withdrawn at the appointed time. If you want to cancel the contract before the maturity date, you will lose interest money for at least one month. Usually it is divided into three months, six months, one year, two years and three years. The longer the time, the higher the amount and the higher the interest. However, its interest rate is fixed (the above-mentioned accounts are all floating interest rates). We should avoid long-term fixed deposits when interest rates are falling or rising gradually, so as to avoid our principal being stuck in fixed deposits with low interest rates when interest rates rise later.

the advantage of time deposit is to generate interest or prevent us from using that money. The prerequisite is that there is a sum of money that will not be used in a fixed period. So you might as well find other banks with better interest rates.

In addition, we should pay attention to the maturity date of the fixed deposit. The bank will send us a notice of maturity some time before the maturity date. If the withdrawal is not made within one week after the maturity date, the bank will automatically restart the fixed deposit for the same period of time at the current interest rate. If you are interested in investing in securities, stocks and trust investments, you can ask the bankers to introduce them to us one by one. If there are no professionals in the bank, you can ask them to arrange suitable people to explain. It should be noted that some of these Bond or mutual fund are risky, and if the investment is not good, we may lose some of the principal. Some are tax-free, and some have to get commissions from broker (so bankers always encourage us to make long-term investments for more than two years, so as not to leave us with little profit after they get commissions). To avoid this trouble, you can name no load fund without commission.

7. ATM card

With the ATM card and PIN (Personal Identification Number), you can withdraw money, deposit money and transfer money at an ATM that is open 24 hours a day, regardless of the bank's business hours during the day. Usually, there is no need to pay extra handling fee for the ATM attached to each branch of the bank where the account is opened; However, in supermarkets, department stores, and airports, a fixed handling fee will be deducted every time.

when paying bills in supermarkets, if the cash register is equipped with an automatic credit card selector (customers can choose to pay their bills by supermarket membership card, credit card or ATM card), they can use the ATM card to swipe their cards, and the selector will be displayed on the screen. Savings account? And? Checking account? Let's choose and withdraw money directly from our designated account. So be sure to put away the receipt signed by the supermarket and register it in our income and expenditure book for future reconciliation.

Matters needing attention when using ATM cards include: Don't write the password on the card; When putting the ATM card in your wallet, be careful not to let the tape behind it be close to the tapes of other cards; Expired cards should be cut and invalidated; Password notice should be torn up; There is a limit to the total daily withdrawal; Don't forget to take the card back after using it.

students who drive can use the all-weather cash machine specially designed by the bank for drivers, or the deposit and withdrawal window with clerk service during business hours. You don't have to find a place to park or get off. However, the parking distance should be accurate. If it is too far away from the window or the machine, it is necessary to unfasten the seat belt and practice long arm exercises. If you can't reach it, you have to get off!

VIII. Credit Card application

Just