When I turned 18, my mom insisted I open up my first checking account with a local brick-and-mortar bank in my area because she was sure I'd have all sorts of edge-case-type things I'd need to go in person to talk to a real banker about as I was embarking on my adult life. (She was also sure I would need to write a check every now and again.) College, multiple international moves, multiple different housing/renting situations, and multiple jobs later, I don't think I've ever gone to the brick-and-mortar location once, and I've certainly never written anybody a check. I do all of my banking on my phone.
I don't think there's any harm in opening an account at a brick-and-mortar bank; I've had a generally positive experience with mine, and still use that checking account as a "triage" space for my money before using it to pay off credit card statements, redirecting it to a HYSA, etc. But in this day and age there's not a compelling reason to stick with a brick-and-mortar if there's an online bank whose benefits you like better imo.
What I WOULD recommend is, if your 18yo is going to be a student this fall, getting them set up with a student credit card. I used my debit card all throughout college, stayed in the dorms all four years so never rented or paid a utility bill, then ran off to live abroad for a few years after graduating. By the time I came back, I had zero credit history whatsoever, but had aged out of any sort of young-and-new-to-credit offers. Building up from zero enough to successfully rent an apartment turned out to be a huge pain. On the other hand, I told my younger sister she had to get a student credit card while she was still in school, which she did and basically just used it to buy her groceries; and she was getting all sorts of great credit card offers within a few months of graduating and had no trouble at all landing a nice apartment in the city where she found her first job.
onsereverra t1_jadacao wrote
Reply to First Bank/Checking Account for 18yo? by Lodinguan
When I turned 18, my mom insisted I open up my first checking account with a local brick-and-mortar bank in my area because she was sure I'd have all sorts of edge-case-type things I'd need to go in person to talk to a real banker about as I was embarking on my adult life. (She was also sure I would need to write a check every now and again.) College, multiple international moves, multiple different housing/renting situations, and multiple jobs later, I don't think I've ever gone to the brick-and-mortar location once, and I've certainly never written anybody a check. I do all of my banking on my phone.
I don't think there's any harm in opening an account at a brick-and-mortar bank; I've had a generally positive experience with mine, and still use that checking account as a "triage" space for my money before using it to pay off credit card statements, redirecting it to a HYSA, etc. But in this day and age there's not a compelling reason to stick with a brick-and-mortar if there's an online bank whose benefits you like better imo.
What I WOULD recommend is, if your 18yo is going to be a student this fall, getting them set up with a student credit card. I used my debit card all throughout college, stayed in the dorms all four years so never rented or paid a utility bill, then ran off to live abroad for a few years after graduating. By the time I came back, I had zero credit history whatsoever, but had aged out of any sort of young-and-new-to-credit offers. Building up from zero enough to successfully rent an apartment turned out to be a huge pain. On the other hand, I told my younger sister she had to get a student credit card while she was still in school, which she did and basically just used it to buy her groceries; and she was getting all sorts of great credit card offers within a few months of graduating and had no trouble at all landing a nice apartment in the city where she found her first job.